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  • F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    Round 4 for Formula 2 this weekend, lets take a look at how the first day went.

    Free Practice-

    Felipe Drugovich led the way in free practice after multiple red flag stoppages. The MP Motorsport driver, was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers.

    Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out the red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver spinning and hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Daruvala, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Lawson, P6: Vips, P7: Iwasa, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hauger and P10: Williams.

    Qualifying-

    Before we start looking at the qualifying result, Ralph Boschung has withdrawn from this weekend as he is suffering from neck pain and wasn’t able to continue after the practice session.

    Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, left it last minute as he stormed to his second pole position in Formula 2, the Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from HiTech’s Juri Vips which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti in third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Vesti, P4: Daruvala, P5: Sargeant, P6: Iwasa, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Hughes, P9: Williams and P10: Drugovich.

    Drugovich was meant to be starting on pole position for today’s sprint race but, he has a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Theo Pourchaire, so he now will be starting 4th. That promotes Calan Williams to pole position and Jake Hughes onto the front row.

  • F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    We are back at Barcelona for Round 3 of the Formula 3 2022 Championship, lets take a look at how the first day has gone.

    Free Practice-

    For the second round in a row, ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martin set the pace during practice, clocking in a 1:32.196. With the cooler early morning temperatures, it was somewhat leisurely start to running as the 30 car field, turned their focus towards the end of the session.

    Initially, the Carlin trio led the way with the Williams Racing Academy driver, Zak O’Sullivan setting a benchmark of 1:35.420. 15 minutes in and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima leaped to the top of the timesheets, becoming the first driver to break the 1:34s barrier.

    Title contenders Arthur Leclerc and Victor Martins were nip and tuck on track with less than a tenth between them. The PREMA Racing driver went quickest, only for Championship leader Victor Martins to go 0.076s quicker.

    Martins ended the session fastest, ahead of Leclerc. Stanek slotted into third, just over half a second behind the leading time. Jak Crawford was fourth ahead of Imola Sprint Race winner Franco Colapinto and pole-sitter last time out Maloney. Oliver Bearman made it three PREMAs inside the top seven ahead of Kaylen Frederick.

    Qualifying-

    Roman Stanek left it late but secured himself pole position ahead of Victor Martins. The Trident driver had made an early error in the session but rebounded brilliantly to take pole position in the final moments of the day.

    Alex Smolyar followed ahead of Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc, who will have to make up places to fight with his championship rivals ahead. Meanwhile Juan Manuel Correa made it inside the top 10 on his return.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Stanek, P2: Martins, P3: Smolyar, P4: Hadjar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Bearman, P7: Collet, P8L Frederick, P9: Crawford and P10: Correa.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sprint Race- 10:00am – 10:40am (BST).

  • Spanish Grand Prix

    It is race week once again, but this time it’s the start of a double header! We are in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix which is Round 6 out of 22. It is also the home grand prix of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso!

    The drivers have a lot of knowledge of this track with it being one of the test tracks but how will the new cars/tyres and upgrades fair here? It is all to play for once again…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Daniel Ricciardo, plain and simple, seems like since Australia his not that comfortable int he car compared to Lando, if McLaren are bringing upgrades this weekend could be his turning point and get a better grip of the car.

    The Haas pair, I feel like I haven’t spoke about them together yet… But last time out in Imola it looked like they were both set for points but it didn’t end that way. So both drivers will be wanting to get points on the board this weekend and give the team a good result.

    Alpha Tauri, need a good weekend not just for one driver either, they need it as a team. Last time we was racing, Pierre Gasly had the incident with Lando Norris so scored no points and Yuki finished just outside the points also too.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top 5 are: Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez and P5: Norris. We all know the battle for pole is going to be between Ferrari and Red Bull, but Ferrari are bringing big upgrades to this weekend grand prix.

    But the battle for 4th/ 5th and 6th will be the most interesting though, as McLaren are said to brought upgrades as well as Mercedes and Alfa Romeo have a strong car. McLaren and Mercedes will be hoping to get both their drivers in the top 10.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 20th-

    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying F3- 14:30pm – 15:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm
    • Qualifying F2- 17:30pm – 18:00pm

    Saturday 21st-

    • Sprint Race F3- 10:00am – 10:40am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 16:40pm – 17:25pm

    Sunday 22nd-

    • Feature Race F3- 09:05am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 10:35am
    • Round 6- 14:00pm

  • Juri Vips gets FP1 outing

    Red Bull junior driver, Juri Vips will be making his Formula 1 race debut when he steps into the cockpit of the RB18 for the first practice session at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

    The Estonian driver will be behind the wheel of Sergio Perez’s car at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

    Vips, who currently competes in Formula 2 and is sat in eighth in the championship has been apart of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2018, and previously drove an F1 car at last year’s post season test in Abu Dhabi.

    The opportunity for Vips is Red Bull fulfilling one of their two mandated young driver sessions for the year.

    My Opinion-

    Ahh Juri! I love this new rule, it gives young drivers the opportunity to get a handle on an F1 car in a free practice session. I could see Juri being a contender for an F1 seat next year, he has said before that Red Bull haven’t said he needs to win the F2 championship, just show you want it, so it will definitely be interesting to see how he does!

    I imagine as Juri is in the Red Bull, we will see Liam Lawson in the Alpha Tauri for the FP1 outing.

  • Le Castellet added to F2 Calendar

    Formula 2 has announced that they will be racing at the French Grand Prix alongside F1, following the cancellation of the Sochi round.

    Yesterday, Formula 1 confirmed that they will not be replacing the cancelled Russian Grand Prix on its schedule, F2 had also been set to race at Sochi until the September event was cancelled in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However Formula 2 had indicated it intended to replace its lost round.

    The French Grand Prix had been the only European round where no Formula 2 or Formula 3 races were billed, but F2 will now join W Series as the support categories.

    With the new round added, it means F2 will have four double header rounds in the space of five weeks. Starting off with Silverstone from 1st to 3rd July, the Spielberg round from 8th to 10th, Le Castellet then two weeks later on the 22nd to 24th and the Budapest from the 29th to 31st.

    The last time F2 was at Circuit Paul Ricard was in 2019. The feature race was won by that years eventual champion and now Formula E Champion and driver, Nyck de Vries. The sprint victory was taken by French driver, Anthoine Hubert, his final win before the Spa crash.

    Since it was announced that we would drop one event, we have been working on finding a venue to replace it, keeping in mind the costs. Le Castellet came out as the best option, and we are really pleased to return to the Circuit Paul Ricard. With this added round, we go back to fourteen events as announced before the start of the season. This means that the 2022 season calendar is the most sizeable one we have had since the start of the FIA F2 back in 2017. It will be a very busy month of July for the teams and the drivers, but a very exciting one for the fans and everyone involved in F2.

