The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 26 Aug 2016, 18:19

Those DHL and Julius Bar stickers in the nose are ruining the liveries.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 27 Aug 2016, 14:43

Dj_bereta wrote:Those DHL and Julius Bar stickers in the nose are ruining the liveries.

They do stand out on a black/carbon fibre background, definitely. But I think they look a lot less obtrusive on the Mahindra, Andretti and Abt. I think it's just because they get a bit more lost in all the colour.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 02 Sep 2016, 21:52

Nothing officially confirmed yet, but word on the street is Mitch Evans will be the man in the other Jaguar: http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... ar-814790/

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 07 Sep 2016, 16:41

The season 3 liveries, as they stand. Upon which i draw the following conclusion:
Six of the ten Formula E teams must really hate the concept of "colours"...

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 07 Sep 2016, 21:43

Snoozey2 wrote:The season 3 liveries, as they stand. Upon which i draw the following conclusion:
Six of the ten Formula E teams must really hate the concept of "colours"...

Succinctly saying what I tried to say at the bottom of the last page of this thread!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 07 Sep 2016, 21:53

I'm willing to bet that most of the duller looking ones aren't the liveries that will be run in the season proper (see: e.Dams); it's only testing, no need to waste money on a bucket of paint

Meanwhile, for those of you living in the UK: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... dcast-deal

I like to think of this as a step in the direction of the series' inevitable re-branding to Formula 5 :dance:

Post by **Ataxia** » 08 Sep 2016, 09:59

And to no surprise, Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans are officially confirmed for Jaguar's first FE season.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 08 Sep 2016, 17:11

Simtek wrote:Meanwhile, for those of you living in the UK: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... dcast-deal

Håååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååååpla!

While Channel 5 is usually the TV equivalent of the knackers' yard (see: Big Brother, Robot Wars, Neighbours, Home and Away) they've done a fine job since taking over the cricket highlights from Channel 4 - though I'd suspect it's because the production company moved with them. Anyway, we are not to be denied, and that's how I like it.

Likely as not, I will now be watching a lot more of Channel 5 this year and the next (with the aforementioned cricket highlights thrown in) than all the ITV channels combined. At the end of the 90s, this would have been absolutely unthinkable.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 08 Sep 2016, 21:01

I was happy to see it move to C5 too actually. Their football league coverage isn't much cop (mainly due to Kelly Cates, or have they sacked her now?) but they do indeed make a good show for the cricket, and they seem to be trying to build a portfolio of sports coverage so will put effort in (which C4 and the Beeb would likely not have done)

I'm not bothered about who the pundits are, Jennie wonky-mouth is OK but not spectacular, ditto Mark Priestley (who is now on Sky F1 a fair bit I notice, so probably won't be on it anyway) although there's something about Jaime Alguersuari's presence - those eyes.....don't look at the eyes...look AROUND the eyes.

I would like the same commentary team if possible though - those 2 guys always do a good job.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 08 Sep 2016, 22:06

Barbazza wrote:I was happy to see it move to C5 too actually. Their football league coverage isn't much cop (mainly due to Kelly Cates, or have they sacked her now?) but they do indeed make a good show for the cricket, and they seem to be trying to build a portfolio of sports coverage so will put effort in (which C4 and the Beeb would likely not have done)

I'm not bothered about who the pundits are, Jennie wonky-mouth is OK but not spectacular, ditto Mark Priestley (who is now on Sky F1 a fair bit I notice, so probably won't be on it anyway) although there's something about Jaime Alguersuari's presence - those eyes.....don't look at the eyes...look AROUND the eyes.

I would like the same commentary team if possible though - those 2 guys always do a good job.

I think they (Dario Franchitti and Jack Nichols) do the global feed. It was what was playing through the little portable radios they were dishing out at Battersea.

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 08 Sep 2016, 22:51

Ataxia wrote:And to no surprise, Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans are officially confirmed for Jaguar's first FE season.

Aw, that probably means Mitch Evans' already admittedly slim chances of an F1 seat are as good as gone.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 09 Sep 2016, 01:59

roblomas52 wrote:
Barbazza wrote:I was happy to see it move to C5 too actually. Their football league coverage isn't much cop (mainly due to Kelly Cates, or have they sacked her now?) but they do indeed make a good show for the cricket, and they seem to be trying to build a portfolio of sports coverage so will put effort in (which C4 and the Beeb would likely not have done)

I'm not bothered about who the pundits are, Jennie wonky-mouth is OK but not spectacular, ditto Mark Priestley (who is now on Sky F1 a fair bit I notice, so probably won't be on it anyway) although there's something about Jaime Alguersuari's presence - those eyes.....don't look at the eyes...look AROUND the eyes.

