CHARGE YOUR ENGINES Formula E ‘s h is tor ic debut23-page spec ia l Be i j ing and Put ra jaya

eNews

DRIVE THE FUTURE

Does Formula E have the potential to not only change racing but the world?

December 2014 1st volume Number 001

Pros & Cons: Street circuits

Formula E‘s impact on young engineers

The Driver‘s corner: Fabio Leimer

Previews: Punta del Este and Buenos Aires

ELECTRIFYING START OF SOMETHING NEW

At last. It has been a few crazy months for us but now we finally made it: our website is up and constantly provides you with the latest news on the world of FIA Formula E, and now you are able

to read our first ever issue of eNews. Our ePaper will sum up the most important events of the last month in Formu-la E and will give you an exclusive insight into everything that has happened.

Naturally the last races will always occupy a huge part of our coverage - this includes in-depth race reports, driver ratings, the “race in tweets“, and other entertaining fea-tures - to bring you as close to the action in Beijing, Pu-trajaya and Co as possible. To fulfil this goal, we make sure to give you - the fans - a chance to voice your opinions, wishes and concerns. So we invite you to always email or tweets us with everything that is on your mind.

In our very first issue we take you back to the spectacular ePrix in Beijing and Putrajaya and celebrate Formula E‘s historic debut with a 23-page special. Furthermore you will get to know Amlin Aguri‘s Fabio Leimer a lot better in our “Driver‘s corner“. You will also be able to read the first of many articles of our series “The impact of Formula E“ in which our editor Bethonie Waring accompanies the For-mula Student team of Southhampton University who - thanks to Formula E - made sustainability one of their core concepts in this year‘s competition. This leads us to a discussion of what our favourite series is capable of: Can Formula E change the way we see racing or can it even change the world?

Additionally we will talk you through Formula E‘s aerody-namics, the series‘ unique social media involvement and we will take a closer look at what we can expect in Punta del Este and Buenos Aires. Finally we will invite you to our big Christmas quiz on December 20th and provide you with everything you need to know about it. All in all we hope that you will enjoy the first issue of eNews and we hope you tell us what you think.

Until then, I wish all of you the very best.

We wouldn‘t have made it without it: litres of coffee

Edition notice

EditorsAntonia Grzelak, Laurence Thorn, Renate Jungert, Topher Smith, Bethonie Waring, Stefan Ruitenberg

Editor-in-chiefAntonia Grzelak

LayoutAntonia Grzelak, Laurence Thorn

PhotosFIA Formula E Media

CopyrightAll rights reserved. No part of this ePaper may be reproduced, copi-ed, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indica-ted for stand-alone materials.

A very merry Christmas

Are you ready for some Christmas cheer, Formula E-style?

On Saturday 20th December,

we will be bringing you our first ever Christmas Quiz. We will be asking all sorts of questions about the Formula E teams, drivers, races and host cities. Our quiz-masters will be thinking up the most challenging brain-teasers that they

can, so you‘d better start studying!

The quiz will be hosted on e-racing.net, and will run for 24 hours - from midday CET on Saturday 20th

December to midday CET on the following day.

Answers should be emailed to xmas-quiz@e-racing.net

within the 24 hour period.

From all the people who get the answers correct, we will select three lucky winners. Each of these will get a

Christmas present from the e-racing.net team!

So if you want an electrifying Christmas, check out the quiz on e-racing.net and see if you can shock

our quiz-masters!

Editorial| 01

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23-PAGE SPECIAL BEIJING AND PUTRAJAYA

Relive the action of Beijing and Putrajaya in our exclusive and broad coverage: 23 pages of in-depth analysis, race reports and other entertaining features.

CONTENTS 04 SPECIAL06 Beijing race report10 Beijing driver ratings14 Beijing in tweets15 Results Beijing ePrix16 Putrajaya race report20 Putrajaya driver ratings24 Putrajaya in tweets25 Results Putrajaya ePrix26 Championship Standings

28 Drive the future: A case for Formula E31 Pros and Cons: Street circuits32 Formula E‘s impact: SUFST34 Driver‘s corner:Fabio Leimer36 Formula E and Social Media38 Formula E: Aerodynamics

39 PREVIEWS40 Punta del Este Preview42 Buenos Aires Preview

44 Sparking the next month

23-page special BEIJING AND PUTRAJAYA After what felt like eternity, Formula E started a brand-

new era of motorsport on the streets of Beijing, spar-king the fire inside of thousands of racing fans who re-turned to the shocking action in Putrajaya. ERN takes a close look at the races, the drivers and the fans.

04 | Special Special | 05

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Editor Antonia Grzelak | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

LUCAS DI GRASSI WRITES HISTORY IN SPECTACULAR BEIJING EPRIX

The starting grid was buzzing when the first th-ree winners of FanBoost were announced: the lu-cky recipients of the boost were Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt), Bruno Senna (Mahindra Racing) and Amlin Aguri‘s very own Katherine Legge. At 4pm local time, it was time for the team‘s personnel to leave the start-finish-straight and let the cars set off into an unknown adventure. The only driver who could not join his colleagues on the instal-lation lap was local hero Ho-Pin Tung. Following his two crashes earlier this day, the China Racing pilot had to start from the pitlane, but technical problems delayed his start by two more laps. Yet the Chinese was not the only driver suffering from initial problems. Karun Chandhok (Mahindra Ra-cing), Stephane Sarrazin (e.dams-Renault) and

Jarno Trulli (Trulli) struggled to get off and only joined the field with a few-second delay. When the cars then reassembled for the start and waited for the lights to go out, it was polesitter Nicolas Prost who was able to get into the lead and guide the field into the first corner. Behind the Frenchman, chaos was unfolding: Again, Trulli had trouble get-ting away and therefore had to retire just seconds into the race, concluding his weekend to forget. The eyes of the spectators were on the Andret-ti teammates Franck Montagny and Charles Pic though who were amazing the crowd with their breathtaking wheel-to-wheel battle, until Bru-no Senna‘s bad luck showed its ugly face again when his front left suspension broke after he hit both the curbs on the inner corner of turn two,

On September 13th the eyes of the world were on Beijing, where 20 drivers were about to start a new era of racing. The inaugural Formu-la E race - the Beijing ePrix - would take them through the challenging street canyons of the street circuit build around Beijing‘s Olympic Park.

and Takuma Sato‘s Amlin Aguri car, forcing him to retire from the race on the first lap. With his Mahindra Racing car wrecked on track, the Qualcomm safe-ty car was deployed for its first ever appearance in the second lap of the race. This brought the field closer together again and guaranteed an exciting restart. Senna‘s car was removed after three laps behind the Safety Car and gave the remaining 18 dri-vers a chance to resume with their races and continue with their charge through the field.

Once more it was Andretti‘s Montagny who was in the thick of the action with his impressi-ve overtaking manoeuvres that – 5 laps into the race – already took him from P8 to P6. Yet the Frenchman was not the only dri-ver showing off his potential. At the tail of the Top-10, spectators could enjoy a frenetic fight bet-ween Sato, Oriol Servia (Ventu-ri) and Nelson Piquet Jr. (China Racing). However Sato‘s fighting spirit was broken just a few laps later when his car stopped on track, but the experienced Ja-panese managed to get it going again and bring it back to the pits - where, after some repairs, he was able to rejoin the field and set the fastest lap time, allo-

wing Amlin Aguri to travel back home with points in their lug-gage. Nevertheless on track yet another former Formula 1-driver suffered from technical difficul-ties: Sebastien Buemi (e.dams-Renault) damaged his rear body-work and therefore was forced to return into the pits for the nec-cessary repairs. After minutes of repair works, he rejoined the race but touched the white line leaving the pits and was handed a drive-through penalty because of this.With half the distance co-vered, the first Formula E race was proving to be a huge suc-cess. Although there had been a lot of scepticism ahead of the Beijing ePrix and especially loud voices saying that electric-racing could not offer fantastic enter-tainment, the series proved the impossible possible and show-ed one of the most thrilling ra-ces of recent motorsport history.