    Bruno Michel, FIA Formula 2 CEO on the latest round.

  • Zendeli replaces Schumacher

    Lirim Zendeli will be returning to the Formula 3 Championship this weekend, as he replaces David Schumacher with Charouz Racing System.

    Schumacher himself replaced Ayrton Simmons in the Barcelona test and second round at Imola, but this weekend he has other commitments as he races in DTM for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward.

    Zendeli is no stranger to the team as he has taken the ADAC Formula 4 title with the Czech team, they then stepped up together to FIA F3 under the Sauber Junior team by Charouz in 2019.

    After moving to Trident for the 2020 season, the German driver scored his only victory in the category in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.

    Zendeli then went on to Formula 2 last year, but it fell short due to a lack of budget, he has not raced since Sochi.

    I’m really happy to be back and drive again. We have to be realistic, I haven’t been in a car for ten months and it will not be easy having only have 45 minutes of practice before quali, but I’ll do my best and try to help the team as much as possible.You can never leave out some surprises but let’s focus on the weekend and get the best possible result.

    Lirim Zendeli on racing this weekend.

  • F1 to host 22 races in 2022

    The 2022 Formula 1 calendar will now run 22 races rather than the originally planned 23, following the decision not to replace the Russian Grand Prix.

    The Russian GP was due to be the 17th race of the season on September 25th but was cancelled back in February following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

    F1 had planned to fill the slot to keep a record 23 race calendar with Qatar and Turkey as options. The sport already has a tight calendar for the rest of the season and the Russian GP was set to kickstart one of the two triple headers after the summer break, instead it will now be a weekend break before a Singapore-Japan double header.

    One of the reasons for there being no replacement despite plenty of options, is that European round would not have been possible because of logistical issues around EU freight rules.

    As well as this, a fly-away race also could have had complications; a Qatar round for example would’ve been in the soaring heat in September and also just two months before the nation hosts the World Cup.

  • Barcelona tyre allocation

    We are back in Europe this week, as we head to Spain for Round 6 for the F1 season. We also have Formula 2 and 3, joining us this weekend to carry on their season.

    Pirelli has decided to bring the hardest tyres in the 2022 range, C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft). It’s a pretty straight forward choice, which is the same as last year albeit using a brand-new family of tyres.

    The teams were at Barcelona as recently as February, for pre-season testing, however there are three big differences to consider since last being there:

    • The teams concentrated on testing compounds in the middle of the range, rather than the hard.
    • The weather conditions were much cooler.
    • The new cars were in their most basic launch specification, the cars have since moved on considerably since then.

    With the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya being a very well-used circuit, there will not be much track evolution expected over the weekend, thanks to a busy schedule of support races also.

    Last years winning strategy was a two stopper, the traditional approach to Barcelona, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton triumphing a pole to a win using a soft-medium-medium strategy. Soft-medium-soft was used by all the finishers from P2 to P8.

    It’s hard to say much about Barcelona that hasn’t been said already, as it’s possibly the best-known circuit on the calendar for the drivers, with its wide-ranging layout making it a perfect testing venue. It has a bit of everything, with the very technical final sector being particularly important when it comes to looking after the tyres. As a result, the teams will have a good opportunity to assess the progress they have made with their cars since the start of the season, although the weather conditions will be much warmer and there will probably be a lot more running on the hard tyre than there was in testing, which will perhaps be the key to the race. In the past, Barcelona has traditionally been a two-stopper, so it will be interesting to see if the new generation of tyres this year leads anyone to target a one-stopper.

    Mario Isola, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    The Hard and Soft tyres have been nominated for Round 4 in Spain. This is the same nomination as the championship’s last raced at the circuit in 2020, and one which has already been seen this year at Bahrain and at the in-season test in Barcelona last month.

    Formula 3

    The Hard tyre is nominated for the third round of the season. Drivers will have three sets of the hard compound plus one set of Medium tyres which are carried over from the previous round in Imola, these are to be used in free practice only.

  • De Vries gets FP1 run with Williams

    Mercedes reserve driver, Nyck de Vries will be making his Formula 1 race weekend debut, this weekend in Spain as he carries out driving duties for Williams in the first practice session.

    The reigning Formula E World Champion, will be borrowing Alex Albon’s FW44 for the 60 minute session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

    De Vries, shares the Mercedes reserve role with Stoffel Vandoorne, who is also his teammate in Formula E for Mercedes EQ. The Dutchman previously tested F1 machinery when he drove the Silver Arrows in last year’s post-season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test.

    His appearance for Williams fulfils one of the British team’s two mandated young driver sessions, which is a new rule introduced for this season.

    We are looking forward to having Nyck de Vries in the car for FP1 as it is always good to work with a new driver and get a fresh opinion on the car’s strengths and weaknesses. Nyck’s experience and professionalism will be crucial on Friday as he will complete some of the key engineering tests in FP1 before he hands the car back to Alex for FP2.

    Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams.

    Firstly, I’d really like to thank Williams for the opportunity to run in FP1. It’s great for me to get to know the team and drive the FW44, and also to get myself out on track during a Formula 1 weekend. Preparation for the test is going well so far and the team have been incredibly supportive of me. I’m very much looking forward to the whole experience in Spain now.

    Nyck de Vries, on the FP1 session for Williams.

    My Opinion-

    Well, one of the teams had to take the bullet and go first… All jokes aside, I’m glad that Nyck is getting a chance, he definitely deserves a seat in F1 and maybe this is his chance to get out there and impress Williams or maybe some other teams?

    Nyck has been rumoured to the Williams seat, not just last year but also this year, all eyes onto Friday now to see how he does!

  • McLaren to enter Formula E

    McLaren Racing has confirmed that they will be competing in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from next season, the start of the Gen3 era.

    McLaren, has long committed to competing with the best teams, at the leading edge of technology on the world’s biggest stages. The latest addition to the iconic teams’ racing portfolio is also squarely aimed at accelerating McLaren Racing’s understanding of EV technology as part of their sustainability journey whilst reaching a new, more diverse audience.

    The McLaren Formula E Team will be formed through the acquisition of the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, expected to be complete later this year, following an agreement between both teams, that will see the reigning Formula E Word Championship team transfer into the McLaren family.

    Ian James, Team Principle of Mercedes EQ Formula E Team, will continue to lead the team, enabling a smooth transition as the team prepares to feature on the grid, under the iconic McLaren name.

    The name McLaren is among the greatest names in motorsport, since the team’s foundation by Bruce McLaren in 1963, and its Formula 1 debut in 1966, it has amassed 20 Formula 1 World Championship titles, more than 180 Grand Prix wins, three Indianapolis 500 victories and won the Le Mans 24 Hours at their first attempt.

