FIA Formula E Championship 2014-15

[mgcsaylor]

Miami not ready for Formula E. Not yet at least. Almost 2 hours late running first practice.

[Formulahistory]

Oh dear. There are not very good news at the moment for Formula E:

- Miami not ready
- many driver changes
- rumours about cash flow problems.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Formulahistory

Oh dear. There are not very good news at the moment for Formula E:

- Miami not ready
- many driver changes
- rumours about cash flow problems.

Come on, I was starting to really enjoy it. I think it's (cue shock horror music) the new F1!~

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Well JEV has done it again...

[bjohnsonsmith]

ITV 4 are broadcasting live now, with the race stsrting at 8:15pm GMT.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

ITV 4 are broadcasting live now, with the race stsrting at 8:15pm GMT.

Think it's 8:00pm

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

Think it's 8:00pm

According to Freeview it's 8:15pm but they could be wrong, so I'll watch from 8:00pm, thanks.

[pirenzo]

Looking forward to it. There were lots of fun and games at the last race, more of the same please Formula E.

Heidfeld to finish 2nd as usual.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Looking forward to it. There were lots of fun and games at the last race, more of the same please Formula E.

Heidfeld to finish 2nd as usual.

2nd to whom? Luck? Fate? Because normally he's about to win but then...

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

2nd to whom? Luck? Fate? Because normally he's about to win but then...

I don't know who to, but he'll probably be in the pitlane taking a penalty or something. Or who knows, maybe stuck in the Trulli train.

EDIT: implying that Trulli will win of course

[bjohnsonsmith]

Nice move by Bird.

[bjohnsonsmith]

After messing up his pitstop Bird is slowly going backwards.

[pirenzo]

Yeah what happened to him there? The second car didn't seem as quick as the first.

Good dice at the end there though. I like how the difference in battery life at the end of each stint mixes things up and keeps the result in doubt until the end.

Decent crowd as well. Bodes well.

[bjohnsonsmith]

That was quite enjoyable. I didn't think Scott Speed would do it just a bit too late.

I'll give the Long Beach race a go and I'm quite tempted to go the London race as I live in Battersea.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Another fun race, Scott Speed did not race like a newbie, that was really well measured with a great mix of pace and management.

Prost tops the standings! Not bad...

[bella]

literally the first time ever on record that scott speed has done what he's told though!

[p-matt]

I am really enjoying Formula E, but I'm finding the races increasingly confusing. Often the order before the pitstops bears little resemblence to the order after the stops, and it's not always clear what's slowing some drivers up.

Also, for such a complex car, I'm struggling to get my head around how Scott Speed, who was never that great in anything else he did, can manage his battery power so well on his first attempt. In fact, there seems to be little pattern race-on-race in how successful drivers are in managing their power, except perhaps Piquet and Heidfeld who seem to be able to eke theirs out a bit more.

As I say, I'm loving the on track action, but there's so much about the story of the race I'm finding difficult to understand most of the time.

[Clervaux]

Another great race yesterday but agree that strategy is difficult to follow at times. Think it could be communicated better on TV to be honest but I guess everyone is still learning how best to do that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

FE could race in Switzerland.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118096

[pirenzo]

I think with the minimum pit lane time FE were hoping that pit strategy would not be important to the outcome of the races. They seem to have been deliberately downplaying it, showing only a few car swaps and anxious team member shots to give a sense of the action but trying not to present it as part of the overall race.

I think they'll have to rethink that, because it clearly is shaking the order up a fair bit and making it hard to see how people have won and lost in the pits. It's not strategically important per se, but clearly there is room to mess things up and that needs to be conveyed better.

[gomick]

Is the Long Beach track the same one used by IndyCar?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gomick

Is the Long Beach track the same one used by IndyCar?

It's a little different as it misses out the section which heads towards the aquarium.

[pirenzo]

There's also the chicane on Shoreline Drive which is different from the Indycar circuit.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

There's also the chicane on Shoreline Drive which is different from the Indycar circuit.

Formula E certainly has a thing for chicanes, shame they just can't leave some of them out and let the cars open up.

[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 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.