Whether viewing Formula E purely as a motorsport or as a showcase for electric vehicle technology, I would take serious issue with anyone who claims the sport’s formative years have been anything less than a triumph.
More often than not the ePrix have provided excellent racing, overtakes and no shortage of off track talking points. The drivers it attracts, ex-F1, GP2 race winners, Macau GP winners, even an ex-F1 world champion, is testament to the model put in place by the FIA and CEO Alejandro Agag.
And then there are the giants of the automotive industry that are involved with FE.
Currently, the grid is made up of DS, Jaguar, Renault and Mahindra- factory teams representing the titans of the road car world. Then you have Audi and BMW engaged in technical partnerships with ABT Shaeffler and Amlin Andretti respectively. For 2018/19 onwards FE is looking to up its team count by two to take the paddock up to twelve.
Mercedes have declared their interest in joining the electric street racing series from Season 5 onwards and Sergio Marchionne has suggested the FIAT group could enter in a possible Ferrari or Alfa Romeo guise.
While the current interest in the series is owing to its growth and self-made success, nevertheless I think that looking forward, certain steps are needed as to prevent all of the teams from becoming motorsport offshoots of major car manufacturers.
I am a firm believer that truly innovative technology, as pioneered by small companies with a bright idea, disrupt the current status quo and bring step change that shapes the market. Albeit with a CEO and budget that can overcome its broken economics, Tesla is prime example of this.
Their first road car, the Roadster, was a sound technical show case, but the Model S was a second album that recognised the brand as a competitor among the establishment.
It’s shocks like these that often would not make it past the boardroom of a major, and therefore more conservative, marque. As such FE needs to look beyond the headlines of attracting massive brands to the sport and look to the smaller but more innovative companies.
There is no denying that the big brands are
great for the future of the sport, but in the wake of the NextEV NIO EP9 and the Faraday Future FF91 we still need teams that are solely EV focused to stay.
While electric cars are filtering into the ranges of most car companies, it is not their sole pursuit and so Formula E campaigns could be forgiven for being seen as a bit of a PR campaign. It’s an easy image to sell, a Formula E team makes the brand look environmentally conscious.
Look at why the VAG Group is still involved via Audi post-‘Diesel Gate’ when WRC and WEC pursuits have been closed as to repair the company’s heavily tarnished reputation.
Similarly, although Jaguar have previewed an all-electric I-Pace concept, it is damaging to the sport’s ethos that they turned up to pre-season testing at Donington with two Jaguar F-Type Rs outside their garage. The brace of 5.0-litre supercharged V8s completely drowned out the Formula E cars whenever the mechanics let them burble into life. Love or hate the F-Type, they mark Jaguar’s return to prosperity and should be celebrated, just in the correct domain- not the Formula E paddock.
It’s this balance of genuine intent versus
the brand advertising benefits which is precisely why we need the comparative minnows to stay in the sport. The Formula E cost caps have not and will not entirely limit the performance gap that materialise between the big boys and the independent teams as that undermines the development race in Formula E, but we need to keep the larger teams in check.
More than any other series, the focus is on the road as much as it is on the race track. As the motorsport cliché goes: ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’. Albeit FE races are staged on a Saturday, but the sentiment holds true. However, they cannot let it become a 140mph billboard that companies can bandy around as a veil to show that they are environmentally conscious.
Images: Richard Washbrooke Photography