    McLaren Racing always seeks to compete against the best and on the leading edge of technology, providing our fans, partners and people with new ways to be excited, entertained and inspired. As with all forms of the sport we participate in, Formula E has racing at the centre but will be strategically, commercially and technically additive to McLaren Racing overall. I firmly believe that Formula E will give McLaren Racing a competitive advantage through greater understanding of EV racing, while providing a point of difference to our fans, partners and people, and continuing to drive us along our sustainability pathway.

    Zak Brown, McLaren Racing CEO.

    My Opinion-

    Ahhhh finally!! After it being spoke about and rumours flying around, its finally confirmed. Good news for McLaren, now in another championship and they are overtaking the current World Champions.

    It will be interesting to see how the transition goes and who they decide on their driver line-up, could Stoffel Vandoorne be making a return to McLaren?…

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdh0uRDoAJc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
  • Round 8- Berlin E-Prix

    Round 8- Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    Round 7 winner, Edoardo Mortara set the benchmark once again in FP1 as he set a 1m 06.373s at the reverse, clockwise layout of the Tempelhof Airport Circuit. Overnight work was carried out to switch from the traditional track to the anti-clockwise version, giving drivers a whole new circuit to get used to.

    Mortara adapted the quickest, with Porsche’s Andre Lotterer was up there once again on home soil. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis came home third. Pascal Wehrlein and front row qualifier, Alexander Sims rounded out the top five.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Lotterer, P3: Dennis, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Sims, P6: Vergne, P7: De Vries, P8: Di Grassi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Bird.

    FP2-

    ROKiT Venturi’s pace was still unbeatable in Free Practice 2, as Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara led the way with the first and second quickest times of the day.

    Di Grassi’s 1m 06.133s was two tenths quicker than his teammate managed in FP1 and 0.150s quicker than Mortara in FP2. The pair then lead Oliver Rowland, who went quickest in the first session ahead of Round 7.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Di Grassi, P2: Mortara, P3: Rowland, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Dennis, P7: Vergne, P8: Frijns, P9: Turvey and P10: Da Costa.

    Qualifying-

    ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara, held his own in qualifying as he grasped a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position in two days, he only had to wait 5 years and two came along at once!!…

    The shock of qualifying for Round 8 was seeing the top 3 in the championship not start higher than 7th… Vandoorne who came into the weekend leading the championship only managed P8, Vergne who is in 2nd in the Championship was behind the leader and the same for Mitch Evans also, who had been on a role until now.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Frijns, P3: De Vries, P4: Lotterer, P5: Da Costa, P6: Cassidy, P7: Di Grassi, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.

    Round 8-

    Mercedes EQ driver and reigning champion Nyck de Vries, powered to a comfortable, managed drive to the race win, where he won the Season 7 title triumph. Mortara following 2.5s back, with Vandoorne making it two Mercedes EQ cars on the podiums and three Mercedes EQ powertrains in the top three. The Belgians third place finish also extended his silverware streak to three races.

    Lucas di Grassi came home fourth to extend that to four Mercedes powered cars in the top four in a dominant outing. Oliver Rowland made good progress from 10th to an eventual seventh. A bit of a weird weekend for DS Techeetah as Jean-Eric Vergne finished 9th…

    We’ve had a bit of a difficult ride the past three races. So, honestly I’m just very pleased to be here and to be back. Obviously it’s a bit of an emotional one for me. It was the perfect way to come back after a difficult day yesterday and the work put in with my engineers to find positives. Edo (Mortara) has been very strong all weekend so we definitely had to keep it clean, but the team managed very well on their side and I executed it, so I’m very pleased.

    Nyck de Vries on winning Round 8.

    The full top 10 are: P1: De Vries, P2: Mortara, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Di Grassi, P5: Frijns, P6: Da Costa, P7: Rowland, P8: Lotterer, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.

    We now have just under 3 weeks until we are back for Round 9, for the Jakarta E-Prix on the 4th June!

  • Round 7- Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland, set the early pace with a 1m 06.270s ahead of Lucas di Grassi, with current World Champion leader, Stoffel Vandoorne back in third.

    Edoardo Mortara, placed his ROKiT Venturi Racing Silver Arrow 02, fourth to make it two in the top four for the Monegasque team. The top 20 runners sat within eight and a half tenths of a second of one another, come the chequered flag on the session.

    Full top 10 were: P1: Rowland, P2: Di Grassi, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Mortara, P5: Dennis, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Vergne, P8: Buemi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Frijns.

    FP2-

    Andre Lotterer put in a late lap to top the timesheets of Free Practice 2, ahead of Edoardo Mortara in 2nd and Sebastien Buemi in 3rd.

    After the first free practice having 20 drivers split by just over 0.850s and this time, 21 drivers were separated by under three quarters of a second. Lap times aren’t the only focus in practice though, as drivers and engineers will be working flat out to understand things like energy management and setup ahead of qualifying and the race.

    The top 10 were: P1: Lotterer, P2: Mortara, P3: Buemi, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Frijns, P6: Evans, P7: Dennis, P8: Da Costa, P9: Rowland and P10: Vandoorne.

    Qualifying-

    Edoarado Mortara, fired to a maiden Julius Baer Pole Position ahead of Round 7, as the ROKiT Venturi driver hung it all on the line to beat Alexander Sims to the mark.

    But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mortara, as he looked to be compromised by a Turn 1 error, the Swiss-French-Italian running wide and opening the opportunity for Sims to capitalise.

    The highlight of qualifying though was the Semis between Jean-Eric Vergne and Alexander Sims, having dived deep into Turn 1, but not as much as Vergne did- Vergne fell back by 0.150s.

    As the lap continued, the gap gradually kept coming down as JEV was fighting hard. Vergne continued to reel the Brit in and as the Frenchman flew across the start/finish line he’d exactly matched Sims’ effort, the pair setting an identical lap time down to the thousandth of a second.

    The top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Sims, P3: Da Costa, P4: Vergne, P5: Lotterer, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Sette Camara, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Evans and P10: Buemi.

    Round 7-

    Edoardo Mortara, produced a complete drive to seal victory in the Berlin E-Prix, Round 7 heading home Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.

    But, nothing is that simple as Mortara had all to do as a fiesty looking Vergne back and the decisive moment came on Lap 37 as the Venturi driver went on the defensive at Turn 6, luring JEV into a move – the Frenchman diving too deep and fall back 1.5s.

    Vandoorne produced one of the drives of the day, as he shuffled down the order to 12th at the end of Lap 12, the Belgian driver had slipped by six by the halfway point and looked as good a bet to take the race win. But, he had to settle for third after a back and forth with Vergne.

    The full top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Vergne, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Lotterer, P5: Evans, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Bird, P8: Da Costa, P9: Sims and P10: De Vries.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sunday 15th May

    • Free Practice 1 – 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 8 – 14:00pm (BST)

  • Avalanche Andretti to be powered by Porsche

    Avalanche Andretti Formula E took to social media to announce that they will be joining forces with Porsche from the start of Season 9.

