Formula E season three private testing review, Part 1
With the start of public testing at Donington Park now just two weeks away, Sam Smith takes a look at what each Formula E team has been up to so far in its season three preparations.
Photo by: John Rowley
It is almost unprecedented in modern racing: an allowance of 15 days of private testing and virtually no information, bar the odd grainy photo or old fashioned favour from a source within a team or supplier.
In this respect, the anticipation for year three of the FIA Formula E championship is heightened, as the cars don’t genuinely go head-to-head in a street circuit environment until the opener at Hong Kong in October. Only then will the secrets and the hierarchy for the new season begin to take shape.
The public tests at Donington Park in August and September are notoriously difficult to gauge due to quirks of the circuit and the nascent status of the cars power units. But in essence, the gains in efficiency will translate directly into performance once again.
Expect many of the teams to have imitated elements of the successful Renault power unit of season two, especially transversely mounted motors and more use of carbon fibre in the gear casing to reduce the weight. A two-gear solution is also expected to be the preferred option for most teams this season.
Weight will be a watch-word in season three, as the minimum comes down to 880kg from 888kg last season. Weight distribution will be a crucial as well, as teams again concentrate on honing vehicle dynamics to optimise performance on known and unknown bumpy street circuits.
The cars will look different for season three thanks to a radical new front wing, while fresh tyres will be at the teams' and drivers' disposal. In private testing the new Michelin tyre, which is slightly lighter all-round, has performed in a similar fashion to the old one but has been quicker to ‘switch on’.
With the window of private testing having ended on Sunday July 31, Motorsport.com looks at how preparations for the ten teams has gone before the public tests scheduled for later this month.
ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Car ABT Schaeffler FE02 Drivers Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt Days complete 14
Last season’s runners-up completed its testing satisfied that it has the tools to go one better and again challenge for the title in season three. Privately, the team knows it has a lot to prove, as the title has slipped through its grasp in each of the two first campaigns.
Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt stay for another season, but over the summer Abt lost engineering veteran Jacky Eeckelaert to Faraday Future Dragon Racing. Still, the team has enough strength in depth to be a major force at the front of the field with a technical team led by the wily Franco Chiocchetti.
“I think we will see the whole grid close up in season three,” di Grassi told Motorsport.com.
“Efficiency will again be the key, and I think we will see Renault being caught as there are only so many development gains that can be made, because there is a finite amount of energy and power we have. The racing should be really special this season.”
Andretti Formula E
Car Andretti Technologies ATEC-02 Drivers Robin Frijns, Antonio Felix da Costa Days complete 13
What a difference a year makes! After a tough start to its season two preparations, things look very promising indeed for Andretti as it heads into its first season as a pukka manufacturer with the Andretti Technologies ATEC-02.
The new package has seen a wave of positivity spread through the team, and once Antonio Felix da Costa is finally announced as teammate to Robin Frijns, then the anticipation for a first win in Formula E will be heightened. It will leave Andretti with the most potent driving squad on the grid.
“To be honest, we never planned to do all 15 test days,” Andretti technical director Roger Griffiths told Motorsport.com. “We set out a test plan and so far have accomplished everything we had targeted.
"The challenge is that you don’t really get to start running until late May (because of weather, schedule, part deliveries etc.) or so, and then to try and do 15 days of testing in two months is likely to compromise the quality of the testing.
"You also need time between tests to analyse data, make adjustments etc. otherwise you are almost testing for the sake of it.”
Andretti is believed to be working with Magneti Marelli and also has embedded BMW engineers for a widely anticipated escalation of the Bavarian manufacturer's involvement in the championship.
Faraday Future Dragon Racing
Car: Penske 701-EV Drivers Loic Duval, Jerome d'Ambrosio Days complete 15
FFDS: a new moniker for the team which has so far been the most efficient in punching above its weight and delivering results to occasionally embarrass teams spending far more than it does.
Now though, Dragon is no longer an underdog, as it enters an exciting season where it has a big-spending technical partner to help it make the sporadic wins and podiums more plentiful.
The news of Faraday Future’s partnership came too late for any significant input in to the season three car, but for future seasons expect a large arsenal of technical resources to be deployed in the multi-million dollar deal.
Spearheaded by former Venturi electrical engineering specialist Nicholas Mauduit and experienced Penske ‘disciple’ Nigel Beresford, the core element of the Dragon set-up is a Magneti Marelli inspired system.
It is understood that this is distinct to Mahindra’s motor set-up, and has had to be re-homologated as such earlier this summer.
DS Virgin Racing
Car DS-Virgin DSV-02 Drivers Sam Bird, Jose Maria Lopez Days complete 15
A title sniff last season was just a miasma, but season three should see DS Virgin blossom into full blown title challengers with its new single motor machine.
Testing has been promising for the team, which has drafted in Jose Maria Lopez to replace the departed Jean-Eric Vergne. There will be a lot for the Argentine to learn, but he has been streamlined into the car, having contributed to the DSV-02 from its early stages of development.
"It will be a little strange, but for someone who has before raced in three different series [in Argentina] in the same year, I'm used to it,” Lopez told Motorsport.com.
“However, there is much work because of the commitment of the series, so you work much harder in the simulator and testing, but I'm ready and obviously when I made this decision I accepted this because it is what I want".
Xavier Mestelan from PSA and Virgin’s own Sylvain Filippi form a potent alliance to head the technical team, and with the charismatic Alex Tai set to continue as Team Principal, there will be disappointment if DS Virgin is not in a race-winning position from the off.
Check back tomorrow (Wednesday) for part two, where we examine the preparations of the remaining six teams on the season three grid - including the all-new Jaguar squad.
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