I would like the same commentary team if possible though - those 2 guys always do a good job.

I think they (Dario Franchitti and Jack Nichols) do the global feed. It was what was playing through the little portable radios they were dishing out at Battersea.

On the broadcast of one of the recent Battersea races, there's a part where you can hear Jack Nichols' commentary through loudspeakers as he also delivers it to you through the normal commentary track.

madmark1974 · Post by **madmark1974** » 09 Sep 2016, 09:18

Barbazza wrote:I was happy to see it move to C5 too actually. Their football league coverage isn't much cop (mainly due to Kelly Cates, or have they sacked her now?) but they do indeed make a good show for the cricket, and they seem to be trying to build a portfolio of sports coverage so will put effort in (which C4 and the Beeb would likely not have done)

I'm not bothered about who the pundits are, Jennie wonky-mouth is OK but not spectacular, ditto Mark Priestley (who is now on Sky F1 a fair bit I notice, so probably won't be on it anyway) although there's something about Jaime Alguersuari's presence - those eyes.....don't look at the eyes...look AROUND the eyes.

I would like the same commentary team if possible though - those 2 guys always do a good job.

I agree, though I've recorded every race live I never get to watch them live, so I do tend to fast forward most of the studio
content, but I'm just glad it's still on free TV - I do notice the article only mentions the 2016/17 season, so it looks like
they're giving it a year and will see how popular it is, obviously a three-year deal would have been better, but fingers crossed,
at least C5 are used to having less viewers than the ITV network.

Ciaran · Post by **Ciaran** » 15 Sep 2016, 22:08

AustralianStig wrote:
Ataxia wrote:And to no surprise, Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans are officially confirmed for Jaguar's first FE season.

Aw, that probably means Mitch Evans' already admittedly slim chances of an F1 seat are as good as gone.

Yay, Ireland is represented in international single-seaters again!

Well, excluding Manor, but their owner's nowhere near as attention-grabbing as Eddie Jordan.

madmark1974 · Post by **madmark1974** » 16 Sep 2016, 12:10

Di Grassi gets put on ice :

http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/september/all-electric-racing-car-runs-on-arctic-ice-cap/

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 21 Sep 2016, 20:59

Bernie's jealousy grows.

EuroBrun · Post by **EuroBrun** » 22 Sep 2016, 09:44

Simtek wrote:Bernie's jealousy grows.

After selling F1, Bernie will take over F.E from Agag.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 22 Sep 2016, 11:28

EuroBrun wrote:After selling F1, Bernie will take over F.E from Agag.

...if that were to happen.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 22 Sep 2016, 12:04

Here is the track layout to the New York circuit. Thoughts about it?

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... yn-828852/
http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/new ... 28858/?s=1

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 24 Sep 2016, 09:32

It's like a mutant Buddh.

Dexter249 · Post by **Dexter249** » 29 Sep 2016, 12:37

If you look closely at the backstretch it ironically looks like a giant track that was in Berlin but was destroyed sometime in the 90s *AHEM* AVUS *AHEM* Why do you do that when the track will possibly be a Boring FanBoost Fest

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 29 Sep 2016, 18:30

Dexter249 wrote:If you look closely at the backstretch it ironically looks like a giant track that was in Berlin but was destroyed sometime in the 90s *AHEM* AVUS *AHEM* Why do you do that when the track will possibly be a Boring FanBoost Fest

Post by **Ataxia** » 04 Oct 2016, 10:23

Audi have upped their involvement with ABT over the winter, and BMW have officially linked up with Andretti as well. The third piece of the German jigsaw is about to fall into place.

Oh, and since Formula E starts this weekend, what better way to celebrate than with a profile of Lucas di Grassi? You can check it out here.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 07 Oct 2016, 21:50

Ok guys, about 3-4 weeks ago I gave the first race of FE a try, and thought I would get into it. So 3-4 weeks and 21 races later, I have now officially caught up completely with Formula E, right on time to see the opening race this weekend! I am now officially a follower

The first two seasons have been really interesting to keep up with, and hopefully it'll stay like that for this season. My only fear is the withdrawal I'll get when I actually have to wait the same amount of time as everyone else for the next race :chilton:

Snoozey2 · Post by **Snoozey2** » 07 Oct 2016, 23:00

Updated liveries (prior to the cold light of Race Day):

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 08 Oct 2016, 00:56

Rob Dylan wrote:Ok guys, about 3-4 weeks ago I gave the first race of F5 a try, and thought I would get into it. So 3-4 weeks and 21 races later, I have now officially caught up completely with Formula 5, right on time to see the opening race this weekend! I am now officially a follower

The first two seasons have been really interesting to keep up with, and hopefully it'll stay like that for this season. My only fear is the withdrawal I'll get when I actually have to wait the same amount of time as everyone else for the next race

Doing the Buemi profile (yes, it's finally finished!) has made me realise I need to watch these again; there's so much I've forgotten even happened...

