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Formula E drivers back attack mode tweaks
Leading ABB FIA Formula E drivers say the changes to attack mode - including increased power - for the 2019/20 season will lead to more overtaking and strategy variance.
Tom Errington
Edited: Jul 3, 2019, 3:32 PM
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The latest World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris outlined an increase of 10kW to take attack mode's power level to 235kW next season, while also confirming that drivers will no longer be allowed to activate the system during full-course yellow or safety car periods.
The move comes as part of a push by FE to reduce flat-out races and encourage energy management tests after criticism during the current season relating to the number of incidents caused by the change in racing style.
Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird told Motorsport.com that the increased power for attack mode was "decent" and would lead to more overtaking.
Antonio Felix da Costa pointed to the change of rule under full-course yellow and safety car conditions as a boost to varying strategies between teams.
"This is a good one. And not being able to activate it on full-course yellows and safety cars because it's going to open up a lot more strategy which is good," da Costa told Motorsport.com.
"I missed those a little bit with the change of cars the last few years gave us a lot of strategy or a bit more strategy to play with and this year that's got.
"The races are a little bit boring without it. So we're going to be going back to seeing more overtakes and more strategy so it's going to push everything in the right direction."
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Jaguar's Mitch Evans narrowly lost to reigning FE champion Jean-Eric Vergne last time out in Bern and suggested attack mode had "probably" saved Vergne from defeat due to the fact the attack mode location meant drivers did not lose time in activating it.
Evans said that the effectiveness of an increased attack mode would be "track-sensitive".
"You go to tracks like Marrakech, Rome, you can have a really good crack and overtake with that extra 25kwh of power," Evans told Motorsport.com.
"The tracks like Paris, Hong Kong, which are extremely tight and narrow you need that extra power. We think it will be a good thing but it's not like we've got more energy to use as well. It's a bit of a trade-off."
Evans has repeatedly called for FE to vary its use of attack mode, having stuck to the format of two activations lasting 240 seconds per use all season.
"I think it's great to experiment with it, and I'd love [Formula E] to experiment with a different number of activations but they've kept it the same with two activations this whole season which is a little bit strange," said Evans.
"It's how it is and they're trying to work out if time loss is better or not. If you're in a battle, people can cut you off very easily and beats the purpose of it."
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