FIA Formula E Championship 2014-15

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

If there was anything to open up, I'd agree, but I think in the 150kW race mode they only get up to around 110mph. The chicanes stop the lack of speed becoming obvious.

These really aren't fast cars remember. It just goes to show how important the impression of speed is. Keep the straights short and the walls close, avoid long panning shots on the TV, have the producer keep switching between onboards, replays, and outside cameras and it will look fast even if it isn't.

I know they aren't particularly fast but it would be nice to see these cars go down at least one longish straight, then have to negotiate a corner. Take Battersea for example. There are two chicanes in quick succesion on Carriage Drive West and on Carriage Drive South there are two more, with one just as that sweeping lefthander turns into Carriage Drive East. Couldn't they have got rid of that one?

Originally Posted by pirenzo

I always cringe when I hear F1 commentators, at tracks like Shanghai, talking about the cars approaching 200mph at the end of the straights when the TV camera is zoomed right in on a single car in a sea of grey tarmac. The car may as well be stationary, and it totally fails to give an impression of the speed.

Yes, a race cars does look so slow on TV than at the race track.

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

There are two chicanes in quick succesion on Carriage Drive West and on Carriage Drive South there are two more, with one just as that sweeping lefthander turns into Carriage Drive East. Couldn't they have got rid of that one?

I'm with you on that one, it would be better to see them flying round that sweeper at full pelt.

I think cost and practicality is probably the motivation there however. To install the necessary run-off (which might involve removing trees) would cost a bomb, and involve permanent alteration to the park.

Moscow looks like a good circuit, there's only one chicane and some more sweeping corners.

[Xpunk75]

Hey everyone,

John and I are back with our analysis of race five in Miami and our predictions for Long Beach. If your looking for a podcast to follow along with the great action on the track then check out our show!

http://www.podbros.com/podcast/eprix...5#.VRVf9ClH0fE

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

I'm with you on that one, it would be better to see them flying round that sweeper at full pelt.

I think cost and practicality is probably the motivation there however. To install the necessary run-off (which might involve removing trees) would cost a bomb, and involve permanent alteration to the park.

Moscow looks like a good circuit, there's only one chicane and some more sweeping corners.

Installing a run off area around the outside of the curve/turn between Carriage Drive South and East, shouldn't be too much of a problem. There's already a reasonably wide sidewalk/pavement that follows the outside of the curve, which could be incorporated in to a run off area and iirc, the trees along the sidewalk don't come right up to it. The alternative would be a wall.

[gomick]

So are the streets of Long Beach closed down for 2/3 weeks whilst Formula E & Indy Car have there races

[pirenzo]

Monaco Formula E track revealed

Looks OK, although it totally misses the iconic parts of the Grand Prix circuit. I see on twitter that entry to the race will be free. Lucky for some.

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Installing a run off area around the outside of the curve/turn between Carriage Drive South and East, shouldn't be too much of a problem. There's already a reasonably wide sidewalk/pavement that follows the outside of the curve, which could be incorporated in to a run off area and iirc, the trees along the sidewalk don't come right up to it. The alternative would be a wall.

Perhaps if this year's event is an unqualified success they'll be able to go back to the council and take a look at it. I'll bet they've had to tread quite carefully with alterations to the park, keeping them to the absolute minimum in order to bag their planning permission for the event.

Originally Posted by gomick

So are the streets of Long Beach closed down for 2/3 weeks whilst Formula E & Indy Car have there races

Well, they were still finishing building the track in Miami on race morning, so I think the FE race should only close the roads for a few days under normal circumstances. I don't know how that impacts on the preparations for the IndyCar race.

[numbersix]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

..These really aren't fast cars remember.

... Yet. Mind you 1-60 in 3 seconds isn't exactly lethargic.

Each motor produces 270 HP, that's now, and with a very flat torque curve. Imagine two, front+rear? Then imagine one per wheel - over a thousand HP. Perfectly feasible, the motors aren't much bigger than a starter motor. The problem is the 'fuel tank'.