The second half of the race was introduced by Alguersuari and Sarrazin who were the first to change into their second car in the pits in lap 12. Just one lap later the current top six dri-vers Prost, di Grassi, Daniel Abt (Audi Sport Abt), Nick Heidfeld (Venturi), Montagny and Ka-run Chandhok decided to swap cars as well, making Sam Bird

06| BEijing BEijing| 07

Packed spectator stands in Beijing

Nicolas Prost could secure pole-position

The drivers showed a fantastic motorsport spectacle

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(Virgin Racing) the new leader. Audi Sport Abt driver Daniel Abt followed Prost and his Bra-zilian teammate di Grassi in P3 and was clearly a favourite for a podium, but the German could not even shake off his bad luck in Formula E and lost two places during his pitstop. Heidfeld, who had a fairly quiet race so far, showed a consistent perfor-mance on P4 and found himself in second place after di Grassi and Abt lost time during their car changes. 3.5 seconds behind his WEC teammate Prost, the Ger-man began his comeback and gained ground on the Frenchman in the lead, causing the specta-tors to hope for a sensational last-minute battle for the victory.

Behind those two, Lucas di Grassi remained in a secure third place just a few seconds ahead of the impressive Montagny and the unlucky Abt. In the rear of that

08| Beijing Beijing| 09

trio, Bird and Chandhok were du-elling for sixth position, with the Indian prevailing over the former GP2 runner-up. Another former GP2 star showed a great perfor-mance in P8: Charles Pic, who was announced very last minu-te and therefore could not pro-fit from pre-season testing and went into the race comparably unprepared, lost two positions at the start but could maintain his ninth position. He was able

to benefit from Alguersuari‘s earlier stop and could cele-brate an overall successful re-turn to single-seater racing. Further back in the field, Miche-la Cerruti and Katherine Legge struggled: While the Italian star-ted in P16, Legge made a run at the Beijing ePrix from 14th place. Showing consistent pace, both of Formula E‘s ladies were handed a drive-through penal-ty: Cerruti for undercutting the minimal pitstop time, Legge for exceeding the white lines when leaving the pits. In contrast Dra-gon Racing‘s Jerome d‘Ambrosio experienced a formidable race. The Belgian started from P12 and lost his position to Takuma Sato right at the start and followed the field outside of the top-ten for most of the race. In lap 20 though, d‘Ambrosio witnessed a breakthrough, first overtaking Piquet Jr. and just a few mo-

ments later Sarrazin. Thus the former Formula 1 driver found himself right behind his team-mate Oriol Servia who had to acknowledge defeat in the last lap, with the Belgian crossing the line in a striking seventh place.

Even though d‘Ambrosio‘s last lap manouvre was impressive to watch, the actual highlight was the battle between Prost and Heidfeld. With five laps to

go „Quick Nick“ had managed to reduce Prost‘s lead to less than one second and was within stri-king distance of taking the lead. What followed was a uniquely entertaining battle between the two veterans, with Prost mana-ging to stay ahead of the Ger-man. Yet in the last lap, Heid-feld was finally able to pull out of Prost‘s shadow and tried to overtake him on the straight right before the last corner. He positioned himself on Prost‘s left side going into the corner and it looked like the German would easily pass the e.dams Renault driver, but Prost surprisingly jin-ked to the left, causing the front wheels of their cars to entangle.Due to this incident both cars suffered from a broken front wheel suspension, forcing both Prost and Heidfeld to retire from the race. Whereas the French-man could park his car in the run-off area, the latter hit the curbs sideways which resulted in his car turning over several times. Luckily, Heidfeld could get out of his wreck uninjured. It did not take long until the stewards found Prost guilty of an avoidable collision, handing him a 10 place grid penalty for the next ePrix.

Profiting from the spectacular accident above all were Lucas di Grassi, Frank Montagny and Da-niel Abt who could now all cele-brate their fantastic performance with a podium. Crossing the fi-nish line first, di Grassi wrote

himself into the history books, crowning himself the first ever Formula E ePrix winner. While the Brazilian and the ground-breakingly enthralling Montagny were giving their first interviews and prepared for the podium ce-lebration, Daniel Abt lived up to his name as a jinx once again. Right after he got out of his car, the German talent got informed that he received a 57 second penalty for exceeding the 28 kWh battery consuption by 0.2 kWH and therefore finishing the race on P10. Yet Abt was not the

only driver who exceeded the 28 kWh limit: Alguersuari and Legge also ob-tained a 57 second penalty for this offence. Sam Bird was thus promoted to the podium, taking third position.

Nick Heidfe ld ‘s im-pressive performance ended in a car wreck

Bruno Senna experienced a very unlucky day

Lucas di Grassi crowned himself the first ever Formula E race winner

Alejandro Agag and Jean Todt were pleased

Qualcomm‘s safety car

Happy faces on the podium

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Editor Laurence Thorn| Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

THE BEIJING EPRIX DRIVER BY DRIVER

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Lucas di Grassi (ABT Formula E) - 8.5After a quick and tidy qualifying lap putting him 2nd on the grid, had a so-lid start and ran in P2 behind Nicolas Prost up to the stops. Lost a place in the pits to Nick Heidfeld but kept his head down for the second half of the race, conserving energy and looking after his car. Was perfectly placed to pounce when Prost and Heidfeld collided, a win that owed much to con-sistency and getting the most out of the car. One of the title favourites.

Karun Chandhok (Mahindra Racing) - 7.5After his qualifying lap, said he would be delighted to start in the top 8, so 4th on the grid was a very good performance. Lost a place to Heidfeld at the first corner and seemed to lose pace early on. A lot quicker after the stops, he made a fantastic pass on Bird and looked set for a top 4 finish when his battery star-ted to lose power on the last few laps, eventually leaving him to finish 5th. Still a strong weekend and showed the pace that he and the Mahindra team have.

Charles Pic (Andretti Formula E) - 8Tested the car less than most of his rivals so P8 on the grid was a good re-turn. Was forcibly passed by Montagny on the first lap but got his head down and drove a consistent race up to the stops. Like Bird, pitted a lap later than most - however he didn‘t gain any positions. Had an exciting battle with Nel-son Piquet Jr. before finishing 5th on track, getting promoted to 4th. Strong first weekend and is likely to be even quicker with more time in the car.

Sam Bird (Virgin Racing) - 7.5Started 11th but got an excellent start and was 8th after the first lap. Made an opportunistic move on team-mate Alguersuari early on, and showed good pace and aggression up to the stops, where he pitted a lap later than most of his rivals. This worked for him as he came out in P6, however was passed by Chandhok soon after. Re-passed Chandhok in the last few laps when the Indian was suffering from battery issues and finished P4 on track, moving up to P3 after Daniel Abt‘s penalty. A solid first race but will need to improve his qualifying pace to contend for the title.

Franck Montagny (Andretti Formula E) - 9Qualified P5 but was bumped down to 8th on the grid due to a penal-ty for a pitlane infraction. Assertive move on team-mate Pic during the 1st lap set the tone for a race full of aggressive passing attempts, including a move on Alguersuari and a brilliant one on Chandhok. Moved up to 4th on the stops and showed his endurance and IndyCar experience by managing the car‘s power well in the latter stages. Inherited a much-deserved podi-um after the last lap collision. Showed that he will be a championship factor.

Jérôme d‘Ambrosio (Dragon Racing) - 6.5Qualified 13th and had a mostly quiet, if consistent, race. Passed Nelson Pi-quet Jr. as the Brazilian dropped down the order late on and made some ag-gressive attempts to pass Sarrazin, eventually finding his way past 3 laps from the end. P7 on track became 6th in the final results. Needs more speed to contend for the championship but showed good consistency.

Daniel Abt (ABT Formula E) - 8Qualified 3rd which was an impressive performance from one of the youngest and least experienced competitors in the field. A very solid first half of the race saw him maintain P3, matching his more experienced team-mate di Grassi for pace. He lost 2 positions in the pits and came out in 5th. He was still running in P5 on the final lap when the leaders collided, leading to him inheriting a podium. But he was demoted to P10 after a penalty for using too much battery power in his car. However, he showed his pace and potential, and will hope that this is the end of his bad luck.

Oriol Servia (Dragon Racing) - 6.5A veteran street racer from his time in the US racing scene, a big lock-up in qua-lifying may have cost Servia a few places on the grid. Showed great pace in the first portion of the race, making a nice move on Piquet Jr. in particular. However he was re-passed 2 laps later and seemed to lose speed further on in the race. Managed to get back past Piquet, whose car was running out of energy, on lap 20 and ended up P8 on track. Did a good job considering he was a late call-up to the team, and will hope to impress further if he gets another opportunity.

