The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by **tommykl** » 04 Jul 2016, 10:46

Well, that was a weekend and a half!

Got up at 4:30am on Saturday (sensible time), got on the Eurostar, arrived in London at 9:15am (archaic time). Walked the way from St. Pancras to Battersea, picking up a few of those geocaches on the way (no prizes for answering Ataxia's question, there). When I got to the park, I decided to do what I hadn't done last year: have a walk around and see what was happening. I quickly realised that all the standing areas had pretty awful views of the circuit, so I just wandered around the village for a bit, enduring the rain.

Saturday's race was fairly exciting, watched it on the big screen in the eVillage (a lot more people in there than actually trackside), where I managed to pick up a free Formula E-branded t-shirt, as Londoner will be able to testify

Sunday was different altogether. I spent most of the morning in the eVillage, having a go at some of the activities there, before heading to a pub for lunch & F1. Leaving said pub suitably annoyed at Nico Rosberg and delighted at Pascal Wehrlein, I returned to the Park to find a good place to watch the race. The place I'd been the previous year (at the exit of whichever turn that long sweeping left-hander at the end of the lap is) turned out to have been closed due to 'safety concerns', and all other viewing areas weren't extremely exciting. I did, however, get to see the spectacle of Lucas di Grassi speeding past on lap 1 with three functioning wheels on his wagon.

After a couple of laps, I decided to head back towards the eVillage for the end of the race. I ended up right beside the walkway leading to the podium, and got sprayed with champagne by Sébastien Buemi for my troubles, following which I had to return to the train station. Boris bikes were involved.

Thanks to Ataxia, Londoner and roblomas for making the Saturday a much better afternoon than it otherwise would have been!

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 04 Jul 2016, 13:04

After the unsportsmanlike behaviour by DiGrassi in the 2016 Formula E season finale, renaming this thread "The Sebastien Buemi Formula E Thread" ought to be a distinct possibility. :vergne:

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Jul 2016, 14:46

Simtek wrote:... and thought it would be good to knock out two birds with one stone.

Neither of whom is Sam Bird...

:facepalm:

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 04 Jul 2016, 15:40

Yannick wrote:After the unsportsmanlike behaviour by DiGrassi in the 2016 Formula E season finale, renaming this thread "The Sebastien Buemi Formula E Thread" ought to be a distinct possibility.

I half support your notion.

Surely someone who is a reject in both FE and F1 would be more appropriate.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Jul 2016, 17:15

FullMetalJack wrote:Surely someone who is a reject in both FE and F1 would be more appropriate.

I compiled this last summer. As of the end of FE's first season, the following were rejects in both F1 and FE:

Stephane Sarrazin (subsequently unrejectified in FE in season 2)
Vintantonio Liuzzi
Justin Wilson
Sakon Yamamoto

Must try to update the list at some point... (Maybe without the A1GP column.)

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 04 Jul 2016, 18:46

Following F1 useless penalties, racing stewards gave a 50-seconds time penalty for Di Grassi for emulating Senna. I had a feel he intentionally crashed into Buemi after trying to run three wide in the first corner (Prost blocked him). ROTR to him. Special mention for Duval for shoving Frijns in the wall.

Congrats to Buemi, but he has very lucky to win the title. He did too many mistakes in this season.

My ROTY podium:

3rd Trulli team: For emulating Larousse 1995 season.

2nd - Jacques Villeneuve: He showed to us why he needs to retire from motorsport.

1st - Nelson Piquet Jr: Okay, his team was the worst in the season, but he had a very poor season. Most of time he was behind of his team mate and his rookie crashes in Uruguay and Long Beach didn't help. He gave up before the start of the season.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 05 Jul 2016, 12:37

I finally got round to watching the 2nd race today as F1 took priority at the weekend, though both ended up disappointing me equally.

Well....FWIW, I'm not convinced that Di Grassi did do that on purpose, but it was certainly extremely stupid either way. And the fastest lap shootout was a bit of a silly way to end an exciting season.

For the second year running, I'm not happy with the champion. Buemi is to me very Lewis-like as if he's not leading, all we seem to get is 'waaahhh, he's not playing fair! give him a penalty!' etc. That's not to say he didn't deserve the title as ABT gave it to them with yet another technical infringement (plus I suppose, Daniel Abt not giving up his place earlier in the season)

I haven't heard anything about Donington test sessions for next season - a shame that they're not soon given that I am out of work at the moment!

