2018/19 Formula E season

[Juntos]

Great things don’t happen in tiny little increments. You know, they happen when someone thinks completely differently.

[peebee2]

See they’ve found a new kart track in London. Going to be pretty tight and narrow there!

[Greem]

Originally Posted by peebee2

See they’ve found a new kart track in London. Going to be pretty tight and narrow there!

My first thought too, although a large part of the track is loading dock/car park and two way approach roads so approx 8m wide at minimum. It'll be a bit twisty. And I wonder how the surface inside the exhibition halls will cope? Also, there's not much room for spectators, with everything being hemmed in by the dock and the DLR.

Interesting layout, though

Hopefully I'll get to do this one!

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Greem

My first thought too, although a large part of the track is loading dock/car park and two way approach roads so approx 8m wide at minimum. It'll be a bit twisty. And I wonder how the surface inside the exhibition halls will cope? Also, there's not much room for spectators, with everything being hemmed in by the dock and the DLR.

Interesting layout, though

Hopefully I'll get to do this one!

Looks like they only have two real areas for spectating- In the eastern car park, and inside the hall itself.

Seems like itll make a weird event

[HighParker]

Originally Posted by Greem

...I wonder how the surface inside the exhibition halls will cope?..

Is it a concrete floor? I recall a race here in 1993 inside the domed stadium where cola syrup was used on the floor. Fast forward to about 5:30 into this video.
http://loudpedal.tv/2016/03/1161993-...ronto-skydome/
I'm not sure if that would be practical for a track that continued outside.

[peebee2]

Watched HK while in bed. Is it always this rubbish?

Just follow around and then knock the leader out with a lap to go. What utter dross.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Watched HK while in bed. Is it always this rubbish?

Just follow around and then knock the leader out with a lap to go. What utter dross.

No, HK was particularly poor. Bad track and not great racing. It's usually better than this.

Bad end to a meh race. Nudging each other is all fine and well, but if you're going to play that game then you need to be prepared to take the consequences.

Birds statement of over defending, and even the commentator saying Lotterrer moved in the braking zone is incorrect. Lotterrer planted his car in the middle of the road and Bird just ran into him. Maybe Lotterrer over defended in other cases, but not the incident where the puncture occured.

[Mike Bell]

Pretty poor race, but in my opinion the circuit layout was to blame! Not a fan of that location.

Regarding the late incident- Have to say (again in my opinion) that if the leading two cars had been in the other order, the same thing would have probably happened...... Two determined drivers!

[Akrapovic]

5 second penalty for Bird. Whilst I don't think penalties should be handed out for contact willy-nilly, I don't think dropping Bird to 6th is really as big a penalty as is deserved. He punted the leader from the race. The leader got 0. He retains the lead of the championship.

[peebee2]

Cheers for the update. Surprised not DQ as he just ran into him. Can’t win by ability, rather gamble and crash.

[Nikki Katz]

5 seconds seems lenient but it does drop him 5 places, which is probably about right. Lotterer has a bit of a reputation for swerving to keep others behind him, but he seemed ok here. The track’s just a bit too narrow for even fe. Also, what does vandoorne need to do to get a result??? Tho I still think that fanboost is an unfair advantage to him and should be removed.

[Mike Bell]

Bird was a bit foolish risking 2nd place by trying to pass, but maybe he was concerned about Mortara who was breathing down his neck. Penalty deserved but that’s not much compensation to Lotterer.

Regarding the ‘highly acclaimed’ (their words) fan boost, most if not all comments on here seem to be negative, but it must be popular somewhere to be highly acclaimed.... Would be interesting to know how many ‘votes’ are actually cast before and during the races!

[CaptRustyNail]

Is there any particular reason why Formula E chooses these pretty nasty/rubbish street tracks?

[peebee2]

Can’t race on proper tracks as cars too slow.

[NSX_LeMans]

Originally Posted by CaptRustyNail

Is there any particular reason why Formula E chooses these pretty nasty/rubbish street tracks?

Part of it is because of their philosophy. The race goes to the people, and not the other way around.
Why the layout has to be rubbish is yet to be explained.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Can’t race on proper tracks as cars too slow.

Your opinion, not necessarily shared, but as NSX says, it’s to do with a philosophy of taking a (perceived) zero emissions racing series into cities, where it make more of a statement. I would say that HK is about the worst I’ve watched, but some street circuits work quite well.

[peebee2]

“Perceived” zero emissions might be right, when you see all the industrial diesel generators in use.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by peebee2

“Perceived” zero emissions might be right, when you see all the industrial diesel generators in use.

Agree, but that argument can also be used for 'hybrid' F1 or WEC- or probably many other sports!

[Johno.UK]

Can't say I agree with the penalty for Bird but if they really had to give one I suppose 5 seconds is fair.


The result of the contact is irrelevant. It's the contact itself that is important. There has been contact like that in every race since FE started with no impact on either car. It was just unlucky in this case that it deformed the diffuser which punctured the tyre.



Why Lotterer felt the need to drive so defensively and slowly after the final safety car when he and Bird had been the class of the field for so long I don't know. It was like he was trying to back Bird up into a fight for 3rd. A very strange tactic in a series with so much contact. The way the cars move around it's obvious they are a real handful to drive.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by peebee2

“Perceived” zero emissions might be right, when you see all the industrial diesel generators in use.

I've never really liked this particular stance because it means nothing can be better without being perfect. And that's just not fair. The cars are zero emission when driving. Yes there are other things about generating emissions, but all other motorsports have that too.

It's all about continual improvement. Incremental gains. And whilst I still prefer ICE racing over EV racing, if the goal of EV racing is to try and reduce emissions then it can't go from "all emissions" to "no emissions" overnight. It has to be an incremental improvement.

I feel like this attitude is applied by us motorsport fans because we don't like EVs for many reasons. But if we applied this to anything else then it immediately falls down.

[peebee2]

True, because emissions from F1 cars etc. are tiny. But the emissions from two dozen jumbo jets required to bring the circus to town are massive.

[LPP68]

Was the race so boring, that there is a need for a discussion clearly belonging to the off-season?
About the track: I think that Formula E is outgrowing this layout. When the series started the cars where considerably smaller and had way less power. If they would be able to skip a chicane or 2, and add a loop with a few quicker turns instead, it could be a great track. The area has options.
Abbout the contact between Bird and Lotterer, these touches happen several times per race. 9 out of 10 times everybody gets away with it, now they don't. That is unlucky. I agree with the penalty, because, even when usually harmless, contact is still contact and should be avoided. It has nothing to do with having my compatriot on the podium, and the championship being closer than without a penalty :-)

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Can’t race on proper tracks as cars too slow.

The speed of a car has no relation to whether it can race on a 'proper' track.
Any car could race on a circuit, no matter what speed it has.
One of the main reasons for FE to avoid circuits is also a criticism of F1 at the moment - the need to drive in a way that preserves the life of something.

If FE went to circuits, the extended duration of high speed, full throttle driving would deplete the battery at too high a rate to maintain the speed, so drivers would be forced into driving at a much reduced rate to preserve their energy store.
F1 is criticised for fuel saving or tyre preserving - which is surely the same thing?

If you want to see cars driven consistently at their peak performance, FE could be seen as closer to that than F1 at the moment.

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by CaptRustyNail

Is there any particular reason why Formula E chooses these pretty nasty/rubbish street tracks?

Why do rally cars race in forests? Why do drag cars race on drag strips? Why do hillclimb cars go up hills?

Street circuits are where Formula E runs as that's the idea of the series.

[Armco Bender]

Sorry,the track was so rubbish I gave up watching it.