Nelson Piquet Jr. (China Racing) - 6.5Qualified 10th after two committed qualifying laps, nearly shaving the wall on both occasions, but lost 2 places off the start line. He got back past Sato, however, and then made a brilliant move on Servia around the outside, be-fore an exciting battle with Pic which ended in the Brazilian having a massive lock-up and losing time. Dropped down the order late on, losing 4 positions, and admitted after the race that he should have saved more energy in the ea-rly stages, as he had very little left. Finished with 3 points for 8th and overall made an impressive return to single seaters after multiple years in NASCAR.

Stéphane Sarrazin (Venturi Formula E) - 6.5A mistake in qualifying left him starting from the back of the grid but made a lightning start to be 14th by the end of the first lap, a gain of five places. Made quiet progress to 12th after that, and inherited 2 points for 9th after the last lap collision and Abt‘s penalty. One of the most experienced drivers in the field, it will be intriguing to see what he can do from a stronger grid position.

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THE BEIJING EPRIX DRIVER BY DRIVER

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Jamie Alguersuari (Virgin Racing) - 6Started P6 and maintained that place early in the race with some dogged de-fending from Montagny. However, once Montagny found his way past, so did team-mate Bird soon after. He then dropped off the pace as the race went on and, after the stops, ended up 11th without any points. Did a good job considering it was his first race in single seaters since leaving F1 in 2011, but needs to improve his race pace to feature further up in the results.

Katherine Legge (Amlin Aguri) - 5.5Started 14th and constantly ran in either P14 or P15 for the entire race, even-tually finishing in 15th. However her car had radio problems meaning she was unable to communicate with the team for large parts of the race, leading her to run a conservative energy-saving strategy and hampering her pace. Received a warning for track limits and later a penalty for crossing the pit exit line. Once the issues with her car are solved, we should see her move up the grid as she is experienced in street racing from her time in the US.

Michela Cerruti (Trulli Formula E) - 5.5A quiet but consistent race from the Italian. Started 16th and was running as high as 12th before she took her pit-stop. Unfortunately received a drive-through penalty for a pit time that was quicker than the minimum-allowed time of 1 minute 47 seconds, which prevented her from making more progress and led to her being lapped at the end of the race. Finished in 14th and showed promise for future races.

Nick Heidfeld (Venturi Formula E) - 9Made a lightning start and passed Karun Chandhok around the outside of turn 1 with a gutsy move. Maintained a quick pace up until the stops where a brilliant turnaround in the pits led to him coming out in P2. Spent the 2nd half of the race chasing down his WEC team-mate Prost, impressively conserving energy whilst also setting fast lap times. Made a bold attempt to pass up the inside on the final lap but was turned in on by Prost and ended up airborne and then upside-down, luckily emerging unhurt. Showed that he will be a title contender.

Nicolas Prost (eDAMS Renault) - 7An eventful qualifying session saw the Frenchman snatch pole before outbraking himself on his next attempt and almost hitting the barriers. Made a strong start from pole and controlled the race excellently from the front. A perfect pit time of 1 minute 47 seconds allowed him to regain the lead once everyone had stopped. Was set for the first ever Formula E victory, but a moment of madness on the last lap saw him turn in on Nick Heidfeld, who was trying to pass up the inside, and cause an accident which led to them both retiring. Showed that he has the pace to contend for the title but needs to ensure he does not repeat his last lap error.

Ho-Pin Tung (China Racing) - 5The Dutch-Chinese driver spun in qualifying in front of his home crowd and qualified 15th. Had to start from the pit-lane however and only got going on lap 2 so was lapped before he had even taken to the track. Af-ter that, there was not much he could do although he did show consistent pace and lap times to come home in 16th place. Hard to rate his weekend as he was hampered by technical issues in the race but showed promise.

Bruno Senna (Mahindra Racing) - N/ASet the quickest time in free practice 2 but was unable to qualify due to a battery issue. Made a perhaps overly-eager overtaking attempt on Sato a few corners into the race, damaging his suspension and leading to a retirement. Hard to rate his first weekend as he was on track for such a small amount of time. However showed his pace in free practice so will have high hopes for future weekends.

Takuma Sato (Amlin Aguri) - 6.5Qualified 14th which would have disappointed the F1 veteran but made a good start. Was involved in a first lap collision with Bruno Senna but got off unsca-thed. By lap 8, he had risen to P11 with some impressive passing moves, espe-cially on Piquet Jr. He involved in some exciting wheel-to-wheel battles before his car suddenly stopped due to a technical glitch. Eventually got going again and used maximum power in the car to set fastest lap before retiring from the race. Qualifying was disappointing but showed in the race that he is an ag-gressive overtaker and should be a contender if he returns for future rounds.

Sébastien Buemi (eDAMS Renault) - 5A weekend to forget for the former F1 driver and current WEC frontrunner. Made a few errors in free practice, damaging the gearbox on one of his cars. Qualified 9th but had to start 18th due to the damage. Ran quickly early on but a rear wing failure meant he had to pit for a replacement. Set the fastest lap of the race, which he held until Sato bettered it 5 laps from the end. Had to retire at the halfway stage as his second car was too damaged to race. A disappointing weekend but showed he has frontrunning pace so should contend for wins if he has more consistent weekends.

Jarno Trulli (Trulli Formula E) - N/AHit the wall in qualifying on committed lap and therefore started towards the back. He was unable to get off the start line due to technical issues and by the time he got going, was already a lap down. Called it a day af-ter just 2 laps of racing. Impossible to rate as he was affected by techni-cal issues, but should be a factor in future races due to his F1 experience.

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Editor Renate Jungert | Photo credit Twitter

THE RACE

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IN TWEETS

TWEET OF THE RACE

You want to be included? Use our very own hashtags and you will get the chance to be featu-red in the next issue of eNews

BEIJING EPRIXIN NUMBERS

Putrajaya| 17

SAM BIRD ELECTRIFIES THE OPPOSITION IN PUTRAJAYA

Two months after Formula E‘s thrilling debut in Beijing, the series was back in Asia for the second round. The streets of Putrajaya in Malaysia played host to a race which proved wrong the old saying that the sequel is never as good as the original.

16 | Putrajaya

The challenging circuit located close to Perdana Putra, home of the Malaysian Prime Minis-ter, played host to a race full of thrills and spills - but Virgin Racing‘s Sam Bird rose above all the incidents to put in a domi-nant display and clinch the win.

As the cars lined up on the starting grid, it was announced that Bruno Senna (Mahindra Racing) and Ka-therine Legge (Amlin Aguri) would once again receive FanBoost, with Nick Heidfeld (Venturi), the un-lucky man in Beijing after a last lap collision with e.dams Renault‘s Nicolas Prost cost him a potenti-al win, being the third recipient.Prost had taken pole position ear-lier in the day, but a 10-place grid penalty picked up for the afo-rementioned collision in Beijing dropped him down to 11th on the starting grid. This promoted Dra-gon Racing‘s Oriol Servià to the pole position slot, the Spaniard benefitting from his years of street racing experience in the USA to put in a committed and quick lap. His team-mate Jérôme d‘Ambrosio had qualified in 3rd, but received a penalty for using too much power and was dropped to the back of the grid - where he would keep Beijing race winner Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt) and Jaime Alguersuari (Virgin Racing) company after they came together in qualifying. Joining them there was Sebastien Buemi

(e.dams Renault), who had techni-cal issues in the qualifying session.Servià made a good start from pole to keep the lead ahead of Bird. Daniel Abt (Audi Sport Abt) had an extremely slow getaway from 3rd, caused by a power issue, and dropped right down the order. The safety car was soon brought out after two separate incidents - Leg-ge lost control under braking and hit Michela Cerruti (Trulli Formula E) while Andretti‘s rookie Matthew Brabham, a late call-up to replace Charles Pic who was in Abu Dha-bi on Lotus F1 Team third driver duties, hit Heidfeld and spun. Once the safety car came in and racing resumed, several battles formed up and down the field. Bird passed Servià, who was slowing due to battery issues, for the lead and started to pull away. Jarno Trulli (Trulli Formula E) also made

a pass on the Spaniard, but the F1 veteran was then unable to keep up with Bird‘s pace and dropped back from the Briton. Behind this battle, Franck Montagny (Andretti) attempted an aggressive overtake on Heidfeld, which ended with the German being pushed into the wall, his race over. Two races in Formula E for Heidfeld have led to two retirements, both at the hands of French drivers. The sa-fety car was scrambled once more in order to allow the marshals to recover Heidfeld‘s stricken vehicle. At this point, Daniel Abt pitted and switched cars to try and alleviate the power issue that had plagued the early stages of his race. How-ever this meant he would have to last about three-quarters of the race distance on one bat-tery - not an easy proposition.

