Hey guys. Time for Monaco blog!!!! Can't believe were half way through the season already!!! its just gone so quickly !! Anywho, here we go :
Pre event:
Marta Garcia is to drive the ERT Gen 3 car in the Berlin ePrix rookie event. I’m excited for Marta, as it is the first female in formula e since Simona De Silvestro for Andretti in season 3. Yes, whilst it is only the rookie test, it will be an amazing experience, and I know from F1 Academy she will ace it.
The Gen 3 Evo was unveiled last Thursday.
I think it looks really cool. In a second, I will drop the technicalities. What amazes me is fe have a car that is capable of going quicker off the line than any other FIA governed sport, and has double the efficiency of F1 cars. I am excited to see how this will progress in to Season 11 and beyond.
Now on to the fun stuff:
Gen3Evo technicalities and special facts:
0-60 in 1.82 seconds, the fastest acceleration speed in formula e history.
Front wing is enclosed
30% quicker acceleration than F1 off the line (which is insane!!!!)
36% quicker acceleration than Gen 3
Double rear diffuser instead of the single one we’ve gotten used to seeing
Slimmer front bodywork
Better grip.
Tyres 5-10%more grippy than they were on the Gen 3. So, let’s hope that this will lead to some awesome races.
Faster, stronger, and more agile than Gen 3, which hopefully means no wings getting broken and stuck underneath cars…
All wheel drive. Both powertrains now open for use in:
Qualifying
The dules
Race starts
Attack Mode / charge
Fastest formula e car in the history of the sport with a top speed of 200mph (321kph)
Regenerative braking
Most efficient car across all FIA formulas, and more than twice as efficient as ICE cars (F1,2,3 etc)
All suppliers to the gen3 evo needed to have 3 star FIA Environmental Accreditation by last season.
Race to road transfer capabilities
Teams can take what they learn from fe and transfer it over to road cars.
This made possible by powertrain data learnings straight from the track.
Ultra-fast charging capabilities
Ready for when fast charge comes in to play
30 second 600 kw boost mid race.
Gen 3 Evo will be freshly homologated.
Teams can take their learnings from season 9 and 10 and put it in to the fresh iteration of the car.
Attack mode, like last year, was situated at Turn 4, and , also like last year, the race was scheduled to be a 29 lap race. But more later on why that wasn’t to be the case.
FE Notebook pre race:
Second Gen 4 manufacturer announcement imminent. Was between:
Jaguar
Porsche
Stellantis
Lola and
Mahindra.
Before the race day officially got underway, it was to be confirmed that Jaguar had committed to Formula E long term, and had committed to fe until the end of the Gen 4 set of regulations.
Jeff dodds on Gen 4:
The deadline for Manufacturer signups is the end of June.
The manufacturers who want to commit need to have made their decisions by that date.
Nigel Beresford left his role as DS Penske team manager last week. As of today, no new appointment has been made, but I’ll let you guys know when its reported.
Paul Aron was in Monaco last weekend with Envision to further get to grips with the team in preparation for Berlin next weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on, and also how the others stepping for WEC Clashees fair in the pecking order.
FP1:
Sam broke his hand in an injury at the end of the session. He had to withdraw from the rest of the event. McLaren confirmed that Sam had broken his hand in a statement via their socials:
"The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team can confirm that Sam Bird has incurred a hand injury following an on-track incident earlier this morning. Sam has been undergoing an x-ray and CT scan to help clarify the nature of the injury. Unfortunately, scans have confirmed that he has broken one of the bones in his left hand and will require further treatment. Sam’s injury will be treated further upon return home to the UK. The team wishes Sam a speedy recovery and will be supporting him and his recovery as best as possible, to ensure he can compete again as quickly as possible. Further updates will be provided via the team when these become available."
I’m super super gutted for Sam, as he had been ;looking super strong all season, including his win in Sao Paulo, and the last thing I, and many others wanted, was this to happen again… however, unfortunately, it is racing at the end of the day, and things like this can, and as we have seen in this case will, happen without hesitation sometimes. But you know. Athletes risk injuries whatever sport they compete in. it’s just unfortunate its happened again…
Since that announcement came out. McLaren have confirmed that Taylor will be fielded again in Berlin next weekend following a successful operation for Sam on his hand when he returned from Monaco:
“The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team is pleased to confirm that Sam Bird has undergone a successful surgery on his left hand, following an injury he incurred during the Monaco E-Prix last weekend. The positive outcome of the medical intervention means that Sam and the team can now look forward to a speedy recovery and a return to racing soon.
Due to the nature of the injury, the team will commit to Taylor Barnard as its driver for the Berlin E-Prix, driving the #8 car for the team during the event. As the team’s Reserve and Development Driver, he will temporarily be replacing Sam Bird, while Sam is working on a full recovery.
The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team is supporting Sam and his recovery, to ensure he can compete again as quickly as achievable.”
Before Sam’s accident occurred, there was a brief red flag period due to debris on the track. This was to ensure no one ran over it, as it was in the middle of the racing line… I don’t know how many advertising hoardings need to make their way on to the track before people realise how dangerous it can be… anyway, here is the final session classification:
1. Evans
2. Frijns
3. Cassidy
4. Hughes
5. Dennis
6. Da costa
7. Mortara
8. De vries
9. Nato
10. Buemi#
11. Guenther
12. Di grassi
13. Vandoorne
14. Wehrlein
15. Ticktum
16. Rowland
17. Mueller
18. JEV
19. Fenestraz
20. Daruvala
21. Bird
22. Sette Camara
FP2:
I had nothing really to write about for this session, other than the pretty big news that Taylor Barnard would become the youngest formula e race starter, as Sam had to withdraw from the event following his huge crash in FP1. Now, if it is as bad as when he did it [his hand] in London last time, yes whilst that was at the end of the season, and he only had to miss out on one race weekend, as it was the same hand, if recovery doesn’t go as planned, he could be out until Portland at the earliest. I wish Sam all the best with his recovery, and races going forward.