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 05 Jul 2016, 12:42

Dj_bereta wrote:Following F1 useless penalties, racing stewards gave a 50-seconds time penalty for Di Grassi for emulating Senna. I had a feel he intentionally crashed into Buemi after trying to run three wide in the first corner (Prost blocked him). ROTR to him. Special mention for Duval for shoving Frijns in the wall.

Yeah, how on earth did Duval not get a penalty for that? Mind you, there were so many penalties to be applied at the end of the race, Ma nearly ended up in the points and he was going around so slowly that he still got lapped after 3 (or was it 4? I lost count) Safety Cars. And he got a penalty for speeding in the pits (!) as well.

Best penalty was for Heidfeld in Saturday's race when he somehow used Fan Boost twice?
Speaking of which, they need to tweak the rules on Fan Boost again - it's almost been an irrelevance this season with many drivers not using it or somehow not being able to (not sure how that would happen exactly....)

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 05 Jul 2016, 13:12

Barbazza wrote:
I haven't heard anything about Donington test sessions for next season - a shame that they're not soon given that I am out of work at the moment!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124621

Nothing on Donington's website yet.

Samster · Post by **Samster** » 07 Jul 2016, 17:35

Looks like Citreon have brought Jose Maria Lopez over to the series at Virgin Racing. Vergne meanwhile will join the new Techeetah team which have taken over the Aguri entry. Anyone know anything about this team?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... rgne-in-fe

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 07 Jul 2016, 17:40

Samster wrote:Looks like Citreon have brought Jose Maria Lopez over to the series at Virgin Racing. Vergne meanwhile will join the new Techeetah team which have taken over the Aguri entry. Anyone know anything about this team?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... rgne-in-fe

Yeah. They're cheats.

:pantano:

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 07 Jul 2016, 20:39

Speculation starts now as to whether Techeetah will be able to hit the highs that Antonio Felix da Costa did in the first season with Jean-Éric Vergne in place, or plumb the depths that Ma Qing Hua has done so far and turn them into season 3's answer to Trulli Grand Prix.

I suspect it's a little from column A, a little from column B... maybe more from column B, let us not forget Trulli managed a pole position once.

Also, The All-Knowing Oracle is reporting Oliver Turvey and Mike Conway as Jaguar's drivers for next season, which can be found nowhere else...

Post by **Ataxia** » 07 Jul 2016, 21:37

dinizintheoven wrote:Speculation starts now as to whether Techeetah will be able to hit the highs that Antonio Felix da Costa did in the first season with Jean-Éric Vergne in place, or plumb the depths that Ma Qing Hua has done so far and turn them into season 3's answer to Trulli Grand Prix.

I suspect it's a little from column A, a little from column B... maybe more from column B, let us not forget Trulli managed a pole position once.

They'll have access to the Renault powertrain, so if Vergne can tidy up his driving he'd look good for points and podiums.

Doubt Jag have signed anyone yet, I believe they're looking at using some tests to pick their lineup...I'd like to see Anthony Davidson bag one of the seats, if only to add to the former reject ranks.

Aislabie · Post by **Aislabie** » 08 Jul 2016, 23:46

Personally, I think the time is right for a re-union between Jaguar and Antonio Pizzonia.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 09 Jul 2016, 09:21

Aislabie wrote:Personally, I think the time is right for a re-union between Jaguar and Antonio Pizzonia.

Ah! Avatar inception!

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 12 Jul 2016, 17:14

I'm sort of hoping for Narain Karthikeyan to get an FE seat next year, being as it is that Jaguar is owned by Tata Motors and all.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Jul 2016, 17:06

At some point (and I can't find it on this forum any more), I suggested that FE needed an electric touring car support series. Well, there is now going to be one at the Hong Kong round! http://www.racer.com/international-raci ... g-car-race

OK, so it'll be single-make, but it's progress. The race meetings need more support series in addition to RoboRace, if you ask me.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 26 Jul 2016, 18:39

dr-baker wrote:OK, so it'll be single-make, but it's progress. The race meetings need more support series in addition to RoboRace, if you ask me.