The second restart saw Bird put the hammer down and pull clear of Trulli, with a queue of drivers starting to form behind the Italian. As Bird extended his lead, all eyes were on the long train of drivers from second place downwards. A big slide from Nelson Piquet Jr. (China Racing) caused Mahindra‘s Bruno Senna to slow down be-hind him - and unfortunately Montagny hit the back of Senna‘s car, damaging the Frenchman‘s front wing and causing him to pit. It was not to be a happy day for Montagny, who received a

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The tight corners presented a real challenge

Once again the drivers showed spectacular racingBuzzing: The cars on the track

penalty for speeding in the pits while getting his front wing repla-ced. Senna then tried everything in his power - including FanBoost - to get past Piquet Jr. but couldn‘t get the job done. Unfortunate-ly for Servià, his battery issues meant he would drop further and further down the order.

On lap 17, the majority of the frontrunners made their man-datory pit stop to change cars, with Bird and Senna staying out. di Grassi and Buemi (e.dams Renault) had both made up nu-merous places during the early stages of the race, and it was the Brazilian who was the big winner on the stops, di Grassi moving up to 4th just ahead of Piquet Jr. Meanwhile Senna was invol-ved in a coming together with Matthew Brabham, and elec-ted to stop at the end of lap 18.Piquet Jr. made a fantastic pass to take 3rd position from di Grassi and began to chase Trul-li for 2nd position, when news filtered through that Trulli had to serve a drive-through penal-ty for an energy infringement. However this did not stop Trul-li from defending his position vigorously, a decision that led to him putting Piquet Jr. in the wall, thereby bringing a promi-sing race for the Brazilian to a premature end. Trulli would re-tire from the race soon after.Meanwhile Bird took his man-datory stop and then continued

his serene drive at the front of the pack, with only the power-saving Abt ahead of him. Bue-mi had passed team-mate Prost earlier on, which suddenly me-ant he was in a podium positi-on behind di Grassi and Bird. Newly crowned WEC champion Buemi then pressured di Grassi, but could not find a way past his fellow endurance racing competi-tor. At this point, Abt had to slow down and concentrate on get-ting his car to the end, so begun to drop down the order and be passed by quicker cars behind.

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Once Bird took the race lead back from Abt, he never looked back, pulling away once again at the front. Senna, meanwhi-le, was on a charge - first dis-patching d‘Ambrosio and then using FanBoost to pass Prost for P4 with two laps to go. The Mahindra driver then closed up to 3rd-placed Buemi co-ming onto the last lap, with di Grassi just ahead of them and Bird off in the distance. And, just as in Beijing, there was fi-nal lap drama: Senna pushed too hard with just a few cor-

ners to go, lost the rear, and hit the wall hard, ending his race.

Sam Bird coasted across the line for a dominant victory on the Malaysian streets, with di Gras-si keeping the points lead with an impressive second place. Bu-emi completed the podium, his first points in Formula E after a disastrous weekend in Beijing. Prost came home in 4th ahead of d‘Ambrosio, Karun Chandhok (Mahindra) and early pace-setter Servià. Amlin Aguri rookie Anto-nio Felix da Costa kept his head down and took an impressive 8th on debut, ahead of Alguer-suari who - like di Grassi and Bu-emi - was able to recover from a low starting position to finish in the points. Rounding out the top 10 was Abt, who impressi-vely managed to get his ailing car home with very little batte-ry power left. Alguersuari took the two points for fastest lap.Lucas di Grassi leaves Malaysia

as the championship leader, but Putrajaya winner Sam Bird is just three points behind in the battle for the inaugural Formula E dri-vers‘ title. In the teams‘ stan-dings, di Grassi‘s Audi Sport Abt team leads the way from Bird‘s Virgin Racing, with former leaders Andretti enduring a weekend wi-thout points and slipping to 4th

place behind e.dams-Renault.The Formula E teams and dri-vers now move on to Punta del Este in Uruguay in a month‘s time for the third round of the inaugural season. And, if the race there is anything like the first two breathtaking Formu-la E races we have seen, it will complete a perfect trilogy.

Who‘s the winner? Bird and di Grassi both were very happy

Amlin Aguri‘s rookie Antonio Felix da Costa showed a great race

Close, closer, Formula E

The 20 drivers com-peting in the Putrajaya ePrix

Editor Laurence Thorn | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

THE PUTRAJAYA EPRIX DRIVER BY DRIVER

20| Putrajaya Putrajaya | 21

Lucas di Grassi (ABT Formula E) - 8Hit the wall in qualifying and was at fault for the resulting collision with Alguersuari. However made a blistering start and was up to 12th already after the first safety car restart. After the second safety car restart, moved up to 8th by lap 17. After Trulli put Piquet into the wall and then retired, found himself in P3. Defended strongly from Buemi on lap 24 and did not let the Swiss past. The Brazilian was then able to pass team-mate Abt, who was nursing his car home with low power, on lap 28 and finished a strong P2. Not as strong a weekend as in Beijing, punctuated by the mistake in qualifying, however his drive through the field was impressive.

Karun Chandhok (Mahindra Racing) - 7.5Made a strong start from 5th on the grid, and after the first safety car re-start passed Servia on lap 7. Kept a strong pace until entering the pits on lap 17, where a slow stop dropped him down to P10. He had a quiet race from then on, benefitting from incidents ahead to move up to 6th by the end. Once again showed strong qualifying and race pace.

Matthew Brabham (Andretti Formula E) - 5The 20-year-old rookie got a very late call to drive in Malaysia, and did not even have time to walk the track - he was straight out on Friday evening in the shakedown. Did an excellent job to start in P10 ahead of fellow rookie da Costa, but blotted his copybook on the first lap by locking up under braking and hitting Heidfeld. He then spun on lap 17 and also had a collision with Bruno Senna on the next lap. Brought the car home in P13, and will be happy to finish his first race after a few incidents.

Sam Bird (Virgin Racing) - 9.5Qualified a strong P3 and made a good start to the race to run P2 behind Servia after Abt‘s troubled start. Stayed close behind Servia at the first safety car restart and then made an excellent overtake for the lead of the race. He then started to pull away from the Spaniard, with a lead of 2.5 seconds just one lap after the restart. After the 2nd safety car period, stretched his lead again to 7 seconds before most of the other runners took their pit stops. Stayed out longer than most and came out in P2, behind Abt. Passed Abt on lap 27 and went on to take a dominant win. Only the lack of pole position stopped this being a perfect weekend for the British driver.

Franck Montagny (Andretti Formula E) - 5Compared to his strong Beijing performance, a disappointing race for the Frenchman. Started 13th and made contact on lap 1, but moved up in the early stages to P10. Put Heidfeld into the wall on lap 7 with a clumsy move. Kept going however, and moved up to 7th by lap 12 before dama-ging his front wing on Bruno Senna‘s car, who had to slow to avoid Nelson Piquet Jr. Montagny then sped in the pitlane while getting his front wing replaced and was not able to recover to any higher than 15th by the end.

Jérôme d‘Ambrosio (Dragon Racing) - 8Put in the 3rd-quickest qualifying lap but was sent to the back of the grid for an energy infringement. Made a good start and ran strongly in the early stages, lying just outside the points in P11 by lap 17. After the stops was running in P8, which became P6 after Piquet and Trulli‘s retirements. However was passed by Senna and dropped back down to 7th. Overtook Abt to run P6 in the closing stages, which became 5th when Senna hit the wall on the final lap. A strong race from the Belgian, which could have been even better if not for the qualifying penalty.

Daniel Abt (ABT Formula E) - 8.5The German clouted the wall in qualifying yet still put in the 4th fastest time. Started 3rd after Prost‘s penalty but encountered car issues off the start line that dropped him right down the order. As a result, he had to stop and change cars very early, meaning he had to do about three quarters of the race in his 2nd car. He was unable to keep anyone behind him for very long and dropped down to P11, which became P10 on the last lap after Senna‘s crash which does no justice to his pace in these cars. An excellent job to get his car to the end of the race despite having to do far longer on the battery than anyone else.