And don't worry, I've conformed to your decadent editorial standards by calling this series by its backwards name of "Formula E"

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 08 Oct 2016, 18:44

Buemi has announced that he will not contest the New York round, instead focusing on his WEC commitments

EuroBrun · Post by **EuroBrun** » 09 Oct 2016, 16:21

What a shame for Piquet, he was on his way to a brilliant win, but spun trying to avoid a lapped car. At least this season looks promising for him and his team mate Turvey.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 09 Oct 2016, 17:47

Indeed, am I the only one here who would have wished for the race to be 1 lap longer, if that were the case it would have been a Da Costa and Frinjs (who was my diver of the day) 1-2

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 10 Oct 2016, 13:18

andrew wrote: (who was my diver of the day)

I really hope that these cars do not end up underwater (like at the harbour in Monaco)...

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 11 Oct 2016, 16:37

I was otherwise occupied during the test sessions, so I have no idea if I should have seen this coming or not, but it looks like NEXTEV are back up the sharp end again - even if it all went wrong in the race and "the usual two" came out on top again. Techeetah look better prepared than Super Aguri ever did, again despite the race result, the Virgin looks easier to drive than last year's car... it looks like none of the teams are as hopeless as Trulli GP were, so I'm hoping for a very competitive season with as many different winners as the first season.

Also, did anyone catch this:

Dario Franchitti wrote:Such a Nick Heidfeld drive, isn't it? Quietly goes about his business and does the job. There's a reason he keeps getting employed and keeps driving cars, he does the job. He's not the most spectacular, but he just gets on with it.

Or, in other words: "I am slightly bored by Nick Heidfeld."

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 12 Oct 2016, 13:01

Continuing my very pointless "what if" championship updated after Punta del Este last year, here's what the 2016 season looks like at the conclusion of the "summer break" in Hong Kong:

Drivers' Championship

1. Sébastien Buemi - 118 pts.
2. Nicolas Prost - 116 pts.
3. Lucas di Grassi - 110 pts.
4. Sam Bird - 64 pts.
5. Jérôme d'Ambrosio - 61 pts.
6. Daniel Abt - 58 pts.
7. Stéphane Sarrazin - 55 pts.
8. Nick Heidfeld - 51 pts.
9. Jean-Éric Vergne - 50 pts.
10. Bruno Senna - 42 pts.
11. Loïc Duval - 36 pts. (2 4ths)
12. Robin Frijns - 36 pts. (1 5th)
13. António Félix da Costa - 22 pts.
14. Oliver Turvey - 7 pts. (1 8th, 1 9th, 1 10th, 1 11th)
15. Mike Conway - 7 pts. (1 8th, 1 9th, 1 10th, 1 12th)
16. Nelson Piquet, Jr. - 7 pts. (1 8th, 1 9th, 1 12th)
17. Simona de Silvestro - 4 pts.
18. Maro Engel - 2 pts.
19. Felix Rosenqvist - 1 pt.
20. Ma Qing Hua - 0 pts. (1 11th)
21. Adam Carroll - 0 pts. (1 12th)
22. Salvador Durán - 0 pts. (1 14th)
NC. René Rast - 0 pts. (1 NC)
NC. Mitch Evans - 0 pts (1 DNF)
NC. José María López - 0 pts. (1 DNF)

Teams' Championship

1. Renault e.dams - 234 pts.
2. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport - 168 pts.
3. DS Virgin Racing - 114 pts.
4. Faraday Future Dragon Racing - 97 pts.
5. Mahindra Racing - 94 pts.
6. Venturi - 64 pts.
7. MS Amlin Andretti - 50 pts.
8. NextEV NIO - 14 pts.
9. Techeetah - 12 pts.
10. Panasonic Jaguar Racing - 0 pts.

And yes, Aguri's and Techeetah's results have been combined.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 13 Oct 2016, 08:37

I've only just caught up with this race, though unfortunately had the result spoiled by the announcement of the Buemi profile on the GP Rejects Facebook page!

Not to worry though, as something no-one has mentioned is the TV coverage. Which I thought was pretty poor and spoilt my enjoyment of the race anyway.

Is it produced by Eurosport? It contains all their hallmarks - Martin bloody Haven on commentary for starters. Why is this man constantly employed? He misses lots of stuff, talks all over his co-commentators and often shouts them down. He's a definite minus for this season. At least Dario is still there, and Haven managed to be less aggressive to him than he is to Matt Neal / Harry Vaulkhard et al on WTCC.

