In the race, the fastest car and the most skillful driver win. It’s like that in every category, but Formula E, as one of the most recent motorsport disciplines and due to its focus on innovation and sustainability, has some particularities to call its own. These are changes that change the dispute and show the green side of the competition.
Anyone who was at the São Paulo ePrix, last weekend, saw this up close — literally, sometimes, since one of the premises of Formula E is precisely to bring the dispute closer to the fans. Not only that, but the race also has the ambition to do this for the electric car market itself, showing that, more than an innovation and the future of motorsport, they are already fully capable today.
With that in mind, get to know 6 Formula E curiosities that explain so much excitement for this long-awaited Brazilian stage.
6. Attack Mode
One of the main tactical elements available to Formula E drivers is the so-called Attack Mode, which gives the power units an extra charge, with an additional 30kW. Here, we are talking about a dynamic that seems to come out of a video game, in which the driver must pass through an exact point on the circuit to receive that additional energy, which can be used when overtaking or to improve the lap time, for example. .
It creates an element of risk and reward that also seems straight out of video games. The area to be accessed by the pilot is outside the ideal track — in the case of the São Paulo ePrix, at the end of the Sambódromo straight —, which means that the competitor may even lose positions when passing through it. In transmissions, Formula E still uses a virtual resource to indicate the location to be covered, while the use of Attack Mode is indicated by a light on the front of the car.
Formula E rules require all drivers to pass through the Attack Mode zone at least once each race, with a maximum of two activations per race. For this year’s season, the modality is also studying the creation of a pit stop, which will be tested in some of the races, with a 30-second stop to deliver extra power, generating even more changes in the classification and intensifying disputes on the tracks.
5. Street circuits only
Electric cars in Formula E, as well as in other categories, also have energy recovery systems, which take advantage of braking and the temperature of the cars to return up to 40% of what is used in the races to the cars. This element, however, is especially important in this modality, since the pilots have a finite battery to manage throughout the races, which only take place on circuits created on the streets of big cities. Long straights and strong braking, then, are essential.
It is because of this particularity that the competition could not be held at the traditional Autodromo de Interlagos, where the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix takes place and other renowned events in global motorsport. Meanwhile, the São Paulo ePrix even made history in the category for bringing the longest straight of the season, 750 meters long from the exit of the Sambódromo to Avenida Olavo Fontoura, in the northern part of the capital of São Paulo.
The current Formula E season brought one of the two exceptions recorded throughout its history. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which also hosts Formula 1, was the stage for the debut of the 2022/2023 season of Formula E, while in the past, the Circuit de Valencia, in Spain, was also used, albeit with a different layout from that seen in the motorsport’s greatest circus.
The modality also goes through other internationally recognized scenarios, having a stage in the renowned Monaco street circuit, for example. Likewise, the focus on street tracks allows Formula E to visit more countries, including some not normally part of the main categories of motorsport, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Philippines, Hong Kong and South Africa. .
4. Sustainability
Innovation and protection of the environment have been the cornerstones of Formula E since its inception. The category is considered the biggest global showcase for electric cars, being zero carbon since its inception. It is something that Formula 1, for example, seeks to achieve only in 2030.
Here, it is not just about compensating for the footprints left by transporting drivers and teams to each country, as well as setting up events and structures that host the races. Fans are also invited to participate, with Formula E including different initiatives to reduce plastic consumption or raise people’s awareness of recycling.
Free water points, for example, are spread across different parts of the race track, in the stands and all places accessed by spectators, the press, organizers and race participants. Anyone who has attended a race track knows that things can get hot, with the program that brings the map of the event and information about drivers and teams and can be folded like a fan, in addition to being produced in recyclable material.
Disposable cups are biodegradable, while even the lanyards used by team members, journalists and others involved in the events are being recycled from plastic bottles. They, by the way, are persona non grata in Formula E, and while spectators are invited to take their own bottles from home, the São Paulo ePrix also distributed water in recyclable cardboard packaging.
3. Time DiCaprio
Environmental activist, actor Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the first big names to join Formula E. Still in the first year of the category, in 2013, he announced a merger with Venturi Automobiles to create his own team, which ran like Venturi Racing. At the end of 2022, the team was restructured under the MSG umbrella, becoming a power unit supplier and teaming up with Maserati to create a new competitor in Formula E.
Other big names in world motorsport have already passed through the team, such as Nick Heidfeld, Jacques Villeneuve and the Brazilians Felipe Massa, who competed in the electric category for two seasons after leaving F1, and Lucas Di Grassi. And when we talk about strong people, we can’t forget Susie Wolff, the first woman to be part of a Formula 1 weekend, who was the team director for years.
Venturi has accumulated eight wins and 21 podiums for its drivers. The team, however, has never won the drivers’ or constructors’ world championship, having a second-place finish in the 2021/2022 Formula E season their best result to date.
2. Too close to the fans
Formula E is also proud to be one of the categories closest to the fans, with initiatives that have even been embraced by the most recent stages of other sports. In the electric car race, spectators are guaranteed an autograph session with all the drivers, which is part of the event’s official program and wristbands are distributed hours before the race itself.
There is also the Fan Village, or Vila dos Fans, where not only are the teams’ licensed material stores, but also some technological innovations that can be seen up close by the fans. Other attractions include booths from electric car makers, Instagrammable spaces and speed simulators that allow spectators to show off their skills behind the wheel. The best, by the way, participate in a final competition worth prizes, in which they compete against pilots in their own category.
The biggest party, too, takes place very close to the fans. In Formula E, the awards ceremony takes place in this area, and not above the pits, as in most other sports. The pilots receive trophies, listen to the anthems of their respective countries and celebrate with champagne right in front of the spectators’ eyes, generating images that are always very beautiful to behold. At the São Paulo ePrix, for example, the stands were opened for spectators to watch the celebration from the track.
1. Other cities
Formula E arrived in Brazil only in 2023, but for its organizers and, of course, Brazilian drivers, it has been a dream for years. Negotiations date back to at least 2018 and had a long delay due to the covid-19 pandemic, with the modality finally landing here this season for what we hope will be the first of many races.
In an interview with Canaltech in 2020, when Formula E was held in Chile, Di Grassi had already indicated that São Paulo, given its position as the largest city in Latin America, would be the ideal place to start work. On that occasion, even the Anhembi complex itself was considered, where this year’s race actually took place.
Afterwards, according to him, the category could invest in other places and scenarios with natural beauties, such as Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brasília (DF) and Florianópolis (SC). O Canaltech also spoke with Massa on the same occasion and he agreed with the choices, citing the capital of Brazil and Curitiba (PR) as good options to receive an ePrix.
However, nothing confirmed for now. Not even a return of Formula E to Brazil is official in 2024, but the expectation is of a long life for the presence of a national stage on the calendar. When you take into account that we are talking about an event that promises to move more than R$ 300 million, according to its organizers, and that arrived at the race with practically sold out tickets, the chances are great that we will see electric cars walking through our streets again at high speed.
The journalist traveled at the invitation of Nissan.