Oriol Servia (Dragon Racing) - 7.5Put in the 2nd quickest qualifying lap, and started from pole after Prost‘s grid penalty. Made a good start and kept hold of the lead until just after the first safety car restart, where he was passed by Bird. Suffered battery pro-blems from then on and dropped down the order, stopping on lap 17 and rejoining in 11th. Like Chandhok, ran a quiet race from that point onwards, moving up to 7th by the end as others had incidents ahead. A strong week-end from the Spaniard who will hope for better reliability next time out.

Nelson Piquet Jr. (China Racing) - 8Started a strong P6, and had a quick start too. Ran P5 in the early stages. A big slide caused Montagny to collide with Senna behind, however Piquet was able to continue. Stayed in 5thall the way until the pit stops, however lost out to di Grassi in the pits coming out in P4. Made an excellent pass to re-take P3 from di Grassi, but was put in the wall by Trulli, bringing a very strong race to a premature end.

Stéphane Sarrazin (Venturi Formula E) - 6.5Starting 12th, the Frenchman had a strong opening lap, moving up to P8 - inclu-ding an impressive pass on da Costa. Locked in battles with Senna, Montagny and da Costa in the early stages. However, suffered gearbox and engine prob-lems on lap 15, dropping all the way down to 16th. Recovered after the pit stops and finished P12, back where he started. With better reliability, Sarrazin could have scored some good points to go along with the two he bagged in Beijing.

DRIVER

OF THE

RACE

THE PUTRAJAYA EPRIX DRIVER BY DRIVER

22| Putrajaya Putrajaya | 23

Jamie Alguersuari (Virgin Racing) - 7The Spaniard was unfortunate to come across a slowing Lucas di Grassi in qualifying, and hit the wall as he tried to avoid the championship leader‘s stricken car. Thus, Alguersuari started from the back of the grid, but made an aggressive start to gain three places on lap 1. After that, he had a sensible and consistent race, taking advantage of other drivers‘ mistakes or issues to get himself into the points in P9. Also secured the two points for fastest lap. A strong race from the former Toro Rosso F1 driver, who will be hoping he can put in a representative qualifying lap next time out and start higher up the order.

Katherine Legge (Amlin Aguri) - 4Started 16th, but an early-race collision with Michela Cerruti ruined both fe-male drivers‘ races. Pitted to switch cars and continued a lap down for the rest of the race. Once again won the FanBoost vote, showing her popularity with the fans, and will be hoping for a better result next time out to back that up.

Michela Cerruti (Trulli Formula E) - N/AQualified 14th, ahead of Tung and Legge, but was hit by fellow fema-le driver Legge on the first lap and had to change cars. Her 2nd car then suffered throttle issues and she had to retire on lap 7. An unlu-cky race for the Italian, who will be hoping for better next time out.

Nick Heidfeld (Venturi Formula E) - 6.5The unlucky man of Beijing faced exactly the same issues in Putrajaya. First hit by Brabham on lap 1 but able to continue, he was then unable to make his FanBoost work to make a pass. On lap 7 he was needlessly put into the wall by Montagny and forced to retire. Finally excluded from the race for a technical infringement. The German once again showed strong pace but Lady Luck was not on his side.

Nicolas Prost (eDAMS Renault) - 7.5As in Beijing, set the quickest time in qualifying, and picked up the points for pole position. However the 10-place grid penalty picked up in Beijing meant he started 11th. He was up to 9th by lap 17, ahead of team-mate Buemi. Passed by Buemi on lap 19 and, after a few unsuccessful attempts to get the place back, spent the late stages defending from Bruno Senna. Senna used FanBoost to get past, but hit the wall on the final lap to hand P4 back to Prost. A good drive through the field from the Frenchman but he will be disappointed that di Grassi and Bu-emi, both of whom started further back, finished ahead of him on the podium.

Ho-Pin Tung (China Racing) - 6Qualified 15th and had a strong opening phase, running 12th by lap 11. However, spun on lap 13 and lost a few places. By the end, he re-covered to P11, finishing just outside the points. If not for the spin, the Dutch-Chinese could have perhaps scored his first points in Formula E.

Bruno Senna (Mahindra Racing) - 7Started 8th, and traded that position with Sarrazin and Montagny on the first few laps. Almost passed Piquet Jr using FanBoost but slightly hit the wall. Also had a collision with Brabham but recovered. Running in P6 until the majority of runners entered the pits. Stopped one lap later than most - however this strategy did not initially pay off as he was 9th after the stops. Worked his way up to P7, passing d‘Ambrosio for P6 on lap 25. Overtook Abt for P5 on lap 28 and followed that up with a FanBoost-assisted move on Prost for 4th on the next lap. Chased Buemi for the final podium place until hitting the wall on the final lap and retiring.

Antonio Felix da Costa (Amlin Aguri) - 7Making his FE debut after missing the Beijing round due to DTM commitments, the Red Bull-backed youngster qualified well in 11th, just behind fellow rookie Matthew Brabham. Kept his nose clean in the early laps and made up some places to be running 7th by the time the pit-stops came around on lap 17. From there, he kept his nose down and got the car to the end, coming home in 8th and securing points in his first race. An impressive debut from the Portuguese driver.

Sébastien Buemi (eDAMS Renault) - 8Buemi was not able to set a lap in qualifying due to a technical issue, but was up to 10th by lap 17 after an impressive drive through the field. Passed team-mate Prost on lap 19, which turned out to be crucial for a podium place. Aggressively chased di Grassi on lap 24 but was not quite able to find a way past, and then had to defend from team-mate Prost which he was able to do successfully. Passed the power-saving Abt for P3 on lap 28 and held on for an impressive podium finish from the back of the grid. A much better weekend than in Beijing last time out - if he is able to perform well in qualifying, will surely be a contender for wins.

Jarno Trulli (Trulli Formula E) - 6A rollercoaster race-day for the Formula 1 veteran. Started an excellent 4th and moved up to 3rd on lap 1 after Abt‘s problems at the start. After the first safety car restart, passed Servia for 2nd but could not keep up with the pace of leader Sam Bird, who pulled away rapidly. Did a good job to keep a lot of quick cars behind him both before and after the pit stops. Received a drive through penalty for an energy infringement but, before he could even serve it, put Pi-quet Jr. into the wall. Ended up retiring on lap 27, ending a promising race in a disappointing way. However showed strong potential for the coming races.

Editor Renate Jungert | Photo credit Twitter

THE RACE

24| Putrajaya Putrajaya| 25

IN TWEETS

TWEET OF THE RACE

You want to be included? Use our very own hashtags and you will get the chance to be featured in the next issue of eNews

PUTRAJAYA EPRIXIN NUMBERS

08

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 2 ROUNDS

26| StandingS Beijing| 07

28| drive the future drive the future| 29

The FIA Formula E champions-hip has just started its inaugural season, and it has taken us on a fascinating journey so far. Yet the acceptance among the mo-torsport community is not yet universal. e-racing.net gives you an insight into the reasoning be-hind this, and makes a case for Formula E as the future of racing. I remember the first time I got in touch with Formula E: On Sep-tember 10th 2013 FIA president Jean Todt ceremonially unveiled the Spark-Renault SRT_01E which hit the challenging roads of Beijing just one year later. After having seen many com-puter graphics of what the car was going to look like, seeing it

DRIVE THE FUTURE A CASE FOR FORMULA E

editor Antonia Grzelak | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

The FIA Formula E champions-hip has just started its inaugu-ral season, and it has taken us on a fascinating journey so far. Yet the acceptance among the motorsport community is not yet universal. e-racing.net gives you an insight into the reasoning be-hind this, and makes a case for Formula E as the future of racing.