You mean it needs more support series than the one with zero drivers? :shock:

I do like the idea of Roborace and I'm glad it'll exist, but it doesn't exactly fill the entire card below FE.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 28 Jul 2016, 15:40

http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/july/formula-e-releases-dates-for-pre-season-testing-at-donington-park/

The first testing dates have been released!
Same pattern as last year - free to attend, just £5 for the pit walk and half price admission to the museum.

There's also a reference to the dates for the second testing session, but not which days of those (if any) will be open to the public.

Anyone want to go, and if so - which day?

Last year it was easy for me because I was leaving my employer so could get time off with no problem.
This year, it's the opposite - I am out of work so difficult to say what I will be doing in a month from now. Plus my community radio commitments involve me going in on both Weds & Thurs!

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 29 Jul 2016, 11:54

Sounds like an excellent idea, provided I'm available.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 29 Jul 2016, 18:13

I am currently free both days.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 05 Aug 2016, 17:46

Has anybody booked tickets to attend testing yet? I'm planning to book up next week, and am planning to attend both days.

Post by **Ataxia** » 06 Aug 2016, 09:39

ITV have dropped Formula E coverage.

Would be good to have Channel 4 pick it up, hell, I'd even take Dave over the endless repeats of...do they still repeat Top Gear? I don't really watch much TV these days.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 06 Aug 2016, 10:53

Ataxia wrote:ITV have dropped Formula E coverage.

Would be good to have Channel 4 pick it up, hell, I'd even take Dave over the endless repeats of...do they still repeat Top Gear? I don't really watch much TV these days.

I'm starting to worry about the future of this series. First, two teams struggle with their new powertrains for season 2, so one reverts to the season 1 powertrain and survives the season, while the other fails to compete all year. Secondly, tickets for testing were released less than a month before testing starts (rather than the usual 2 or so months of previous summers), and you can only attend for two of the three days, plus so far for only the first test. And now, it turns out that TV deals are at risk? OK, so manufacturers are coming into the sport, but what's the point if people aren't watching? It just becomes glorified R&D.

Post by **Ataxia** » 06 Aug 2016, 12:10

I don't see an issue with FE's short-term future. If C4 opt to take the series on, they now have a motorsports portfolio to add it to and hence can advertise it in the best possible way. That's only from a British TV perspective anyway, and there are hundreds of countries across the globe with very good TV deals; as far as I know, Formula E has a better TV deal in China than F1. The calendar has completely changed, bringing FE events to new corners of the world and hence new audiences.

Then we have sponsorship. GH Mumm defected from F1 to enjoy a platform in FE with more freedom to market their products. Julius Baer increased their exposure over the past season, and Enel also joined the series. In terms of OEMs; Jaguar are joining, and BMW are rumoured to be hooking up with Andretti.

You're worried about tickets for testing. Who actually cares about testing? In a mainstream audience, which FE is trying to capture through their use of social media promotion, the average Tom, Dick or Harry won't care about testing in the slightest. In short, you can probably stop worrying if those are your concerns.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 06 Aug 2016, 12:19

The problem is exposure. I personally have tried to get interested in it, but the scheduling and gaps between races have made that difficult, and when I have managed to catch it, I haven't been that impressed with it. This just my personal opinion though, we all have our own preferences.

I suspect however, that the long gaps between races, the often funny timeslots on Saturday mornings/evenings for races, and an often less-than-compelling on track product has been at least a partial cause for the decline in TV audience in Britain this year.

The series needs momentum and to build a loyal following. I'm sure it's on its way to achieving that and it's not something that can be done overnight. It takes many years to create a championship that has weight, history and prestige behind it. The fact the sport has the manufacturer backing is massive, it will prop it up until other elements like the fanbase are at a level that is suitable for the series. The danger is if a more widespread drop in audiences and interest drives away the sponsors and manufacturers too. Time will tell.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 06 Aug 2016, 16:29

Ataxia wrote:I don't see an issue with FE's short-term future. If C4 opt to take the series on, they now have a motorsports portfolio to add it to and hence can advertise it in the best possible way. That's only from a British TV perspective anyway, and there are hundreds of countries across the globe with very good TV deals; as far as I know, Formula E has a better TV deal in China than F1. The calendar has completely changed, bringing FE events to new corners of the world and hence new audiences.