Another Eurosport trait is to not bother with presenters, and I prefer a proper host to the show to frame the programme properly. Again, on the plus side Nicki Shields is still around, and she's capable enough.

Eurosport trait No.3 - throwing to ad breaks at random points. I'm sorry, but going to one before all the cars have even crossed the line is unforgivable.

If the coverage doesn't improve, I might not bother. Jeez, at this rate I will only be watching BTCC!!

Something I did like that's nothing to do with C5 - the new graphics are really good and actually help get information across much better than before.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 13 Oct 2016, 11:32

I'm firmly of the opinion that existing coverage is better than no coverage at all, but I noticed a lot of what you've said there and thought it was a bit odd to present the race the way they did.

I thought it reminded me of those few times I had to find F1 races by "underground means" and saw the coverage from Setanta that also had no presenters, and cut off abruptly as soon as the race was over; the winner crossed the line, the chequered flag waved, and that was that.

Post by **Ataxia** » 13 Oct 2016, 12:06

Barbazza wrote:I've only just caught up with this race, though unfortunately had the result spoiled by the announcement of the Buemi profile on the GP Rejects Facebook page!

Not to worry though, as something no-one has mentioned is the TV coverage. Which I thought was pretty poor and spoilt my enjoyment of the race anyway.

Is it produced by Eurosport? It contains all their hallmarks - Martin bloody Haven on commentary for starters. Why is this man constantly employed? He misses lots of stuff, talks all over his co-commentators and often shouts them down. He's a definite minus for this season. At least Dario is still there, and Haven managed to be less aggressive to him than he is to Matt Neal / Harry Vaulkhard et al on WTCC.

Another Eurosport trait is to not bother with presenters, and I prefer a proper host to the show to frame the programme properly. Again, on the plus side Nicki Shields is still around, and she's capable enough.

Eurosport trait No.3 - throwing to ad breaks at random points. I'm sorry, but going to one before all the cars have even crossed the line is unforgivable.

If the coverage doesn't improve, I might not bother. Jeez, at this rate I will only be watching BTCC!!

Something I did like that's nothing to do with C5 - the new graphics are really good and actually help get information across much better than before.

The Formula E world feed is managed by FE themselves. Jack Nicholls was unavailable thanks to the Japanese GP, so Haven stepped in as cover, much like Bob Varsha did at Long Beach last year. Ad breaks will have been done by C5, so that's their fault really for putting one in as Heidfeld was crossing the line.

Also, tying the profile in on social media to the race result seemed like the best way to ride the crest of the Buemi wave. So, no regrets

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 13 Oct 2016, 15:40

I hope that Jack Nicholls does return for the next race as you've suggested...

I'm not blaming you for mentioning the Buemi win, but when there are multiple series on in the same weekend and at least 1 is on at a silly time in the UK, I have no choice to record and it's impossible to watch them all on the same day!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 13 Oct 2016, 16:25

Barbazza wrote:...I'm not blaming you for mentioning the Buemi win...

Yeah, don't blame him, that was my fault there.

Post by **Ataxia** » 13 Oct 2016, 16:30

Barbazza wrote:I hope that Jack Nicholls does return for the next race as you've suggested...

The next race in Marrakech clashes with the Brazilian GP, but I expect he'll be back after that.

That aside, I'm no fan of Martin Haven by any stretch, but I didn't find him too bad overall. He seemed to gel reasonably well with Dario and Nicki in the post-shakedown pitwalk thing, but I would certainly prefer Mr Nicholls on comms. Or Alex Jacques.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 14 Oct 2016, 12:13

Ataxia wrote:
Barbazza wrote:I hope that Jack Nicholls does return for the next race as you've suggested...

The next race in Marrakech clashes with the Brazilian GP, but I expect he'll be back after that.

That aside, I'm no fan of Martin Haven by any stretch, but I didn't find him too bad overall. He seemed to gel reasonably well with Dario and Nicki in the post-shakedown pitwalk thing, but I would certainly prefer Mr Nicholls on comms. Or Alex Jacques.

Nicholls just has that passion for racing and you can tell in his voice. He definitely reminds me of the late Benny Parsons in that regard. I hope he is at Marrakech.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 25 Oct 2016, 13:38

I would love it if this made it onto the FE billing. While I enjoyed my trip to Battersea for the FE in season 1, one thing that was definitely lacking was on-track action. OK, so I am spoilt by the TOCA package whenever I go to see the BTCC, but there was more to see and more going on when I went to the Indy 500 and even F1 usually has GP2/3 or something. (And I am not yet including RoboRace - no drivers to get behind, etc.)