in person made me realise what the people at the Frankfurt Mo-tor Show just witnessed: It was not just the revelation of another innovative race-car – it was a glimpse into the future of racing.The ever-present excitement could not disguise the suspicion with which many people were fa-cing the first Formula E season though. Many times colleagues could not understand why I was believing in the concept of this electrically-powered series. “The sound will not be sufficient”, “the cars will not be fast enough”, “street circuits cannot offer a sa-tisfactory variety of racing” were statements that I was too often confronted with. Nevertheless I had faith in the concept that Ale-

jandro Agag and the FIA presen-ted us with and the first ever ePrix should prove me right: It was a major success and even people that were not fussed about Formula E in the begin-ning were suddenly hooked.This raises the question why people needed to see the first race to go smoothly to finally give Formula E a chance. The series constitutes a whole new era in motorsports and is a vast shift in what people are used to. Change and fear lie close to-gether especially when a lot of money is involved. Yet the big-gest challenge Formula E was, and still is, confronted with is the fact that great motorsport

is commonly characterized as loud, fast and exclusive. Even though the series is indeed very exclusive, it lacks in sound and speed compared to the big boys like Formula One. Formula E with its futuristic 80 decibel sound and the 220 km/h maximum speed appears to miss out on some of the core characteristics of racing. Yet it does not – it redefines what racing is all about. In a world where we are constant-ly confronted with environmen-tal issues and economic crises, motorsport will have a problem maintaining its exceptional sta-tus for much longer. Formula E provides a real alternative here. The series has the potential to show what is possible with electrically-powered racing cars and can open people’s minds.Whilst the majority of peop-le might not perceive it in this manner, racing has always been a catalyst for innovation. Think about some of the standards throughout the motoring indus-try and where they came from. Fuel injection was first used by the Mercedes W196 in Formula One and Vanwall first introdu-ced disk brakes there as well. The Williams FW14 was the first car to ever use a full traction control system which millions of people are now using eve-

ry single day. Formula E might not only potentially change the way we experience racing, but might as well revolutionise the motoring industry as we know it. I can see why some people like reigning Formula 1 world cham-pion Sebastian Vettel deplore the series. The roaring sound of the V6 engines enchants as much as the scent of fuel which hangs in the air. Yet people have to reali-se that the concept of Formula One and most other racing se-ries is completely different to the idea behind Formula E: Whe-reas Formula One for example has always been on the cutting edge of braking technology, ae-rodynamics and safety, Formula E discerns the broad consensus around electric cars being the future and do not only want to establish electric vehicles in mo-torsports, but also accelerate their adoption in the real world.More than any other racing se-ries, Formula E is about leaving a legacy. It is about bringing eco-friendly motorsport to life which might seem like an con-tradiction at first. Yet Formula E shows that this is not wishful thinking, but reality. And one that we can all benefit from at that. A report by leading profes-sional services firm EY showed

that the Formula E championship will play a significant part in con-tributing to the sale of electric cars worldwide. The impact of the zero emission race series is forecast to sell additional 77 mil-lion electric vehicles worldwide which would lead to a 142 billion Euro profit for the car industry. At the same time, 42.000 news jobs should be made available.

But it is not only the economy that Formula E will bring a rosy future to – the environmental benefits are colossal as well. Sa-ving four billion oil barrels and preventing 900 million tonnes of CO2 would reduce pollution effectively and therefore impro-ve the quality of all our lives. If this is not a desirable out-look into the future, what is? As magnificent as all this sounds, it does not signify acceptance among the motorsport communi-ty. As Agag pointed out, electric cars - and especially electric race cars - are not considered ‘cool’ or ‘exiting’ which is a tremendous barrier Formula E needs to break through. Yet the series showed in the urban canyons of Beijing that it is definitely heading in the right direction. Having many talented and versatile drivers in-volved guarantees breathtaking racing and spectacular duels so that fans and critics are left per-fectly happy: the cars look fan-tastic on track and the unique futuristic sound gives fans the experience of watching a video game come to life. Throughout the race it was an enormous chal-lenge to keep up with what was

PROSStreet circuits provide a unique challenge to both drivers and teams. With walls so close to the track, high kerbs, and bumpy surfaces, drivers must work with their engineers to ensure they get the most out of their vehicles in such challenging conditions.Street circuits have a reputation of not always pro-viding a lot of overtaking. However the first 2 For-mula E races have proven that with cars that are able to overtake, and tracks with enough passing spots, there can be an entertaining race regardless of whether the circuit is permanent or temporary.But more than the entertainment aspect, the street circuit-only policy is fantastic for bringing racing to the people. Traditional permanent circuits are often located in rural areas that are hard to reach by public transport, meaning that only fans with cars are usually able to attend. This therefore reduces the amount of people who can attend, and increases the environmental footprint of the races.By bringing races to city centres, Formula E is allowing anyone within the city, or surround-ing area, to attend. What‘s more, it will crea-te buzz in these areas, with intrigued people checking out the race happening in their area, even if they are not race fans themselves. Thus, as well as reducing emissions and making the races available to more motorsport fans, For-mula E is giving itself the best possible op-portunity to attract new fans with this policy.

happening on track because the drivers constantly presented us with wheel-to-wheel racing and borderline ingenious overtaking. And if this is not what real racing is about, I do not know what is. Certainly, Formula E still has a few aspects to work on in the future, such as the transparen-cy of FanBoost, but one needs to keep in mind that the series is still in its early stages. The-re are decades of development behind every successful motor-sport series and it is a safe bet that Formula E will also advance with every single kilometre co-vered on track. While the series is travelling the world, it will also take us on a journey into the new era of motorsports - defi-ned by innovation, the desire for a better future and real racing..

30| Drive the future Pros anD cons | 31

PROS AND CONS:STREET CIRCUITS

CONSWhile certain street circuits may hold more gla-mour than your everyday permanent circuit, it may not be the best thing for the sport to have the calendar entirely comprised of them.The point of a world championship is to find the driver who performs the best across a variety of circuits in a number of different countries, and while we certainly have the national diver-sity going for the seriesit could unfairly favour some drivers to race exclusively on street circuits.? If the series were to have the same mixture as other series, that would give us a better in-dication of who is the most worthy champion.Next, let’s take logistics into account. Every street race requires a certain amount of pre-paration to enable it to take place. The disrup-tion this can cause in the city may have a ne-gative effect on the local residents, so for this to happen at every race on the calendar might not do the image of the sport much justice.Finally, to revisit the aforementioned argu-ment of circuit variety, how amazing would it be if the series visited more established per-manent circuits such as Spa or Interlagos? Not only would it bring a more diverse selection of tracks, if Formula E visits tracks that regularly host other series such as Formula 1 and WEC that would help the image of the sport no end.

editor Laurence Thorn and Topher Smith | Photo credt FIA Formula E Media

08

Editor Bethonie Waring | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media, SUFST

SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY FORMULA STUDENT TEAM THE IMPACT OF FORMULA E

Formula E is quickly beco-ming renowned as a world leader in motorsport sustainability, ins-piring environmental conscious-ness in observers and fans alike.In Southampton, UK, the Sout-hampton University Formula Student Team (SUFST) have been following in Formula E’s revolutionary footsteps, in-vestigating innovative ways to ensure their own race car is sustainable and competitive.Constituted of undergraduate students at Southampton Uni-versity, SUFST participates in the UK Formula Student compe-tition every year at Silverstone. This year, one of the key areas

Even though Formula E is a new series with one of the most innovative concepts in modern motorsport history, the series already made an impression on young en-gineers worldwide. To keep track of how Formula E influences young engineers we will follow the Southampton University Formula Student Team and their progress.

32| SUFST SUFST| 33

the team has been working on (besides the obvious need for an increase in speed), is sustaina-bility. This involves making the car itself more environmentally friendly and coming up with a model for a sustainable busi-ness in the motorsport industry. Formula E has already established itself as a big player in changing the way the team have thought about this challenge. At first, the idea that motor racing and susta-inability could be connected see-med ludicrous, but Formula E has shown that this is not the case. Now, more imaginative ways of making the team more susta-inable have been considered.