    Porsche will provide the powertrains and other support services for the Andretti team, under a long-term agreement.

    The agreement will bring the Andretti name and Porsche brand together for the first time since 2008, when the late John Andretti carried the Porsche emblem for the Daytona 24 Hours.

    The manufacturer and family share a storied past, which includes a run at Le Mans that saw the father-son pairing of Mario and Michael Andretti as teammates for one of motorpsort’s most iconic races.

    Our Formula E journey began with Season 1 and we’re very proud to now be looking ahead to the next generation of the sport. Avalanche Andretti FE has an ambition to win, and with the support of Porsche, we have full confidence in our performance and growth. The agreement is an important step in our future and commitment to our sport, partners, and fans. Our history with Porsche as two historic racing teams means this collaboration was a natural fit, and we look forward to a new chapter starting in 2023.

    Michael Andretti, CEO and Chairman Andretti Autorsport.

    Season 9 will be an important year for our team and the series. It was vital that we made a strong choice in our powertrain provider in preparation for this new chapter and exciting generation of car – and we have that in Porsche. We are looking forward to starting Gen3 as a formidable competitor. We remain focused on the rest of this season, we continue our powertrain relationship with BMW, who have been a valued partner to our team and will support us until the end of this season. We’ve had many successes together through the years and thank them for both their partnership and friendship.

    Roger Griffiths, Team Principle Avalanche Andretti Formula E.

    It’s important for us to support a customer team that demonstrates the same passion and professionalism in Formula E as we do. Avalanche Andretti has raced in Formula E since the inaugural 2014 season. For us, it’s a huge vote of confidence that one of the most experienced teams has chosen to work alongside Porsche from Season 9 onwards and wants to field two Porsche 99X Electric racers. Porsche and Andretti are united by a long tradition, and it all started when Mario and Michael made their Le Mans debuts in a Porsche 956 in 1983. We’re delighted that the tradition is continuing in Formula E, and we hope our partnership will be just as successful.

    Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.

  • A look into Berlin

    We are back for Formula E this weekend with a double header in Berlin for Round 7 and 8, which marks our halfway point of Season 8.

    Formula E’s 11 teams and 22 drivers return to the German capital – a fixture which has been on the calendar since 2014/15 to tackle an anti-clockwise and clockwise variation of the circuit.

    With Vandoorne currently leading the Championship, will he be victorious in Berlin? His teammate definitely needs a good weekend, de Vries currently sits in 8th on 39 points, he needs another win to kick start to defend his Championship title.

    What can Mitch do? His came off the back of two very good weekends, so he will be raring to go once again and get on that podium.

    The Circuit-

    Back for the eight year, the race takes place on the giant apron section of the historic Berlin Tempelhof Airport. The drivers can expect a challenge with two circuits over two days, as the Sundays race will see the return of the reversed NILREB circuit for Round 8.

    Drivers should also be aware of the challenge of the concrete being high grip which can take its toll on energy levels and race strategies. Saturday will see the driver tackle the circuit traditionally in anti clockwise, where as Sunday is clockwise.

    Mitch Evans currently holds the Berlin Lap Record with a 1:08.350 (2020). Lucas di Grassi holds the NILREB Lap Record with a 1:08.305 (2021).

    Timings-

    Saturday 14th May

    • Free Practice 1- 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 7 – 14:00pm (BST)

    Sunday 15th May

    • Free Practice 1 – 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 8 – 14:00pm (BST)

  • Marrakesh to host Round 10

    Formula E and the FIA have announced that Marrakesh will be hosting Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, on Saturday the 2nd July.

    The 2022 Marrakesh E-Prix will once again be held at the Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan street circuit with the support of local authorities, restores the schedule of 16 races in Season 8 after the Vancouver E-Prix was postponed.

    It will be the fifth time the Moroccan city of Marrakesh will host an E-Prix, subject to the FIA World Motor Sport Council and ASN approval, following the Season 3 debut in November 2016 and further races in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

    Formula E seems to have remained tight lipped on the specific reasons for the Vancouver postponement but it is known that a permit was not issued for the race after issues between the city council and local promoters, the OSS Group.

    The Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan, was at one stage going to feature on the 2022 calendar, as a replacement for a planned race in China. But Formula E officials decided instead to swallow a seven-week gap between the Mexico City and Rome races instead.

    This isn’t the first time Formula E has had issues with calendars delivery, before the pandemic with a variety of political and commercial problems scuppering plans for races that ranged from Brussels, Rio de Janiero and Cape Town, the latter of which was postponed from this February due to a variety of complications.

  • South African GP to return?

    With the F1 calendar forever changing, and with a record-breaking 23 races this season is it time to bring some old races back? Especially now with Miami, Zandvoort, Jeddah and Las Vegas signing deals in recent years taking up spots on the calendar.

    It definitely makes me think are there some places missing? One which has been spoken about recently, is the South African Grand Prix, which F1 hasn’t hosted a race there since 1993, with 13 drivers on the 2022 grid not being alive the last time it featured on the calendar…

    Based near Johannesburg, the Kyalami Circuit has previously held 21 out of 23 GP’s in Africa from 1967 to 1993. But we may have to wait a few more years till its return.

    A lot of work is needed to upgrade the circuit to meet the FIA Grade 1 status required to host an F1 race, the circuit was redesigned in 2014 but still requires improvements, including extra run off areas and TecPro barriers.

    Max Verstappen has backed Lewis Hamilton’s calls for F1 to return to South Africa, the reigning world champion said “I’d like to race in Africa, so Kyalami would be a cool addition.”

    On top of America, on top of China, I think there is a potential also to be in Africa soon. There is a lot of interest there. For sure that’s another area that so far is missing in the geography of our calendar.

    F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali stated his desire to add a GP, talking to Sky Sports F1.

    The one I really want to see is South Africa. That’s the one I want to hear announced next. We’re pretty much on every other continent, so why not? Ultimately, my ancestors are from there so that’s why it is important for me personally. I think it’s important for the sport to go there. If they’re in every other continent, why not?

    Lewis Hamilton on a race in Africa.

    My Opinion-

    I’d very much like to see the South African GP back on the calendar, as much as these new tracks are great, there are other tracks around and in different countries which are waiting to have their turn.

    Hopefully we get to hear something soon on whether this will happen!

  • Round 5- Miami GP

    Round 5- Miami GP

    The first Miami Grand Prix is officially over, and what a race it was! No-one really knew how it was going to go from tyres/pitstops to weather to VSC and Safety Cars, it was all unknown.