The whole series is designed to push battery technology forward. It'll be a few years yet, but I can see the day that petrol engines will be in museums, or Goodwood - and I'm a petrol head.

F1 as we know it needs to be afraid...

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by numbersix

... Yet. Mind you 1-60 in 3 seconds isn't exactly lethargic.

Each motor produces 270 HP, that's now, and with a very flat torque curve. Imagine two, front+rear? Then imagine one per wheel - over a thousand HP. Perfectly feasible, the motors aren't much bigger than a starter motor. The problem is the 'fuel tank'.

The whole series is designed to push battery technology forward. It'll be a few years yet, but I can see the day that petrol engines will be in museums, or Goodwood - and I'm a petrol head.

I was probably being a bit unfair with my comment, but two things remain true: that 270bhp becomes just 200bhp in race trim, and the top speeds aren't high in comparison to most other single-seater categories. Even with the 270bhp in qualifying, they only reach about 190kph (120mph), which Karun Chandhok achieves twice towards the end of the lap in this video.

Re: the batteries, yes, I think there will be improvements. They've been talking recently about doing the whole race with one car by 2018-19, and I recall them talking about wireless charging lanes on the track when that technology is available.

[Burp]

I think the next few seasons could be very interesting with all the developments. its going to be a gradual gain but in a few years we will look back and say.'Hey you remember those Formula.e. cars from '14/'15, wern't they pants'.

Currently they may not be very fast but you cant fault the on track product. So much more enjoyable to watch than a lot of major series. I for one am pretty hooked to the series now. Its like watching old skool Formula Ford but with world class drivers

The charging lanes etc, really could be the future of our motorways

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Burp

I think the next few seasons could be very interesting with all the developments. its going to be a gradual gain but in a few years we will look back and say.'Hey you remember those Formula.e. cars from '14/'15, wern't they pants'.

Currently they may not be very fast but you cant fault the on track product. So much more enjoyable to watch than a lot of major series. I for one am pretty hooked to the series now. Its like watching old skool Formula Ford but with world class drivers

The charging lanes etc, really could be the future of our motorways

Formula E is MUCH better than Formula Bernie

[canamman]

Looking forward to the race today.

5 races this year has produced 5 different winners.
Will we get our 6th different winner?
Look for Nelson Piquet, Scott Speed,
Jaime Alguersuari, or Daniel Abt fighting for
the 6th different winner spot.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by canamman

Looking forward to the race today.

5 races this year has produced 5 different winners.
Will we get our 6th different winner?
Look for Nelson Piquet, Scott Speed,
Jaime Alguersuari, or Daniel Abt fighting for
the 6th different winner spot.

Heidfeld's surely the man? He's been terrific all season, terrible luck and a lot of team mistakes means he doesn't have the points, but he's starting to get totally ignored again.

[canamman]

Nick is certainly due. However he has been well in the
bottom half of the field in all the practices thus far.
Maybe he can find some "amps" in quali !

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by canamman

Looking forward to the race today.

5 races this year has produced 5 different winners.
Will we get our 6th different winner?
Look for Nelson Piquet, Scott Speed,
Jaime Alguersuari, or Daniel Abt fighting for
the 6th different winner spot.

I think Piquet has been going well in the last couple of races and would deserve a win.

Sam Bird needs to rediscover some form, and I'd like to see the two Mahindra cars show better than they have done.

[pirenzo]

Great lap from Piquet Jr, he was almost pushing Sarrazin along in front of him.

[canamman]

Did not see that coming, Buemi and Abt front row!

[pirenzo]

Buemi has lost his pole position for exceeding his power usage. I'm not quite sure what this means. Do they have a maximum energy use per lap, or per session? Or is it the 200kW power limit that he breached?

I also wonder if FanBoost will be decisive in this race. It's not had much impact so far, but Piquet and Vergne (starting 3rd and 5th respectively) will have it in this race.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Buemi has lost his pole position for exceeding his power usage. I'm not quite sure what this means. Do they have a maximum energy use per lap, or per session? Or is it the 200kW power limit that he breached?