This year, new ideas will be te-sted to see how they compare to less sustainable alternative methods. If they have a posi-tive impact on the quality and cost of the car, they will be in-corporated into the design.The material that the car is made out of is currently the big-gest factor the team is trying to change. Currently conside-red, for both the actual car that will race in Silverstone in July and the business plan, is reu-sing parts from last year’s car.Metal is an increasingly shrinking resource and companies are now

looking to geothermal plumes in the ocean for mi-ning, where there are many deposits of important metals, as well as important fragile eco-systems. Not only this, but the energy needed to make steel for example from raw materials is incredibly high. Reusing parts not only lessens the impact of the car on the environment but also saves a lot of money.Other ideas that are currently being passed around the design meetings involve the use of 3D printing and recycling other materials such as anti-freeze.Of course, Formula E’s biggest sustainabi-lity ‘gimmick’ is the use of electric engines, which currently have a negative image in so-ciety. Formula E is going a long way to dis-pel the myths that surround electric engines.So will the team be considering an electric engine?Team Leader Dan Castro said “In the long term plan; yes. The immediate plan however is to continue with an IC engine and improve its efficiency and perfor-

mance; as there is still scope for this. The benefits of going electric for us are very clear and with the development of electric drive systems and batte-ries these benefits will only become greater. How-ever the cost and learning curve are just too great for the team at this moment. Going with the topic of sustainability when we do decide to progress to electric drive we will reuse a previous year’s car allowing us to run both cars in the competition.” There are also concerns that an electric en-gine and the batteries used to power it can’t be recycled like a combustion engine.It’s the beginning of a long engineering project for the team, made up of not only engineering students but students from across the universi-ty. Each idea will be trailed and assessed to see what fits together to make a competitive car.The car and the business model will be jud-ged next year as part of the competition.

Ready for success: SUFSTGoing electric is a possibility for the

future SUFST on the road

34| Driver‘s corner: Fabio Leimer Driver‘s corner: Fabio Leimer| 35

AMLIN AGURI‘S RESERVE DRIVER FABIO LEIMER: “I DON‘T THINK MUCH OF THE BOOST“Former GP2 champion Fabio Leimer knows what he is doing which is one of the many reasons why Amlin Aguri signed the young Swiss as a reserve driver. See what Fabio thinks about Formula E, FanBoost and what track he is looking forward to.

editor Laurence Thorn | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

ERN: You have signed for Amlin Agu-ri as Reserve Driver for the first Formu-la E season. What does your role with the team involve, and do you hope to race for the team later in the season? Fabio: I had already completed two tests with Amlin Aguri at Donington Park, which felt very positive. Amlin Aguri has signed me as Re-serve Driver, as I already have experience with the car and can therefore help them at the circuit. It would surely make me very happy if I got the chance to also participate in a race this season. Last season you were GP2 Series cham-pion, while this season you are racing in FIA WEC for Rebellion. How do the-se two cars compare to the Formula E car, which you tested at Donington Park? One can simply not compare them. Formula E is something totally new, the dri-ving style with a battery is totally different to that of a petrol engine. Another big diffe-rence is the tyres; in Formula E we have the same tyres whether it is wet or dry, just as on a regular road car. That means that one ne-ver has the optimal grip, whether it is wet or dry, and always must find a compromise.

What was it that got you interes-ted in Formula E in the first place? I think that Formula E can play an important role in the future of motorsports. Therefore, as a dri-ver it is optimal to be there from the beginning, and to witness and help shape the development. In For-mula E it also seems easier to find sponsors because electric vehicles and the related technologies, and their image, talk to a completely new target group. Formula E made an entertaining and drama-tic debut in Beijing. How do you see the se-ries progressing? And which new develop-ments would you like to see in the future? I think as the first ever race, everything was very positive. I hadn‘t thought that everything would work so trouble-free. Formula E was built in a very short amount of time, so one expected problems on the first weekend, however in my opinion everything worked instantly. One of the key initiatives in the series is Fan Boost. What is your opinion on this as it seems to be a polarising subject? As a driver I do not think so much of the boost, as we want to make the difference with our skills and not because of a boost on the exit of a cor-ner. However for the fans it is something special that they can influence the race with their votes, and this brings the audience closer to the racing action than ever before. One can only judge after the season, and

weigh up the actual influence on the races against the addi-tional interest of the audience. Which of the cities on the For-mula E calendar are you most looking forward to visiting? I have no idea as I do not know most of the cities yet, so I will let myself be sur-prised. However, I was recently in Austin, Texas with the WEC and liked America. Therefore I could particularly like the ra-ces in Los Angeles and Miami. Aside from your WEC and For-mula E duties, what do you like to do in your free time? I enjoy every minu-te in which I am at home, as I can relax and spend time with my girlfriend or my fri-ends. From time to time you can find me on the golf course.

Leimer: Go hard or go home

Fabio looks forward to the races in Long Beach...

...and Miami

updates but also exclusive image and video content as well as an option to vote for Trulli’s drivers in the Fanboost competition. Speaking of Fanboost, teams and drivers use social media to pro-mote themselves, although it is difficult to say whether this kind of promotion is very useful or if it is the popularity of a driver that makes the difference. Looking at Nick Heidfeld who received a Fanboost at the ePrix of Malay-sia, his crash in Beijing during the first race of the season may have helped sway the vote in his favour: as the boost could have helped him to overtake Nicolas Prost and win instead of being hit by his rival, many fans tweeted

Editor Renate Jungert | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

SOCIAL MEDIA AND FORMULA E HOW THE SERIES USES TWITTER & CO TO ITS ADVANTAGE

The internet provides an easy way to spread content all over the world within seconds and reach a broad audience world-wide, perfect to reach its target audience of young motorsports fans looking for an exciting, inno-vative, and environment-friendly alternative at a time when they feel left out by more traditional motorsports series. Formula E has embraced all possibilities of modern communication from the very beginning, using social me-dia as the most important me-ans to promote itself and place itself on the same level as the followers they want to attract. The Formula E Series is active on Facebook and Twitter: with nearly 100,000 likes and 50,000 followers since their creation in 2012, Formula E keeps its fans up to date with everything that is there to know. Since it is well-known that pictures, especially

the moving kind, speak more than a thousand words, there are also official YouTube and In-stagram channels available. Be it race reports, race highlights, or features, interviews, and pro-motions of all kinds, it has been easy to keep track of all news and be informed in real time since the introduction of the series. The Formula E teams on their part do just as well as the official For-mula E accounts. With the num-bers of followers on Twitter bet-ween 8000 for Amlin Aguri and 1000 for Trulli Formula E Team, the teams are operating on so-mewhat smaller scales, enabling a vital part of Formula E’s social media concept: interaction with fans. With the new opportunities provided by modern technology,

Formula E has embraced all possibilities of modern communication from the very beginning, using social media as the most important means to promote itself and place itself on the same level as the followers they want to attract. But what exactly does Formula E do better than any other series in the world?

fans don’t just want to follow their favourite sports. They want to be close to the sport, they want to get involved and have a say in it, they want to express their support and have the chance to get up close and personal with a sport they are passionate about. Amlin Aguri makes the wishes of motorsport fans all over the world come true: the Japanese team is famous for their cheeky sense of humour, poking light-hearted fun at everything and everyone, including fans and ri-vals. Together with Andretti For-mula E and Audi Sport Abt, their partners in crime for cheerful banter between rivals, they crea-te a friendly atmosphere that in-vites fans to participate. Not only are fans able to communicate

directly with their teams and show their support, the teams return the love equally. Amlin is known for following fans, and many other teams interact and reply to them on a regular ba-sis. Giveaways held on Facebook and Twitter are a popular way among teams to show apprecia-tion. Competitions, ranging from Virgin Racing’s monthly com-petition to Mahindra Racing’s current hashtag contest, invite fans to engage and participate. Q&A sessions are also a popular feature to give the fans a chance to get to know their drivers bet-ter. Dragon Racing has a section of articles on their Facebook page where fans can read about dif-ferent team members and their tasks, and Virgin Racing features a similar blog on their homepage containing behind-the-scenes entries written by team mem-bers. Trulli Formula E Team, one of the last teams to join the playground of Formula E social media, is quickly gaining popu-larity among fans thanks to lots of interaction and many people use hashtags including puns with their name. The team also take things one step further in terms of including modern technology: they are the first Formula E team to develop their own app, which includes not only regular news

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that it influenced their decision to vote for the German. How-ever, Amlin seem to have found an effective way to make use of social media: the promise of a giveaway of signed merchandise among the voters should one of their drivers win a Fanboost has surely helped Katherine Legge to score two Fanboosts in a row.To cut a long story short, unlike other racing series Formula E has fully embraced the opportu-nities provided by modern com-munication technology. Thanks to Fanboost and the excellent use of social media from the beginning, the series has eve-ry chance of fulfilling the wis-hes and expectations of the new generation of motorsports fans.

