In the sweltering heat of Friday afternoon, the drivers had the opportunity to explore the circuit on foot. This is a fundamental exercise on any track, especially on a new track, which allows you to visualize what you previously perceived on the simulator.
The first minutes of testing, through a shakedown, allowed the riders to confirm the type of circuit they were dealing with. Vergne immediately found himself at ease, obtaining the third fastest time in the first free practice session and the first in the second on Saturday morning aboard his DS E-TENSE FE23.
A little later, in the morning, the trend was confirmed: both DS Penske cars qualified for the quarter-finals and Vergne took pole position ahead of Oliver Rowland’s Nissan.
“Obviously it’s great to be on pole here today,” said the polesitter. “Qualifying wasn’t easy, the track is very slippery and you have to be very careful not to make mistakes. It was difficult, but I’m very happy. Now we have to concentrate on the race.”
The right strategy to get points
At the start, Vergne’s pole position and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne’s eighth place on the grid represented a good starting point.
In its layout designed for Formula E, the Shanghai circuit offers few opportunities to recharge the battery, but it is also the one where drivers have the least “regulatory” energy to expend. This cocktail makes the race complex, where energy strategy clashes with pure performance and where only the most experienced drivers, with the help of their engineers, can make the difference.
But in just over three kilometers and 12 curves per lap, a lot can happen. Furthermore, on this type of circuit, the moment in which Attack Mode is activated is fundamental. Staying ahead of the race by avoiding excessive fuel consumption is a plan that can pay off.
Pole trophy, Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske
Photo by: DPPI
The race was quite close, with the top 12 riders within five seconds of each other. There are a lot of position changes in the lead group and the width of the track meant that at times four or five cars found themselves next to each other approaching a corner.
After the halfway point of the race, each driver still had 53-54% of the battery left. On the engineers’ screens it was clear that everything would happen in the last seven laps.
The final laps were liberating, but did not allow the poleman of the day, once again the victim of several contacts and with a seriously damaged front wing, to express himself fully. Vergne finally crossed the finish line in seventh place, while Vandoorne finished 11th.
On Sunday the track will be open again for the 22 Formula E drivers, although thanks to Saturday’s on-track action they have already had the opportunity to get to know the track. In the meantime, the teams will have worked on the energy strategy to adopt, in light of the data collected in the first race.
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