    But, Max Verstappen wins the Miami Grand Prix after getting the lead from Charles Leclerc early on in the race. 2nd place went to Charles Leclerc and the final podium spot going to Carlos Sainz, a good haul of points for Ferrari.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez, P5: Russell, P6: Hamilton, P7: Bottas, P8: Ocon, P9: Alonso and P10: Albon.

    There was quite a lot of overtakes throughout the race, but Mr Russell, seemed to make them stick as he was charging up the field after starting 12th! He took full advantage of going long and waiting for a VSC/Safety Car, and it ended up paying off.

    There was a few DRS trains during the race, but one which caused some drama, was where Pierre Gasly went wide, which allowed some cars to go through, but Lando Norris and Gasly made contact as Norris went to over take the Alpha Tauri driver. Lando’s race was therefore over, which caused a VSC and then a full safety car, Gasly retired into the pits just as the Safety Car went in.

    Another bit of contact late on in the race, was between Mick and Seb, both running in the points but as they made contact it saw the pair fall down the order, Seb retiring in the pitlane and Mick having to get a new front wing…

    An okay day for Alfa Romeo, they had Bottas score some points, and it could’ve been more if he didn’t go wide and have both Mercedes sat right behind him. But Guanyu Zhou had a technical issue which saw his race come to an end rather early.

    McLaren and Ricciardo are not having a good time at the moment, second race in a row, finishing outside the top 10. The Woking team now have time to the next race to understand a few things out about the car, as I’m sure they are not the only team who will be doing so.

    The Championship-

    Leclerc still leads the Championship by 19 points, the gap just keeps on coming down now… Max still in 2nd on 85 points, his teammate in third on 66 points. we then have Russell in 4th on 59 points and then Sainz rounding out the top 5 on 53 points.

    The gap between the top two teams are closing, Ferrari still leads with 157 points but Red Bull are just 6 points away from them. Mercedes sat comfortably in third on 95 points, with McLaren in 4th after not scoring any this weekend, and Alfa Romeo in 5th on 31 points.

    We are back again in two weeks, but this time we have a double header. Our first stop being to Barcelona, Spain on the 20th to 22nd May, the home Grand Prix of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz!

  • Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    The craziness continues in Miami, we only had 19 drivers take part in qualifying as Esteban Ocon had a crash in FP3 where his chassis broke, and wouldn’t of been fixed in time.

    But it was Ferrari who came out on top for the first ever Miami Qualifying, Charles Leclerc took pole position for the third time this season! With his teammate making it an all Ferrari front row lock out.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Verstappen, P4: Perez, P5: Bottas, P6: Hamilton, P7: Gasly, P8: Norris, P9: Tsunoda, P10: Stroll.

    Bit of a mixed weekend for most teams really, some seem to improve a lot on Friday, but Saturday they went a little bit back down.

    Mercedes looked very strong in the two free practice sessions, so for GR to qualify out of the top 10 was bit strange, starting in the middle of the pack may not be good here, but it will be interesting to see if he can work his way up the field. Onto LH, much better weekend for him here, back in the top 10, and in a good position if anything happens today to make the most of it.

    Alpha Tauri, a big improvement for them as both drivers in the top 10, where as in Imola they were out in Q1! Lets see if they can keep it up today and score some good points for the team.

    McLaren had an okay day, Norris in the top 10 again, whereas 14th for Ricciardo. The Aussie had an issue with starting the car up in Q2, this then compromised his out lap as he was pushing to get heat in his tyres.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 for the race are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton and P5: Norris.

    I feel like things aren’t going to go well for Max, his already had a few mechanical problems this weekend, so could this play apart?

    I’d love to see Mick get points, but with the track really only having 2 overtaking spots, can he make up 4 places as well as having to pit and then make up those positions again?…

    I could see a few DNF’s happening today, the track is so tight and there is no room for error, as we have seen from Ocon and Sainz both crashing.

    The race starts at 20:30pm (BST).

  • Alonso to replace Vettel?

    Acording to a report, Fernando Alonso is on Aston Martin’s radar again to potentially to replace Sebastian Vettel for 2023.

    Vettel’s seat is probably one of the most talked about this year, he doesn’t give anything away with what he will be doing next year.

    Alonso is now into his second season, since returning to Formula 1 last season with Alpine, he has had an strong start to the 2022 capmaign even though his result do not show that…

    Bad luck has played a part in the Spaniard’s season, such as a retirement in Saudi Arabia and then a hit from Mick Schumacher at Imola later forced Alonso to retire because of a large chunk of his sidepod went up in the air… As well as this, at the Australian GP it looked like Alonso was a contender for pole, but a hydraulic problem caused him to crash in Q3.

    Aston Martin have ambitions to become title contenders within the next five years, but early in 2022 they find themselves as one of the slowest cars on the grid. Vettel and Stroll scored their first points of the year at Imola.

    But with Aston Martin having a lot of work to be able to be a contender to challenge the top teams right now, it is suspected that Vettel could leave the team. F1-Insider.com report that Alonso is on AM’s radar, having first been linked to a move to the Silverstone based team ahead of the 2022 season, when Vettel’s future was also not clear.

    My Opinion-

    We all know Alonso wants to keep on driving in F1, whether thats with Alpine, or Aston Martin I don’t think he will mind. If this happens, then I could see Alpine getting in Piastri, which a lot of people will want to see!

    But will Seb retire or will he find another seat? It’s a tough one, Seb says his still got a few more years in him, but does he actually want to stay?…

  • Miami Grand Prix

    The first Miami Grand Prix weekend is here! And what a crazy couple of days we’ve seen and there hasn’t even been any racing yet… A sign of things to come?

    Being at a new track, it is a fresh start for everyone but going into the weekend there is a lot of unknown aswell. Who will come out on top this weekend, Ferrari or Red Bull? Or will Mercedes new upgrades put them further up the field…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Mercedes, even though George has been having a consistent season so far, they will be wanting both drivers to be doing well. Once they unlock the problems on the W13, they should have a decent car…

    Carlos will be wanting a good weekend, his been caught up in a few incidents which hasn’t been his fault. But it does seem like the pressure may be getting to him, he knows his got a car which can perform and he will want to get his first win and help the team get those points up for the Constructors.

    Alonso as well will be wanting a good weekend, another DNF in Imola which wasn’t his fault meant he hasn’t scored points in 3 out of 4 races. The Alpine has got pace so it should be up in that top 10 fighting for points with the McLaren and Mercedes.

    Mick, will he be getting his first points? It’s needed and the Haas does have pace, will be interesting to see how he handles the car on this track.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top 5 are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso. This track is a bit unknown on whose car it will suit, but we all know the battle will be between Ferrari and Red Bull for pole.

