Formula E kicks off with a bang
Formula E kicked off with a huge bang this weekend with Beijing being the first to host the new city centre races. Despite speculation, the race, although easy on the ears, ended up being unexpectedly dramatic.
Formula E is unlike any other racing series as it is set over one day with practice rounds, qualifying and the actual race all on the same day. The same day agenda is due to the races taking place on street circuits, so one-day races cause the least disruption.
Formula E does have some significant differences to Formula 1. For starters, all teams have the same cars, creating a level playing field, but it wont stay this way for long, as from next year, the 10 teams will be able to design their own cars. The biggest difference however is the presence of two cars for each driver. As the cars are completely electric, they only have enough power for 20 to 30 minutes of competitive racing and engineers have not yet found a way to safely change batteries in the race nor extend the lifetime of the battery, so drivers switch cars half way through the race. This saves a lot of time and as a result Formula E races only last an hour.
This weekend’s race proved to be very action-packed with a crash at the final turn on the final lap. Despite the driver Nick Heidfeld coming out unscathed, the crash was huge and the vehicle ended up in pieces. With the two top drivers being out of the race, this allowed the Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi (part of the Audi Sport ABT team) to win.
Let us know if you’ll be watching Formula E and what you think sets it apart from Formula 1!