Formula E underwent something of a reset last year with the arrival of the Gen 3 cars and the third generation cars immediately looked very different to the cars they replaced.
Each team adapted with varying degrees of success. The combination of a new car and a new tire manufacturer proved difficult to stomach for some teams.
At the end of the season, Jaguar and Porsche established themselves at the top of the constructors' championship, with only DS Penske able to challenge them during the 2023 championship.
In a sport where experience and data analysis play a vital role in the quest to improve one's performance, it is worth noting that while Porsche and Jaguar dominated in known events, DS Penske was the team that achieved the highest number of points in the new races on the calendar.
Jean-Éric Vergne's victory in India and second place in the following race in South Africa demonstrated that the French rider, the only double champion in the discipline, is capable of competing with the British and German giants.
Later in the season, Stoffel Vandoorne's pole in Brazil raised hopes of a bigger championship challenge, but starting from the Monaco round – the ninth race of the season – a lack of success and some errors cost him precious points DS Penske.
Photo by: DPPI
Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
A new beginning
A few days after the end of the 2022/23 championship, engineers and drivers returned to training. DS Penske had a number of developments in the pipeline, waiting to be applied to the DS E-Tense FE23.
“Our single-seater is the most technological, the most powerful and the most efficient of the three generations of racing cars we have developed,” says Eugenio Franzetti, Director of DS Performance, the racing division of DS Automobiles that developed the car.
“It's true that last season was like a roller coaster in terms of emotions, with many joys and disappointments, but we didn't give up. As always, we worked hard to give our drivers an even better car, so that they can compete in front of everyone.”
The owners of DS Penske are optimistic, as the development work has clearly produced positive results. “The best strategy is to work tirelessly,” says Jean-Éric Vergne. “Last year we learned a lot from the car, which was 100% new. Then we did a lot of testing, focusing on the software. It is by improving the software that we hope to get the best out of our car and make it highly competitive.”
The car management software is the heart of the performance and a program that can constantly evolve, regardless of the hardware part. And while the cars were put into containers bound for Mexico at the beginning of November, immediately after the Valencia tests, the teams were able to continue working on the software and testing their evolutions on the development car.
“Since the end of the 2023 championship, we have worked a lot to better understand the Gen 3s,” explained Stoffel Vandoorne, the 2022 world champion who faced his first season with DS Penske last year.
Photo by: DPPI
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
“Driving a single-seater is an individual task, but in Formula E it is also a team effort where we share many things. JEV and I are both chasing victory, but our goal is to work for the team. My goal is to do everything everything possible to quickly and definitively put us back on the road to victory.”
Like DS Penske, the other teams also worked hard to fine-tune their cars and allow their drivers to get the most out of it. Which manufacturers will dominate at the start of the season? The first clues will arrive on Saturday evening, after the race.
#Penske #ready #season #goal #stronger