    A battle i’m not sure on is Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and probably Haas, they all have strong cars which could make that final top 5 place, but it should be a good battle between the teams.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 6th-

    • Free Practice 1- 19:30pm – 20:30pm (BST)
    • Free Practice 2- 22:30pm – 23:30pm (BST)

    Saturday 7th-

    • Free Practice 3- 18:00pm – 19:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying- 21:00pm – 22:00pm (BST)

    Sunday 8th-

    • Race- 20:30pm (BST).

  • DTS Season 5 & 6 confirmed

    Netlifx and Formula 1 have confirmed that the popular series, Formula 1: Drive To Survive has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season on Netflix.

    DTS first debuted on Netflix in early 2019, in which they covered the 2018 season with 10 episodes pers series focusing on teams and drivers.

    The series, has grown more popular over time, with Season 4 attracting the biggest audience to date, with it breaking into the weekly Top 10 in 56 countries!

    The series offers unprecedented access, with the new season once again taking fans behind the scenes to witness first hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2022 and 2023 championship.

    It is said, this is the reason why Formula 1 has broke America, and seeing more American races on the calendar, this year us having two and next year three, with Las Vegas joining the calendar.

  • ABT Sportsline returns to Formula E

    ABT Sportsline has confirmed it will return to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from the beginning of the Gen3 era, starting next year.

    The German outfit will enter as a customer team after having been a fixture throughout the championship’s first seven seasons. Despite a hiatus in Season 8, following the exit of Audi ABT can still count itself among the most successful teams in Formula E history, with 47 podiums and 1,380 points to its name.

    The team won the first ever Formula E race in Beijing in 2014, whilst Lucas di Grassi steered to the Drivers’ title in 2017, ABT then sealed the Teams’ crown a season later and partnered with Audi between 2017 and 2021.

    ABT has already secured a powertrain supplier for 2023, which they will announce shortly and discussions are already underway as the privateer aims to secure a pair of ‘clever’ drivers to leverage every possible advantage at the start of Formula E’s new era.

    Formula E has always had a big place in our hearts and we have never made a secret of the fact that we want to be back. After the internal kick-off, we are now talking to our current and potential partners. The goal is to bring a strong team to the championship, both on and off track.

    Hans- Juergen Abt, Managing Partner.

    We have always been in contact with Formula E, had many discussions and have received great support from the whole team around Alejandro (Agag), Alberto (Longo) and Jamie (Reigle). As far as our two drivers are concerned, we have very clear ideas. We will probably start the 2023 season as underdogs, unlike last time as a factory team. That’s why it’s all the more important that we have quick and clever drivers in the cockpit, who fit in well with us. The first talks are exciting and very positive, so I’m sure we’ll have our team together soon.

    Thomas Biermaie, CEO ABT.

    Formula E is the pinnacle of all-electric motorsport so it’s natural that teams and manufacturers leading the electric mobility revolution want to be part of the championship. In Season 9 we will introduce two game-changing developments designed to enhance the appeal of racing in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. First, we debut the Gen3 race car which will set the standard in performance, efficiency and sustainability. Second, we introduce new financial regulations to underpin competitive balance and financial sustainability for our teams. Together, they create an environment for competitive racing and long-term growth. We look forward to seeing ABT embrace these opportunities as they return to Formula E in Gen3.

    Jamie Reigle, Formula E CEO.

  • Miami tyre allocation

    We are back this week, but no longer in Europe, as we have headed to Miami for the first ever Miami Grand Prix which is round number 5 of the 2022 season!

    Pirelli have chosen the middle of the range, C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft), this combination is the most commonly used throughout the year as its the most versatile.

    The 5.41 kilometre Miami International Autodrome is set in the Hard Rock Stadium Complex in Miami Gardens with 19 corners, three straights, elevation changes and a chicane. Top speeds are expected to be in the region of 320kph with an average of around 22kph and drivers on full throttle for around 58% of the lap.

    The Miami track will be the 11th venue to host a grand prix in the USA, with it being brand new to everyone, Pirelli has had to rely on simulation data to come up with the tyre nominations.

    The brand new asphalt is likely to lead to a high degree of track evolution, especially at the start of the weekend, with the Porsche Challenge and W series as support events.

    The weather could be unpredictable aswell, with ambient temperatures of around 20 degrees and quite a high risk of rain and wind on the Florida coast at this time of year.

    There’s been a huge buzz of excitement around the first Miami Grand Prix, where the track has some similarities to Jeddah, although there are some parts that are slower and more technical than Saudi Arabia: especially the section from Turns 11 to 16. The rest is a very quick layout, running anti-clockwise, which puts the emphasis on the tyres on the right hand side of the car. We’re expecting the usual rapid track evolution and a smooth surface with the new asphalt, but the track has been jet-washed at high pressure, which means that it should offer quite good grip from the beginning. Because it’s a fast track the cars are likely to run a low to medium downforce set-up, which could lead to a bit of sliding in the high-speed corners on the hard compounds in particular. For any new track our choice tends to be on the conservative side, so it will be interest to confront the simulations with real data.

    Mario Isla, Head of Pirelli Motorsport.

  • Audi & Porsche to enter Formula 1

    After months of speculation, Volkswagen’s chief executive, Herbert Diess has confirmed that Audi and Porsche will be entering Formula 1 in 2026.

    It seems that Porsche’s plans are a little more certain at this early stage- which may see them link up with Red Bull for an engine programme.

    Since last summer when both became involved in talks over F1’s next generation of engines from 2026, Audi and Porsche who are both apart of the Volkswagen group have been linked with joining the grid quite a lot.

    Unofficial confirmation occurred in early April, as reported by Reuters, who are now attributing the official word to chief executive Diess in a Youtube video. There were not however any specific details although Reuters reported that Porsche “intends to establish a long-term partnership”.

    Reuters are also sticking to their story from March that Audi have out a bid of 500 million euros for the McLaren team, which if accepted would enable them to enter Formula 1 as a constructor rather than an engine manufacturer. But Zak Brown shut down the not for sale talks but that ‘vert preliminary’ talks with VW had taken place.

    McLaren aren’t the only potential option for Audi, Sauber operators of the Alfa Romeo branded team were close to selling to Andretti Autosport last year and already have a connection to Audi whose Le Mans cars were developed in the wind tunnel at Hinwil. It is also feasible that Williams’ owners Dorilton Capital could be interested in a deal.

  • Sao Paulo set to host first E-Prix

    The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the City of Sao Paulo, alongside SPTuris and GL Events, signed a contract at the Monaco E-Prix that will see the all electric series head to Brazil, subject to the FIA’s approval.

    The five year agreement, as well as the option to renew, this means that the city of Sao Paulo could play host to the world’s foremost electric motorsport championship from Season 9- the beginning of Formula E’s new era, Gen3.

    Formula E has already unveiled its round in Cape Town for next season, whilst the postponed Vancouver is also set to make its first appearance on the calendar next year, the Indian city of Hyderabad also has an agreement to host a race.

