FORMULA E SILLY SEASON THREAD
FORMULA E SEASON 10 THREAD
ENTERING A NEW ERA OF FORMULA E
We're about to take an exciting path together: a step into the unknown, with new evolved cars coming, new powertrains, exciting rookies and faster, more on the limit racing.
With Season 11 of Formula E, we're about to enter the second phase of this championship's life.
The first 10 years of the series were all about growth: attracting manufacturers, estabilishing a solid viewership, showing people that EV's can actually make for exciting racing and reaching the World Championship status.
Now, the championship is about to enter its maturity phase.
A phase were we're about to start to see the pure performance coming in as a big factor: with F1-beating acceleration figures and new technologies unlocked, the drivers will be able to push these evolved cars to the limit and change the perception of Formula E in many people's eyes.
This is the first step towards the beginning of the Performance Era of Formula E, that's going to peak with Gen 4 in two years time.
Introducing GEN 3 EVOLVED, this is Formula E SEASON 11
Formula E story timeline so far
GEN 3 EVO IS A MASSIVE STEP FORWARD
Hold tight, cause, this is going to be a fast ride!
Season 11 will bring on track arguably the biggest mid-gen step forward that Formula E have seen so far.
It's called GEN 3 EVO and is set to change the dynamics of the entire sport!
"GEN 3 EVO is such a step forward compared to base GEN 3 that we even considered the possibility to consider it as a Gen 4 already" - Jeff Dodds, Formula E CEO
GEN 3 on the left, GEN 3 EVO on the right
The GEN 3 EVO car is an evolution of the GEN 3 concept, introduced in 2022.
The car is visually lighter, with a slimmer front front section that eliminates the "triangular/dorito" shape effect that many hated in the base Gen 3 car.
The center of gravity of the car have been lowered, and a new, more robust front wing have been introduced: this should prevent the debris-fest we've seen in many of the Gen 3 races.
Not only a cosmetic overhaul tho!
Both the new front wing and the new aero fairing placed before the rear tyres will partially cover the wheels from the air impact, making the cars less draggy.
This will reduce the benefit of staying tucked behind another car to save energy, and should make for less extreme "peleton" races.
These changes are also believed to add some downforce points.
But the list of GEN 3 EVO's new features goes way beyond the visual changes.
A new Hankook tyre have been introduced!
Drivers and teams complained till the very first days for the lack of grip and the excessive hardness of the Hankook compound selected for the first two seasons of Gen 3.
This new compound is softer, offering around 5-7% more grip, making the cars more satisfying to push for the drivers, and obviously better for the laptimes!
But the biggest change of them all is the Unlock of the Front Powertrain, previously used only for re-gen, making these cars 4 wheel drive cars!
The unlocking of the front powertrain + the softer tyre compound leads to a staggering 0/100 km/h acceleration value of 1.86 sec, making it the fastest accelerating FIA single seater.
This is also possible due to the introduction of a traction control system that will be activated when in 4WD to maximize the acceleration potential.
The 4 wheel drive will be available to use in Qualifying, Race Starts and Attack Mode phases.
This will make a massive difference expecially for the Attack Mode dynamics.
It's no secret that the Attack Mode became basically irrelevant since the introduction of Gen 3, as the drivers weren't be able to put down the extra power due to lack of grip from the Hankook tyres.
The GEN 3 EVO car will adress that problem: the 4WD will make sure that there will be a big performance delta between the drivers on Attack Mode and those who are not, making it an important strategic element of the races once again!
There's also the possibility of Fast Recharging being finally introduced this season in selected races: the teams have undergone several tests this summer and will do more tests in Valencia.
Lucas di Grassi driving the LOLA GEN 3 EVO
PRIVATE TESTING SHOWS BIG OVERALL IMPROVEMENT
Teams have not been static in this summer, on the contrary!
They've been testing the new cars and powertrains quite extensively: it's believed that ABT Lola and Mahindra have clocked in already thousands miles of testing, trying to arrive in Valencia Pre-Season test as much prepared as possible.
Early impressions reveals that the cars are quite faster, thanks to the softer tyres and 4 wheel drive system, with an expected pace improvement of at least 2 seconds / Lap.
Here is is some interesting quotes from the drivers!
Sam Bird (McLaren)
"Oh my god. It just goes off the line!
And out of the corners when you use 350 kW + 4WD, it just disappears!
It's by far the fastest thing i've ever sat in terms of 0-60 km/h acceleration. It will leave everything else to dust.
Shows that FE is trying to improve every time"
Lucas Di Grassi (ABT LOLA)
"The 4WD changes the car completely
It will also change the dynamics of the strategy in the races, with attack mode becoming relevant again.
The car handling differently will also change the lines and how you approach some corners"
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
"There are three main differencies: the 4 wheel drive, the new aero kit and the tyres.
I was surprised at how the new aero kit makes the car behave quite differently compared to Gen 3.
Jean Eric Vergne (DS)
"The car is much nicer to drive and push. This is what Gen 3 should have been from the get go".
Jean Eric Vergne driving the DS PENSKE GEN 3 EVO
FORMULA E SEASON 11 TEAMS AND DRIVERS
It's been an hectic Silly Season 24/25 so far, and it just keeps delivering!
Lots of moves all around the field.
The biggest newelty of the season is for sure the arrival of LOLA-Yamaha as a manufacturer & technical partner to the ABT Team.
Some of the most prestigious names in Motorsport joining the FE grid is always good news, and could push ABT towards its glorious days back in the first few season of Formula E.
ERT turns into Kiro Race Co and will be powered by Porsche S10 powertrains
But the drivers market itself went bananas this summer! Here it is the changes!
- Max Gunther joins DS Penske
- Jake Hughes & Stoffel Vandoorne joins Maserati
- Nico Muller joins Andretti
- Taylor Barnard joins McLaren
- Norman Nato joins Nissan
- TBA drivers still evaluated for ERT and LOLA
ABT LOLA: Lucas Di Grassi - Zane Maloney
DS PENSKE: Max Gunther – Jean-Eric Vergne
ENVISION: Sébastien Buemi - Robin Frijns
Team photo for LOLA-Yamaha!
FORMULA E SEASON 11 CALENDAR
After years of january-february season openers, we're finally going back to the December championship debut!
And the Season 11 opener will be set in the streets of Sao Paolo: what better scenery to kick off an incredible season of racing?
The Gen 3 EVO official debut is set for December 7th!
The circus will than move to Mexico City, on January 11, before moving to a brand new location for this season: Jeddah.
A circuit made famous by F1, that will be used in its WTCR/short layout by Formula E for an hectic Double Header event in Februrary 14-15th!
Another exciting, new location is scheduled for April 12th, Formula E is going to be racing in Homestead Speedway, in Miami, home of Nascar & IMSA!
May will be an action packed month: it starts with a glorious Double Header in Monaco on May 3-4, before the start of the asian leg.
Tokyo is scheduled for a Double Header in May 17-18, before flying to Shanghai for another Double Header in May 31-June 1.
Jakarta will return in calendar after one year hiatus, racing on June 21th, before the classic Double Header in Berlin on July 12-13
The Season finale will be set once again in one of Formula E's most iconic venues, the ExCel Exhibition Center in London will host its fourth season finale on July 26-27th
Homestead-Miami Speedway will be a totally unique challenge for Formula E!
(updating)
Edited by thegamer23, 20 October 2024 - 11:22.
