· Pre-race announcement, Saudi backed investors to invest in Formula E from next year. One of 3 sports to be involved in the deal (FE Extreme E and E1)
I’m a bit iffy about this one, however it has happened and I’m gonna have to deal with it. Saudi backed investment for an electric based series, when Saudi Arabia is very fossil fuel driven… but you know. Not my decision really. But we will see further down the line whether this is a good move or not.
· Attack charge practice will not happen in Diriyah, as it did in Mexico last time out.
This surprised me a little bit, as I thought that it was only Mexico that they were going to do it at, but it looks like that wasn’t to be the case. I would also love to point out that there will be no attack charge this weekend, and that it will come in to effect from Misano onwards. [ Double Headers only]
I made a graphic explaining how attack charge will work; you can find it on my Instagram [envisionracingfan]
· If there is more than 3 mins of FCY, or SC, then the laps will be added
This is to be the case for this weekend only (I think…). If they do decide to implement this rule for future races, I think that it’ll avoid a lot of confusion, for both the teams and the fans.
· Cars not particularly quick in the first half of the session. Slippy track conditions due to the dust. First part of the session was in the 1:22s.
This surprised me, however it also didn’t. having a race in the desert, means that the track is going to be a little dusty at first from all the sandstorms, and also the fact that the cars only went out for shakedown. As the weekend progresses, and more rubber gets laid down on the track surface, provided the FIA don’t do their usual road sweeper tricks, the grip should improve, and the lap times get faster.
· Yellow flag was flown with 13 mins to go
Turned out to be Seb Buemi grinding to a halt as I will further explain in a minute
· Turned in to a red flag, and rightfully so
And with Seb in the middle of the track, good on Scot Elkins (for once). Had the red flag not been flown, that could have turned in to something pretty nasty, Rome esque if there would have been multiple cars involved
The car pretty much just stopped on track, which alter turned out to be a powertrain failure on the car. The age old powertrain re cycle didn’t work, so the red flag was flown, and everyone returned to the pits.
· Mechanical issues... RESS issue. Hoping it can be fixed for tomorrow.
Otherwise, we’re screwed. I’m an envision fan as you guys should know by now, and every incident or powertrain failure makes me sink a little knowing that there is a chance that the car may not be able to compete the weekend, or the race. It saddens me also, because I know how much hard work is done behind the scenes by all the team to make sure that the cars are race ready, and able to compete.
· Red light was flashing on the car
Some people are saying it’s a 350kw light, I think it was the RESS red light. But you know. I need to read the technical regulations before I skip to conclusions, however the car had to go straight to the quarantine area, so that didn’t bode good. It’s also procedure anyway, just in case the car explodes or catches fire
· Session was able to be extended.
It was extended by 10 minutes. Just enough time, as I only had 1 hour on my library computer loan, and didn’t really wanna be watching the rest of the session on the bus, as I was out with my dad.
· Sylvain Filippi said it can be changed overnight; no penalties to be taken, hopefully, as it’s the first of the year.
As per regulations, drivers get 1 change of powertrain per season, unless in cases of force majeure.
· Seb's car had to enter the quarantine area, standard procedure for red light cars
Ress Failure was flashing on the dash, and the RESS is the Powertrain. The FIA have to do this for safety, and insurance reasons, because if the car catches fire when in the quarantine area, then its away from the garages, and hopefully wont cause any significant damage
· Nato got a reprimand for speeding under FCY. This was because he slowed again without gaining an unnecessary advantage over competitors.
This was the only penalty in the session, surprisingly. and it wasn't anything ,major, so i guess you could call it a pretty clean session.
Final classification:
1. Rowland
2. JEV
3. Vandoorne
4. Dennis
5. Sette Camara
6. Evans
7. Da Costa
8. Wehrlein
9. Guenther
10. Frijns
11. Cassidy
12. Mortara
13. Nato
14. Fenestraz
15. Bird
16. Mueller
17. Ticktum
18. Di Grassi
19. Hughes
20. Daruvala
21. De Vries
22. Buemi [RF Causer]
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