    This isn’t the first time Sao Paulo potentially will be seen on the calendar, as it has previously been on a provisional calendar and was set to host a race in the 2017-18 season before being dropped for Punta del Este.

    “We are delighted that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be heading to Brazil for the very first time pending approval at the FIA World Motor Sport Council in June. The country has a huge, long-standing passion for motorsport, it’s a big market as one of the largest countries in the world, and São Paulo itself is a historic race location. “We can’t wait to welcome the Brazilian fans, they are like no other and there is sure to be a lively, unique atmosphere as the fans enjoy Formula E racing with the leap forward in technology and performance we are going to see with Gen3.

    Alberto Longo, Formula E Co-Founder and Chief Championship Officer.

    The news of São Paulo hosting the next generation of Formula E is music to my ears. Not only does this milestone signify the return of the pinnacle of electric motorsport to South America but it’s an important step towards the electrification of the Brazilian automotive market. On a personal note, there is nothing like the pride and incredible energy of the Brazilian racing fans so it would be a dream come true for me to race in this game-changing championship in front of a home crowd.

    Lucas di Grassi, ROKiT Venturi Brazilian Driver.

  • Miami Track Details

    This week we are in Miami, as F1 keeps on growing in America. Last years US Grand Prix saw a record breaking 400,000 crowd which was unseen before at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

    Miami is now the second US Grand Prix on the calendar, with there being a new addition next year, the Las Vegas Grand Prix making it a third US event.

    The Miami International Autodrome, is a temporary circuit but one designed to have a permanent feel. It’s set in the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, which is home to the NFL’s famous Miami Dolphins franchise.

    The track is culmination of a development process that stimulated no less than 36 different layouts before settling on the final one.

    What is the circuit like?

    The 5.41km layout, will feature 19 corners, three straights and potentially three DRS zones and an estimated top speed of 320km/h. The race will be 57 laps.

    There are also elevation changes too, the main one being found between Turns 13 and 16, with the track heading over an exit ramp and under various flyovers across uneven ground. Whereas Turn 14 – 15 chicane has an uphill approach with crest in the middle, and then drops down on exit.

    One thing for sure, is that the track is going to be fast, as after Turn 1 there are a number of long sweeping corners that eventually loop round into a massive straight. There is expected that there will roughly be 3 main overtaking spots, but I’m sure we will see some drivers risking it in other places on the track.

    There is a very high speed and high lateral g section from Turns 4-8 where cars will likely struggle to pass and where vehicle performance on the exit of Turn 8 is critical to laptime, followed by two fast power-limited corners at Turn 9 and 10 where it is credible to imagine side-by side racing. In Sector 3, where we have the low-speed and grade-changing Turns 14-16 beneath the Turnpike flyovers, it is intentionally a very challenging technical sequence. We have engineered ‘mistake generators’ in the form of grade – and grip – change on corner apexes that could result in changes of position and where a team might choose a set up that optimises low-speed traction over high-speed grip. We’re seeking to challenge the race engineers and their vehicle setups as much as possible. It’s notionally a street track with some really challenging corners, so you’d expect high downforce, but we have some really long straights and some high-speed corner sequences too that would favour a lower drag setup. There will definitely be a compromise here between downforce levels, and it’ll be interesting to see the top speed differentials between the teams. We want to see a big mix to make the racing as exciting as possible.

    Apex Circuit Design, talking about the Miami Circuit.
  • Round 6- Monaco E-Prix

    Round 6- Monaco E-Prix

    Round 6 is here and we are in Monaco, lets take a look on how its gone!

    FP1-

    Reigning champion Nyck de Vries set the pace in the first session of the 2022 Monaco E-Prix, setting a 1m 31.154s, with Nick Cassidy doing well just a tenth of a second of the Dutchman’s laptime.

    Edoardo Mortara was next in the order but almost half a second back on home soil for ROKiT Venturi Racing, whilst the winner of the 2021 Monaco E-Prix rounded fourth.

    The full top 10 were: P1: de Vries, P2: Cassidy, P3: Mortara, P4: Da Costa, P5: Buemi, P6: Lotterer, P7: Bird, P8: Vergne, P9: Dennis and P10: Evans.

    FP2-

    Antonio Felix da Costa topped the timesheets in Free Practice 2 with a 1m 30.435s. The season 6 champion headed Jaguar TCS Racing’s double Rome winner, Mitch Evans by 0.2 seconds.

    A number of drivers were testing the limits before qualifying, with Dan Ticktum looks to steal every inch in the braking zones but firing his NIO 333 car long into the run off, outside Sainte Devote and Antonio Giovinazzi clipping the wall on the exit of the Swimming Pool- as did Jean-Eric Vergne who clouted the barrier, trying to improve on his fourth-fastest time.

    The session was red flagged half way through as Alexander Sims car stopped to halt with what looked like a technical issue. Robin Frijns had set the pace prior to the stoppage.

    The top 10 are: P1: Da Costa, P2: Evans, P3: Frijns, P4: Vergne, P5: Gunther, P6: de Vries, P7: Wehrlein , P8: Lotterer, P9: Mortara, P10: Dennis.

    Qualifying-

    Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, extended his hot streak as he got pole position blowing away Porsche Formula E Team’s Pascal Wehrlein by more than two tenths of a second.

    Wehrelin looked like he had it in the bag especially through Sainte Devote and up the hill, but Evans proved quicker than the German and extended his margin to 0.2 seconds by the tunnel. The Porsche driver then fell away and Evans flew to complete a 1m 29.839s the quickest time of the day.

    The full top 10 being- P1: Evans, P2: Wehrelin, P3: Vergne, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Di Grassi, P6: Lotterer, P7: Frijns, P8: De Vries, P9: Rowland and P10: Bird.

    Round 6-

    The Mercedes EQ of Stoffel Vandoorne mastered the streets of Monaco, with a tactical drive to win the 2022 Monaco E-Prix Round 6 and now lead the Drivers World Championship lead. The Belgian beat polesitter, Mitch Evans to the top step with Jean Eric-Vergne in third.

    Vandoorne emerged on the right side of a mid-race full course yellow and safety car which threw race strategies up in the air. Vandoorne had hit the front after then-leader Pascal Wehrlein retired from the lead with technical issues on lap 16.

    Evans couldn’t quite capitalise on the searing pace that saw him fly to Julius Baer Pole Position but 18 points and second spot after a Rome win-doubles sees the Jaguar driver’s hot-streak continues.

    The top 10 are: P1: Vandoorne, P2: Evans, P3: Vergne, P4: Frijns, P5: Da Costa, P6: Di Grassi, P7: Cassidy, P8: Buemi, P9: Dennis and P10: De Vries.

    We are back in two weeks for Round 7 & 8 for the Berlin E-Prix, on the 14th and 15th May.

