After three intense, hectic & crazy seasons of racing, the Generation 2 of Formula E cars its about to reach its climax.
Season 7 has been a rollercoaster of emotions.
The highs were very high, the lows were very lows...
We've seen good races, some bad races, and a few Classics.
How can we forget about the beautiful race around the streets of Montecarlo, or the exciting action in a very wet Rome?
Also, how can we forget about the Valencia energy brainfade, with most of the teams running out of power before the last lap?
Season 7 had it all: the Championship was decided in the last weekend of the season, in the streets of Berlin, with a crazy number of drivers still in mathematical contention for the title.
At the end of a super tense weekend, Nyck De Vries managed to clinch the World Title right on the wire, while his main contenders Edo Mortara, Mitch Evans & Jake Dennis all crashed out in the first few laps of the race.
How crazy was that?
Enjoy this SEASON RECAP!
But in Motorsport, success only lasts a few moments in people's minds.
It's already time to look forward, to see what kind of new challenge lies ahead.
And, grab your popcorns...
Season 8, is set to be the best Formula E Season yet.
Why?
Well, plenty of reasons to look forward to this final chapter of the Gen 2 Era.
Let's dive right into it!
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Qualification has been a huge talking point in Season 7.
The group qualifying format worked pretty well for six seasons, but its integrity started to crumble last season.
Season 7 had one of the tighest fields in Formula E history, with just a few tenths separating Top Teams from the Backmarkers.
For this reason, drivers starting in the Group 1 of quali (driving on a less rubbered track) were basically doomed to start at the back of the grid in most of the tracks.
This kind of format surely helped keeping the championship battle very open till the final weekend of the season, where 18 drivers were still in Mathematical Title Contention.
On the other hand, a growing number of teams felt frustrated by the huge amount of randomness of this qualification "lottery".
They started feeling that their efforts to build the most competitive package were spoiled by the qualifying format itself.
SO
The format is going to be changed in Season 8.
And it sounds very.....Indy-Car-y
NEW "INDYCAR" STYLE QUALIFICATION
The latest rumors are pointing towards this kind of scenery.
The Field will be split in 2 GROUPS to find the top eight fastest performers. (best 4 of each group)
This first session will last 10 minutes/Group, so multiple lap times should be allowed.
1) GROUP QUALI
2) QUARTER FINALS (8 cars)
3) SEMIFINAL (4 cars)
4) SUPERPOLE SHOOTOUT (2 cars)
This will lead to more overtaking opportunities & moves around the field.
Attack mode is set to remain the same at 235 KW.
PRESEASON starts in the last week of November.
From November 29th to October 3th there will be the usual collective test session in Valencia.
The Real Deal Starts in late January with a Double Header in the Night of Riyadh, the circus will than return to Mexico for a February 12th race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Late february will see the debut of a spectacular new location: Cape Town is set to deliver with a unique race track a few meters away from the sea-side.
Berlin will no longer host a season finale event, and slots in May with a classic race in the Tempelhof.
But how will the Gen 3 cars look like?
BMW's entry will be taken back by Andretti Autosport: the team is set to retain Jake Dennis alongside a new driver from the Andretti roster (Kyle Kirkwood was rumored).
Vandoorne / De Vries
Vergne / Da Costa
NISSAN e-DAMS
Rowland / Sims
Evans / Bird
THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ELECTRIC RACING
Considering all the ingredients we have for what should be "only" a transitional season to a new era...i'd say it could be a very tasty one.
We're going to witness Gen 2 Racing at its peak: with the new qualifying format we should see more of the real pecking order, building up the momentum every race, leading to proper battles, battles with a real meaning.
We could see new rivalries, new scenarios happening on track.
This, combined with the biggest FE Calendar to date, with plenty of new locations, should elevate Formula E even further before the debut of Gen 3.
So..
Fasten your seatbelts, turn on your e-ngines.
It's time for one last, epic ride with those cars.
It's time for Season 8!
Edited by thegamer23, 25 November 2021 - 12:56.