Then we have sponsorship. GH Mumm defected from F1 to enjoy a platform in FE with more freedom to market their products. Julius Baer increased their exposure over the past season, and Enel also joined the series. In terms of OEMs; Jaguar are joining, and BMW are rumoured to be hooking up with Andretti.

You're worried about tickets for testing. Who actually cares about testing? In a mainstream audience, which FE is trying to capture through their use of social media promotion, the average Tom, Dick or Harry won't care about testing in the slightest. In short, you can probably stop worrying if those are your concerns.

I hope you're right. I'm probably just concerned/worried that this'll go the same way as A1GP, which was another series that I enjoyed and spent time following, even without TV coverage. But AndreaModa has a point as well about scheduling. There have been some Saturdays where I have nearly missed watching it because it had been so long since the previous race that I forgot to check when the next race was. At least A1GP didn't do this to quite the same extent, despite approx. 4 week gaps around Christmas and New Year.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 06 Aug 2016, 21:00

dr-baker wrote:Has anybody booked tickets to attend testing yet? I'm planning to book up next week, and am planning to attend both days.

I haven't decided yet though I will obviously have to very soon!

If I do go it will almost certainly be on the Thursday.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 07 Aug 2016, 15:37

Barbazza wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Has anybody booked tickets to attend testing yet? I'm planning to book up next week, and am planning to attend both days.

I haven't decided yet though I will obviously have to very soon!

If I do go it will almost certainly be on the Thursday.

I've now booked up for both days. It's fewer hours than before (9 to 12 and 2 til 5) but should still be good, weather dependent. I'm also planning to do the grid walk again when I get there (£5). Let me know if/when you're going, and we'll arrange meeting, if that takes your fancy.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 08 Aug 2016, 11:38

A bit out in left field, but Maro Engel gets the nod to race for Venturi.
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... -e-805956/

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 09 Aug 2016, 17:26

Reluctantly, I'm going to give it a miss. Mainly because I have been out of work for a couple of months now and even if it is free to get in, there are train tickets / food costs to think about. Plus one of my old workmates has told me his leaving do is on the Thursday, which is the day I was considering, and there's no way I can do both.

I don't suppose it will be much different in terms of drivers compared to last year, and I wouldn't think that there would be that many different exhibits in the museum either.

Of course, if they ever get around to letting people in the following week, I may consider that one if my personal circumstances change.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 10 Aug 2016, 11:27

Barbazza wrote:Reluctantly, I'm going to give it a miss.

That's a shame, albeit for understandable reasons.

Post by **Londoner** » 18 Aug 2016, 18:37

Volvo Polestar are considering entering Formula E in the near future.

Post by **Ataxia** » 22 Aug 2016, 12:20

In the last few days, Adam Carroll's been announced as Jaguar's first driver, and Mahindra have replaced Bruno Senna with Felix Rosenqvist. Good to see more strong drivers join the ranks.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 23 Aug 2016, 11:57

The world will finally get to see what a true talent Carroll is and how F1 and even Indycar missed the boat on such an amazing driver, though he raced a couple races in the latter.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:48

Looking forward to attending testing for the next two days, despite the lack of female competitors!

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 24 Aug 2016, 01:29

Recently, Lucas Di Grassi gave an interview for the Brazilian motorsport website Grande Prêmio. One of the topics of the interview was about his crash with Buemi in the season finale and about people accusing him of planning the crash since the start. He denied he intentionally crashed into Buemi and said this only helped his rival since his car was better in race pace rather than qualify pace and the fact he was the driver with most podium finishes and zero poles are proofs of this. But he admitted his move to try to past Prost in first lap was precipitate.

When questioned about winning a title with a crash would be shameful for his career, he said this doesn't matter and the most important is to win the championship, under the rules of it.