Session results:
1. Evans
2. Frijns
3. Wehrlein
4. Da Costa
5. Guenther
6. Ticktum
7. Rowland
8. Vandoorne
9. De vries
10. Nato
11. Cassidy
12. Mortara
13. Daruvala
14. Hughes
15. Dennis
16. Mueller
17. Fenestraz
18. JEV
19. Di grassi
20. Buemi
21. Sette Camara
22. Barnard
Qualifying:
Group A | Group B |
Wehrlein | Dennis |
Rowland | Cassidy |
Guenther | JEV |
Evans | Hughes |
Nato | Buemi |
Frijns | Fenestraz |
Da Costa | Ticktum |
Mueller | Vandoorne |
Sette Camara | Daruvala |
Di Grassi | Mortara |
De Vries | Barnard |
Advancers:
Group a:
· Evans
· Wehrlein
· Guenter
· Da Costa
Group B
· Vandoorne
· Cassidy
· Buemi
· JEV
Duels:
Quarter finals :
Da Costa v Evans
Wehrlein v Guenther
JEV v Vandoorne
Buemi v Cassidy
Advancers to the semis:
· Evans
· Wehrlein
· Vandoorne
· Cassidy
Semi Finals:
Wehrlein v Evans
Vandoorne v Cassidy
Advancers to the final:
Wehrlein
Vandoorne
Final:
Wehrlein v Vandoorne
Pole:
Wehrlein.
To be honest, I was very surprised with how the duels, especially the Semi Finals panned out. I was expecting it to be a Jaguar front row lockout, as were many other people., however, due to lockups and mistakes from Nick and Mitch, Pascal and Stoffel progressed to the finals, and Pascal got pole. It just goes to show that Formula E is super unpredictable, and results like this can, and will, pop up from time to time.
Now on to the race results and round up:
Taylor Barnard!! What a wonder kid!!! Starting from the back of the grid 1.2 seconds off 10th in group b, with 30 minutes in the car is amazing enough, but to fight your way up to p15 at the flag, finishing ahead of your team mate post penalties, is absolutely incredible. He hasn’t been having the most memorable time in F2; while some could argue he is in a bottom team, whilst being in formula e, he has been showcasing some amazing results. Now, it is unknown whether he will be withdrawing from F2 in Monaco, as it clashes with Shanghai, to fill in again for Sam, however, if he does, then he will be amazing for sure.
The race itself had 2 safety car intervention periods, one for Edo Mortara, who had a very big impact with the tec pro barrier at the swimming pool complex, but luckily he got out of the car. At the time of typing this, Mahindra have still yet to complete their investigation in to why edo had such a big impact, but ill post more about it when io know more. The other was for Nico Mueller, who, after a collision with Jake Hughes, hit the barrier at the Rascasse. Jake subsequently got penalised for the collision, as he could continue, but Nico had to retire from the race. The two interventions resulted in 2 added laps, which has been an amazing rule addition in my eyes, as its provided awesome racing. The race finished with a Jaguar 1-2, and Mitch’s first win in Monaco, Jaguar’s second 1-2 in FE history.
Post race, Jehan Daruvala was given a 10 second stop and go penalty converted in to a 48 second penalty due to his, and Maserati’s, failure to activate his mandatory boosts of Attack Mode. Maserati gained permission from the FIA to completely strip the car when he came back to the pits, but subsequently found no issues with the Attack mode transmitters, thus not being able to identify the cause of the incident.
And that’s it for this rface round up. As always, ill leave you with the race roundup, and championship standings.
Next race will be in Berlin in 2 weeks time 😊
Nat
Race results
1. Evans
2. Cassidy
3. Vandoorne
4. JEV
5. Wehrlein
6. Rowland
7. Da Costa
8. Fenestraz
9. Guenther
10. Nato
11. Di Grassi
12. De Vries
13. Ticktum
14. Barnard
15. Buemi
16. Hughes **
17. Frijns
18. Sette Camara
19. Dennis
20. Daruvala ***
DNF Mueller
DNF Mortara
DNS Bird
** 5 second time penalty for causing a collision with Mueller
*** 10 second stop and go penalty converted in to a 48 second penalty for failure to activate attack mode.
Drivers Standings after round 8:
1. Wehrlein
2. Cassidy
3. Dennis
4. Rowland
5. Evans
6. Guenther
7. JEV
8. Bird
9. Vandoorne
10. Da Costa
11. Hughes
12. Fenestraz
13. Nato
14. Frijns
15. Buemi
16. Mueller
17. Ticktum
18. Sette Camara
19. Daruvala
20. Di Grassi
21. Mortara
22. De Vries
23. Barnard
Teams standings after round 8:
1. Jaguar TCS Racing
2. Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
3. Andretti Formula E Team
4. Nissan Formula E Team
5. DS Penske
6. Maserati MSG Racing
7. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
8. Envision Racing
9. ERT Formula E Team
10. ABT CUPRA Formula E Team
11. Mahindra Racing.
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