  • Gen3 Car Revealed

    Gen3 Car Revealed

    The future of all-electric high performance motorsport was revealed today at the Yacht Club de Monaco by Formula E and the Fedration Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), where the third generation Formula E car was revealed to the public.

    The Gen 3 car is the world’s first race car which is designed for street racing, it will be debuting for Season 9 (next year) where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers race wheel to wheel on the streets of iconic global cities.

    It was developed by engineers and sustainability experts at both the FIA and Formula E, the car is designed to show the world that both high performance and sustainability can powerfully co-exist without any compromise.

    Seven of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers have registered with the FIA to race the Gen 3 car in Season 0 with pre-season testing this winter. They are:

    • DS Automobiles, France
    • Jaguar, UK
    • Mahindra Racing, India
    • Maserati, Italy
    • NIO 33, UK & China
    • Nissan, Japan
    • Porsche AG, Germany.

    Design, engineering and the production innovations for the Gen3 car include but not all:

    Performance:

    • Fastest Formula E car yet with a top speed over 322 kph/ 200 mph.
    • Round 95% power efficiency from an electric motor delivering up to 350kW of power.
    • First ever formula car with both front and rear powertrains.

    Sustainability:

    • Gen3 batteries are among the most advanced, sustainable batteries ever made.
    • Linen and recycled carbon fibre will be used in bodywork construction for the first time in a formula car.
    • All Gen3 suppliers will operate in line with top international standards to reduce environmental impacts of manufacturing.

    Both technologically and environmentally, Gen3 sets new standards in the sport. The FIA and Formula E development teams have done a superb job, and I thank them for their hard work on this project. I am delighted to see so many leading manufacturers already signed up to the championship’s next era and await Gen3’s competitive debut in Season 9 with great anticipation.

    Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President.

    Monaco is the spiritual home of motorsport and there is nowhere more fitting to unveil our Gen3 race car. The Gen3 disrupts and challenges the conventions of motorsport, setting the benchmark for performance, efficiency and sustainability without compromise. Together with the FIA, we are proud to reveal the Gen3 to Formula E fans and demonstrate to the wider sports industry how elite sport, high performance and sustainability can successfully co-exist in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. We cannot wait to see how our teams and drivers push the car to its limit in 2023.

    Jamie Reigle, Chief Executive Officer Formula E.

    My Opinion-

    What a car!! Love the way it looks, I can’t wait to see how the team’s livery will look on the Gen3 car and to see it on track! It’s definitely a step forward in being a sustainable sport which is nice to see.

  • A look into Monaco

    We are back this weekend for Round 6 of the 2022 Formula E Championship, and this week we are in Monaco.

    The field of all electric cars will once again race up the hill through Mirabeau and the famous Casino Square, round the Grand Hotel Hairpin ad through the inimitable Monaco tunnel ahead of the Nouvelle Chicane.

    Last time here it was, DS Techeetah’s Antonio Felix Da Costa who took the victory in an absolute classic- which is undoubtedly one of the most exciting races in the history of Formula E, capping a first outing on the full Monaco circuit with an audacious overtake at the exit of the tunnel on the final lap of the race for the win.

    The race itself, saw 28 overtakes between the top six alone, with the lead having changed six times. Could we see more of the same this year?

    Looking at the driver’s standings, Jean-Eric Vergne leads the championship with 60 points, with Robin Frijns following close behind in second with 58 points. We then have Mercedes, Stoffell Vandoorne in third with 56 points. The reigning world champion is down in 8th with 38 points, de Vries will be wanting a good weekend.

    Onto the teams, and its Mercedes EQ leading the championship with 94 points, we then have Tag Heuer Porsche in second with 85 points and DS Techeetah in 3rd with 80 points.

    The circuit-

    The 2022 Monaco E Prix, will see the amended Nouvelle chicane make way for the full, traditional circuit layout around the Principality’s harbour front.

    Stoffel Vandoorne currently hold the fastest lap of the circuit, 1:34.428 (2021).

    Past Winners:

    • 2015, Sebastien Buemi.
    • 2017, Sebastien Buemi.
    • 2019, Jean-Eric Vergne.
    • 2021, Antonio Felix da Costa.

    Timings-

    Saturday 30th April

    • Free Practice 1- 06:30am – 07:00am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2- 08:10am – 08:40am (BST)
    • Qualifying- 09:45am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 6- 14:00pm – 15:00pm (BST)
  • Alpine to explore Piastri loan

    Alpine to explore Piastri loan

    Recently in the past few weeks there have been quite a few news articles about Australian, Oscar Piastri and him having an F1 seat next year. Well Alpine are considering to loan him out to another team, but they don’t want to loose him permanently.

    After winning back to back Formula 3 and 2 titles, there was no available seat for him on the 2022 F1 gird, so he is spending this season as Alpines reserve, with a heavy simulator schedule, access to engineer briefings and upcoming FP1 sessions, all with the aim of him getting on the gird for 2023.

    If Piastri was to step up to Alpine, then it would be replacing Fernando Alonso, however the Spanish driver appears to be on top form and shows no sign of him declining a seat.

    If it’s a solution that allows me to get him back at some point, I might think about it, I’m not opposed to the solution. You understand I want to develop Oscar, I don’t want to leave him sitting on the bench waiting forever. He needs to be ready when the day comes. And the day will come because he’s very talented, he’s very worthy of one of the top 20 seats here. And I do believe he has the potential of being a future World Champion, I’m persuaded of that. So he needs to be trained as much as he can in the meantime. [Looking at a loan has] always been a parameter for all of us.

    Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO talking on a possible loan for Piastri, quoted by Motorsport.com.

    But, there is a paddock rumour going around, which was revealed by Sky F1 broadcaster, Ted Kravitz.

    One of the latest paddock rumours has Williams interested in the services of Oscar Piastri. This is for next year. I know I said [recently] you might see Oscar Piastri potentially at Aston Martin, but it seems I was wrong about that and actually Oscar Piastri/Alpine are looking at Williams potentially as a place for him next year. I don’t know if that will be in place of Alex Albon or Nicholas Latifi as both are very happy and ensconced within this team at Williams, but it’s one to look out for later in the season.

    Ted Kravitz during Ted’s Notebook for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

    Williams, have had a loan deal before, the British team had George Russell from 2019 to 2021 from Mercedes. After a blank first two season, Russell scored 16 points in his final season with the team.

    My Opinion-

    I’d pay money to see Oscar Piastri have a F1 seat for 2023! Whether that be with Alpine, Williams or a completely different team. But if Williams took a shot at Oscar, I don’t think they would be disappointed.

    He is obviously very talented, as seen by many current F1 drivers, Alpine and Mark Webber (his manager) and also the fact he has won back to back titles, which not many juniors can say they have done. Surely it’s only a matter of time? Right?…