Finally, he revealed Alain Prost accused him of intentionally crashing into Buemi for winning the title. Di Grassi said he was a big hypocrite since he was the one who crashed into Senna to won a title.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 24 Aug 2016, 05:24

opposing opinion; i'd say Prost knows what that looks like and could determine that he exhibited similar behavior.

what i'm NOT saying is that he wouldn't have won it without that move, having been the "WINSLOL" driver this season, just kind of winning the highest volume of races so far. either way, congrats, and i wish "WINSLOL" drivers weren't a thing.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 24 Aug 2016, 21:58

I left Donington at 5 pm today, so apparently I missed the first public test of the RoboRace tech in a Ginetta test hack (so an engineer could sit in the car as it paraded around the Donington track). :facepalm:

If they had announced that this was going to happen a few hours ahead of time (or if I had been paying sufficient attention perhaps, if I missed it?), I'ld have hung around a little bit longer and watched.

Anyway, what I normally pay attention to when I attend the FE tests on my first day there each summer is the liveries. And here are my thoughts on the new liveries I saw today:

10th. e.DAMS.

No effort whatsoever. Black carbonfibre with supplier decals on (like Renault), all in white. They had two different test liveries last year (one in each week of testing, with the first one below), so not a good start.

9th. Techeetah.

Just the supplier decals and "#Techeetah" on the sidepods. Surely cannot be the definitive livery? OK, so it's their debut, so maybe the livery wasn't a priority, but minimal nonetheless at the moment.

8th. Virgin.

As per eDAMS, but just with a little more branding on, thanks to the Virgin decals. A virgin livery to come, or vergin' on the ridiculous? Would be hard to distinguish between eDAMS and Techeetah without a splash of colour.

7th Dragon Racing.

A few more white sponsor stickers on the carbon fibre, as per eDAMS and Virgin, but also a splash of orange on the nosecone and roll-over hoop to differentiate from the previously mentioned teams. Still to see a definitive livery, I suspect.

6th. Jaguar.

Jaguar electrifies apparently. And there was a white outline of a Jaguar on the engine cover, as per the Jag F1 cars of 10-15 years ago, and the bulls on 4 of the current F1 cars. Very similar to that seen in the private tests and spy shots seen so far. Can't imagine this being the final livery? Gonna be some BRG on the car, surely?

5th. Venturi.

Very black, deliberately black, like in previous seasons. But with two large blocks of colour (red and blue) on the front half of the side pods, so more colour than last year. But still very black.

4th. NextEV.

Turquoise returns to the wings, engine cover, headrest. Much of the rest of the car is black. Won't be confused with the Venturi as the colours alongside the black are different, but black is not a colour I am keen on for a racing car...

3rd. Mahindra.

Much like last year. And it is brighter than Venturi's livery.

2nd Amlin Andretti.

Building on last year's livery, but with plenty of white. Still digging the shiny metallic blue on the engine cover and roll-over hoop.

1st. ABT.

Usual bright yellow, red, green, but refreshed for a new season. Stands out from the others, a distinct brand identity within the series developed (eDAMS will presumably also return with a blue-and-yellow identity, but just not seen today.

).

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Aug 2016, 17:09

I've updated the last post to include photos that I took during that day's pitlane walkabout. Obviously a lot of missing engine covers as the cars would be being worked on during the two-hour lunch break. And crowds or barrier positions or pit equipment or mechanics all influence the angles I could get of each car from the pit lane.

Had a great second day - a lot more ontrack action in the afternoon session (missed much of the morning due to M25 traffic). The infield grandstand gives a good view of the pit garages, but I rather enjoyed the views of the Melbourne hairpin - it gave a good impression of how the cars handled under braking and under traction, with quite a few cars squirming in the damp conditions, with some taking to the grass (but all avoiding the gravel). AND I bumped into a forumite over lunch before the pitlane walkabout - pher38. It was a lovely conversation, discussing F1, FE, MasterCard Lola (which led to us discussing this forum!), and Trump/Clinton. Shame I didn't bump into him again during the afternoon, nor anybody else from here, but c'est la vie.

And I got to see the RoboRace test hack out on track this time! The first two warm-up laps, I couldn't tell if the onboard human was making any driving inputs, but I am pretty sure that they were on its third lap. Very new technology, clearly not yet able to send the car out without the opportunity for a driver to take over if the need requires. Based on what I have seen (which is very limited), I can't see the cars being ready for the early FE season, unless there is a lot of behind-the-scenes testing going on that we are not aware of. We can all remember how Trulli got on this time last year, with limited mileage in the pre-season tests. (So far, this test mule did 3 laps in a one-hour session Wednesday, and not much more yesterday.)