I also wonder if FanBoost will be decisive in this race. It's not had much impact so far, but Piquet and Vergne (starting 3rd and 5th respectively) will have it in this race.

I don't quite get the penalty for exceeding maximum power usage. The rules regarding qualifying are as follows.

http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/guide/rules-and-regs.aspx

''Qualifying The qualifying session is a straight fight for the fastest laptime and determines the order for the day's race. The session will last 55 minutes (40 minutes track) and see drivers divided into four groups of five cars, with each group having 10 minutes to set their best time. Full power (200kw / 270bhp) will be available throughout with drivers only able to use one car. The driver setting the fastest time will be awarded three points.''

So if full power is available throughout qualifying, how can a driver exceed that?

[bjohnsonsmith]

That was a messy start and Sam Bird out.

[pirenzo]

Great drive from Piquet, he was totally dominant.

The race overall was a bit messy, but some good racing in the pack as usual. It's a shame that Abt got his penalty, because it ended a good little three-way fight for third.

Re: the power usage, in the tech regs it says the "RESS" system cannot use more than 28kWh plus 0.7kWh for every 1kWh recovered through the regenerative systems. There's no mention of this in the sporting regs though. I don't understand how you can use more than full power, because surely it's limited electronically?

[canamman]

Really enjoyed that. Wild action, great story lines,
all packed in an hour! Battery and charging technology
will only get better and maybe stretch it out to 75 min.
races.

Scott Speed thought he was in an GRC race for a split second.
Too bad, I think he will be competitive in time.

I can see these guys in Monaco some day.

[AoB Special Stage]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Great drive from Piquet, he was totally dominant.

The race overall was a bit messy, but some good racing in the pack as usual. It's a shame that Abt got his penalty, because it ended a good little three-way fight for third.

Re: the power usage, in the tech regs it says the "RESS" system cannot use more than 28kWh plus 0.7kWh for every 1kWh recovered through the regenerative systems. There's no mention of this in the sporting regs though. I don't understand how you can use more than full power, because surely it's limited electronically?

There's a dial on the steering wheel to adjust how much power you're getting, similar to the various fuel maps available to F1 drivers.

[Peat]

I hate to be 'tin-hat guy' but....

I happened to watch some of FP1 and they spoke to Jnr and were making a big deal about the 35year since Snr's first GP win thing. Jnr was speaking about how great it was like the race was already won.

And then, wouldn't you know it, he won. By a margin.

Spec motors 'monitored' by race control, all running below max threshold (Abt got pinged for going over the imposed limit), it would be easy to manipulate the performance of various players to ensure you get the results that either suit the narrative of the weekend or ensure a tight championship battle.

It just seems a bit....convenient. His team also had a 'big new' sponsor that i'd never heard of yet was obviously important enough that we needed to know who the CEO was several times during the broadcast....

Anyway, it was another entertaining race. So, who am i to complain? That's it, be a good boy and drink your Kool-Aid, Peat. Drink it all up.

:P

[crooky]

Originally Posted by Peat

I hate to be 'tin-hat guy' but....

I happened to watch some of FP1 and they spoke to Jnr and were making a big deal about the 35year since Snr's first GP win thing. Jnr was speaking about how great it was like the race was already won.

And then, wouldn't you know it, he won. By a margin.

Spec motors 'monitored' by race control, all running below max threshold (Abt got pinged for going over the imposed limit), it would be easy to manipulate the performance of various players to ensure you get the results that either suit the narrative of the weekend or ensure a tight championship battle.

It just seems a bit....convenient. His team also had a 'big new' sponsor that i'd never heard of yet was obviously important enough that we needed to know who the CEO was several times during the broadcast....

Anyway, it was another entertaining race. So, who am i to complain? That's it, be a good boy and drink your Kool-Aid, Peat. Drink it all up.

:P

He's second in the championship just a point behind the leader. The race win wasn't out the blue as his championship consistency shows so it was likely to happen sooner than later.

Another good race as well thought the cars actually looked quite quick around this track as well.