Formula E racing series launchedOpen Wheel 

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The big winner from the Prost/Heidfeld crash is the series. Like it or not those few seconds of footage are going to be all over the news giving the series a shedload of free publicity for the next round. Also I'm pleased that the fan boost had almost no impact since they were having to protect the battery life so much.
 
GOTMAXPOWER
The big winner from the Prost/Heidfeld crash is the series. Like it or not those few seconds of footage are going to be all over the news giving the series a shedload of free publicity for the next round. Also I'm pleased that the fan boost had almost no impact since they were having to protect the battery life so much.
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It's already hitting the headlines over here in Australia where there had not been any prior recognition to the series.
 
I missed it. Is there anywhere I can watch the race? ITV player isn't showing it.
 
haitch40
I missed it. Is there anywhere I can watch the race? ITV player isn't showing it.
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Yeah same, like hell I was going to get up 8am on a Saturday! I'm surprised ITV4 is not repeating it at lunchtime or something.

Edit - is the repeat at 6 just highlights or a full replay? Seems rather short 1 hour.
 
Robin.
Edit - is the repeat at 6 just highlights or a full replay? Seems rather short 1 hour.
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I think it might be just highlights, when ITV4 shows MotoGP they cut out a few laps here and there but nothing important and that's about the same length. Might be best off with youtube.
 
The Formula E race was quite interesting to see and the pit stops will take a bit of getting used to. I'm not sure whether this will truly be the future of single seater racing, but I think it will have it's niche market.
 
I very much doubt that it will supercede Formula 3, much less Formula 1. Once the regulations are opened up to allow more variety in car design and the development of the batteries eliminates the need for the chassis swap, then it will probably take off, but I think the FIA will very carefully grow it into its niche to make sure it's neither a threat to nor threatened by any other series.
 
  • prisonermonkeys
    I very much doubt that it will supercede Formula 3, much less Formula 1. Once the regulations are opened up to allow more variety in car design and the development of the batteries eliminates the need for the chassis swap, then it will probably take off, but I think the FIA will very carefully grow it into its niche to make sure it's neither a threat to nor threatened by any other series.
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    Speed wise no, but driver wise easily beyond Formula 3.

    Given the marketing around it I would say this is more a rival to Indycar rather then any F1 Feeder series though, as they are trying to promote it self as its own series rather then a connection to another.
 
Just watched the replay, gutted for Heidfeld that was his win, utter bonehead move by Prost. Congrats to de Grassi, gifted the win, but was pretty pragmatic about it.

As for Formula E... It wasn't exactly edge of the seat stuff, but the circuit lacked any real character, and didn't seem that conducive to anything but a processional race. The cars sound interesting at least, and they look pretty good but honestly it felt like more a support race than a main event.

Jann Mardenborough as a guest pundit already!

dat Safety Car tho...

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The thing that I would expect to fail (batteries) seemed ok but the rest of the show needs help.The intro part of the Fox Sports 1 broadcast was good to introduce the concept but the race production was pretty bad. Graphics appeared with no explanation to what they were,and were hard to read.The announcers were poorly mixed and whats with the techno soundtrack? It made it feel like a gameplay video at E3.My DVR didnt know the race was live so my recording ended with Heidfeld upside down, a 7 minute warm-up lap didnt help any.

The cars look ok I guess,but are very fragile. Senna's wheel broke off touching a curb,I forget who the other car that had the rear wing mount fail,and the Prost/Heidfeld wreck was much worse than it should have been because the suspension parts are weak. Maybe Dallara needs to bring over some parts from the DW12.

The racing itself was blah,but I know its the 1st time out and the track was terrible so I wont be to quick to judge.The move by Prost was Kogay/Canamasas worthy and he should lose his super license.He is surely his fathers son. If I was Heidfeld I would have decked him.

The pit stop thing is just wtf. I would rather see batteries being changed or have each team run as a team.One car starts then when that ride is used up then the other team car and driver takes over.Or just run 2 sprint races w/o the pit stop.
 
Pit Stop is clever, and I like it.

The parade lap and safety car need to be much faster, and what the hell was the point of the EJ? (The DJ playing Dubstep at random parts of the race?)

We're gonna have to live with the tracks like that. For the regenerative brakes, the cars need lots of heavy braking points like the tight chicanes. Donington is a rubbish circuit really for the FE cars as there's a long line of faster corners.



Heidfeld and Montagny were the best 2 drivers out there. Montagny had some great overtakes, whereas Heidfeld nailed Turn 1 and the pitstop.
 
Tired Tyres
Actually I'd say he takes after Senna more than his dad. :lol:

Minus points for the TV director spending too much time showing pictures of people in the pits instead of cars that are 10th's apart. 👎

Plus points to ITV4 for showing all the race without add breaks. 👍
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At least Senna admitted it eventually...

Also, the music in the safety car stint made me laugh, it's so pointless yet plays to the stereotype of racing fans only being swayed by noise. Isn't FE supposed to break EV stereotypes?
 
I'm just waiting for 2015 to be honest

The cars will begin to show real innovation, however, I think the standardised cars for 2014 are great for close racing, maximising support for the series in terms of battles.

Just hope the future development doesn't suffer the same problems as F1 now...
 
Just wondering, why is Formula E racing on awful street circuits and has a DJ playing music while the race is going on and the sound affects? That's just embarrassing. The race was ok except for the end. Like father like son.
 
IforceV8
The cars look ok I guess,but are very fragile. Senna's wheel broke off touching a curb,I forget who the other car that had the rear wing mount fail,and the Prost/Heidfeld wreck was much worse than it should have been because the suspension parts are weak. Maybe Dallara needs to bring over some parts from the DW12.
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I don't think they are that fragile, but I wonder if the low profile tyres have something to do with it. Compared to most open wheel series, the tyres are very thin, and won't absorb very much of any impact.
 
ukfan758
Just wondering, why is Formula E racing on awful street circuits and has a DJ playing music while the race is going on and the sound affects? That's just embarrassing. The race was ok except for the end. Like father like son.
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Street Circuits never raced on by anything else. Doesn't show up the speed if the cars. Isn't comparable to any other series.
 
ukfan758
Just wondering, why is Formula E racing on awful street circuits and has a DJ playing music while the race is going on and the sound affects? That's just embarrassing. The race was ok except for the end. Like father like son.
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Formula E races on street circuits so that they have direct contact to the people and are not in the middle of nowhere. THe DJ is there to get a "Party feel" to the race, I'm not against it but i need to hear it in person before I can make any judgements.
 
The whine of the cars and the commentators is enough for me with regards to noise, the only problem I have is that the cars look painfully slow in a straight line but that could probably be fixed by using smaller focal lengths on the cameras.
 
And hopefully more actual development for the car to be more powerful and the battery last more time.
 
Next season all teams will be able to build their own cars and tech, now will they be restricted to a certain template,will they have to work off of the current car, or will it be free innovation?
 

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