Formula E, overtaking in decline: drivers miss it | FP

By Carlo Platella
Diriyah's double concludes the trio of opening races of Season 10, inaugurating a six-week break before returning to the track with the Sao Paulo E-Prix. The start of the season was marked by events that were not very dynamic compared to Formula E standards, with the qualifications that played a central role in the outcome of the first E-Prix. In fact, both in Mexico and Saudi Arabia overtaking was prohibitive, pushing the drivers to speak and propose solutions.

The importance of energy

Jake Dennis expresses his opinion on the topic, dampening the alarm by recalling that leads of a different nature will soon arrive which will promote a different type of show. However, this does not mean that the drivers suffered from the overtaking difficulties encountered in the first three rounds: “Portland, Shanghai, Misano and San Paolo will be less qualifying-focused races, while in London it will be very important, regardless of how much energy they give us. From what I gather from others though, we drivers miss the possibility of overtaking”.

There are two factors that determine overtaking opportunities. On the one hand, the configuration of some tracks, including Mexico City and London, does not promote position exchanges, while on other tracks, such as that of Saudi Arabia, the choice of energy allowed for the race plays a fundamental role. Dennis continues: “In Mexico it is always difficult to overtake, no matter what you try, while there would be overtaking opportunities in Diriyah, but the races were so fast that it still made it difficult. In Sao Paulo, however, regardless of how much energy we have, the race will be fun and with lots of overtaking. Portland and Misano will also play in favor of Formula E, offering some exciting races.”

The Diriyah double E-Prix last season, for example, was action-packed, so much so that Wehrlein, winner of both races, was able to recover from the third and fifth rows. For the 2024 edition, however, the organization has increased the ratio between the energy available and the race distance, with a growth of 1.4 and 4.3% for kWh per kilometer respectively in the races on Friday and Saturday. Jake Dennis, however, understands the difficulties of the decision: “To call it a mistake would be a strong word. I think that we didn't calculate the number of turns perfectly. Just two more would have been enough to go from a boring race to a more exciting one. For the FIA ​​and Formula E it is difficult to find the ideal compromise, but we have not missed the correct window by much.”.

The issue especially concerns city circuits, where the narrow road surface complicates overtaking opportunities. Hence the need to carefully choose the energy that can be used in the race, so as to promote management high enough to lengthen braking distances and favor different strategies. The next stage in Sao Paulo, a wide and fast circuit, does not worry Dennis, who instead focuses his attention on the next trip to Japan: “In Tokyo we will have to choose energy carefully and the number of laps if we want to promote an exciting race, otherwise we would once again have a little train that no one will be able to pass.”

A proposal for double headers

The world champion launches a proposal to help the FIA ​​and Formula E to choose more carefully the energy to be allocated during the double-headers, the double events that take place on the same track: “It would help if we could adjust the number of revolutions more freely during the weekend. The race had already been quite fast on Friday and with few overtaking, so we knew that on Saturday it would be even faster. It would be helpful if we could freely change the number of revs from one day to the next, but unfortunately we can't.”

Any energy correction to be granted for the second race would risk being influenced by the conflicting opinions of the drivers, each driven by different interests based on the results: “If you qualify at the back, energy management allows you to make the difference, whereas when you start at the front you want the race to be as short and fast as possible. If you asked Cassidy, she would say Saturday's race was perfect, while I would say it was too short, the opposite of what I would have said on Friday.” In general, Dennis makes no secret about the type of races he would prefer to compete in: “Considering the great efficiency of Porsche powertrains, the longer the races the better it is for us”.