Amlin Aguri‘s social media activities help their drivers a lot with FanBoost votes

Alejandro Agag know about the importance of social media to attract fans

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Editor Stefan Ruitenberg | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

FEEL THE RUSH

AERODYNAMICS IN FORMULA E

We are two races into the Formula E season. And it‘s very noticeable that this car, the SRT-o1e, is very tricky to drive. Around Malaysia the cars were getting a lot of oversteer - partly due the instant torque but also the aero of the car, which is not advanced by any means. I‘m going to take you through the aero fixes of the cars, explaining what‘s good and bad, and what teams will improve on in seasons to come .On the front wing is quite a simple formation: one single footplate with two small mainplanes, moun-ted on to the triangle aero pods similar to the Cararo T1 (as designed by McLaren), which we know have a big input to the power unit side of things. The teams have one of two areas to play with on the bodywork. The first being the small mainplane on the front wing which has 4 settings - where it can be raised or lowered depending on what the driver feels and wants. The next aero they can change is on the rear wing, which we will get on to later.The aero pods are a fender-like solution to stop

wheels banging together with other cars and the walls on the narrow street circuits. Additionally, they push a small amount of the aero flow around the side of the car as well as in to the sidepods.To the side of the cars we have wing-like aero devices - these are actually part of the crash structure. As a result of the power unit been mounted so far backm the side pods have to be as well. The FIA therefore introduced the-se big fins so cars would protect the driver in a T-bone accident. The bottom fin is mounted to the underside floor of the SRT-o1e with the top mounted parallel to the driver on top of the tub.Moving to the back of the car we have the rat-her small ‚letter box‘ rear wing. This is whe-re most of the downforce is created for the car. It similarly has two mainplanes in a set of endplates therefore forming a letter box like shape. They have to be small so that they crea-te very little drag - as the more downforce they create, the more battery power they will use up, something that everyone does not want.Now we come to the really important area, the shaped under-body. Unlike Formula 1 we have these very large tunnels creating a Ven-turi effect on the air flow, which squeezes its way through and out via the diffuser. They create lots of downforce under the car with very little drag and disruption to the airflow.The whole idea of the Formula E aerodynamics are to provide lots of close racing with a lot of down-force. But, as we saw in Malaysia, they don‘t create too much - so the drivers can play around a bit, as we often see them drifting through tight corners.Formula E has a great car to start off with. The SRT_o1e will adapt to what the teams want in the near future, with some neat aero solutions in this very innovative area of engineering in motorsport.

The whole idea of the Formula E aerodynamics are to provi-de lots of close racing with a lot of downforce. But, as we saw in Malaysia, they don‘t create too much - so the drivers can play around a bit, as we often see them drifting through tight corners.

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PREVIEWS

PUNTA DEL ESTE AND BUENOS AIRES

FORMULA E GOES SOUTH AMERICA

The two upcoming Formula E events in Punta del Este and Buenos Aires promise specta-cular races and stunning sceneries again. We take a closer look at what we can ex-pect from the South American double round.

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Editor Topher Smith | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

PREVIEWING ROUND 3 OF 10 WELCOME TO PUNTA DEL ESTE

The track as a whole looks to have very long straights broken up by a handful of chicanes, so a low down-force setup may be preferable for the cars, in order to attain the highest speed possible on the straights.The chicane of turns 1 and 2 will provide a similar start to the as that of Putrajaya, and if that race was anything to go by we could expect a number of over-taking attempts there. A potentially flat out section of turn 3 through to turn 5 could set up some overta-king opportunities for the second of the circuit’s chi-canes, before another flat out run to turns 8 and 9.The third chicane of turns 10 and 11 run onto an easy turn 12 before kinking round to the right before arri-ving at the penultimate chicane, which will be crucial for drivers to get right as it leads onto the second longest straight on the circuit. From there turns 16 through to 19 could get very messy, especially if any of the dri-

vers get a bad run at the start of the section.Turn 19 could prove to be the most crucial of them all, as it leads onto the start/finish straight, which is also the longest straight on the circuit.

After two rounds of the inaugural Formu-la E championship we are starting to get a better idea of who the faster drivers are. Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird, a renowned street circuit specialist, have a clear advan-tage at the top of the table, and it is very likely they can run near the front again.Sebastien Buemi charged to third place from 19th on the grid in Putrajaya, and if he can have a clean qualifying and put himself within the top five, he could well contest for top honours.There are two drivers on the grid that could do with a clean weekend, namely Nick Heid-feld and Bruno Senna. Both have shown phenomenal pace so far, with Heidfeld co-ming oh-so-close to victory in Beijing, and Senna wrestling a crabbing car to within reach of a podium before a driver error on the last lap meant a visit to the barrier. If either or both can finish the race in Punta del Este, I would bet my bottom dollar one of them, if not both, will be on the podium.As the field is comprised of identical cars, pi-cking people who might surprise us is a very difficult thing to do. I said last week I wan-ted to see Trulli GP surprise us by running at the front after coming away from Beijing as the only team without points. Jarno, the man himself, did exactly that by competing for a podium in the early stages of the race, before contact with Nelson Piquet Jr and a drive through put pay to that challenge.I would love to see the Trulli GP team chal-lenging near the front again, and I would also love to see the female drivers, Michela Cerruti and Katherine Legge have a decent

While Putrajaya as a city is new to motorsport, Malaysia is of cour-se home to the Sepang Circuit, which has played host to an Formula 1 Grand Prix annually since 1999. The Malaysian Grand Prix has become a popular and much-loved race. Can the Putrajaya ePrix follow its footsteps?

race. Both drivers currently have no points, and I think it would be fantastic for the sport if they could start getting points on the board.There have now been two ra-ces in a row where both Bru-no Senna and Katherine Legge have won the vote of the fans, plus Lucas di Grassi in Beijing and Nick Heidfeld in Putrajaya.In all honesty I can’t see much change from Putrajaya. The fans seem to love Senna and Legge with a passion, and just like after Beijing, the word on

I am also interested in the plights of Antonio Felix da Costa, Matthew Brabham and Antonio Garcia. Both da Costa and Brabham will be starting their second Formula E race, so it will be good to see how much they have learnt from Putrajaya, and whether they can convert that in Punta del Este.Garcia will be making his de-but this weekend at China Ra-cing in place of Ho-Pin Tung, and I would like to see the Spaniard spring a surprise and upset the established order

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social media is that people are voting for Heidfeld again af-ter he was crashed out for the second race in succession.Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird both have a mile of a gap at the top of the table, and I would love to see another driver join that group. Currently Franck Mon-tagny, Nicolas Prost and Karun Chandhok are tied for third in the championship, with Sebasti-en Buemi not far behind. Victo-ry for any of those drivers could bring them right into contention.

FanBoost Twitter-CheckB. Senna: 5 S. Bird: 4 N. Heidfeld: 3 J.Trulli: 3 D. Abt: 2 M. Cerruti: 2 A. da Costa: 2 S. Durán: 1O. Servià: 1

We should also mention that Katherine Legge had 3 votes before being announced as not participating

Drogyn (@Drogyn1701) Thinking I‘ll vote for Sam Bird. He had a great - and CLEAN - drive in Putrajaya! Was a bit disappointed by the guy i voted for last time. I think Fast Franck was playing things a bit too fast and loose

DavidAndres (@david3cbcn)My fanboost goes to Oriol Servia hope this time he doesn‘t have engine problems! „Te vere desde espa-ña“ (I‘ll watch you from Spain) !!

Glynn Yeardley (@GYeardley) I‘ll just change it to Duran since he is Katherine Legge‘s stand in at Amlin Aguri

Punta del Este‘s stunning scenery

What to expect from Fan-Boost in Punta del Este?

#PuntaDElectro

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Editor Laurence Thorn | Photo credit FIA Formula E Media

PREVIEWING ROUND 4 OF 10 WHAT‘S NEW, BUENOS AIRES?

The The 2,8 million inhabitant city on the East coast of South America is much more than just the capital of Argentina. With its industrial, political, cultural and eco-nomic impact it is also the country’s most influential city and second-largest metropolitan area in South America after Greater Sao Paulo, and therefore often referred to as the Paris of South America. Just like France’s capital city, Buenos Aires is a huge tourist attraction and es-pecially well known for its European-style architecture.The popular city on South America’s coast plays an impor-tant part in the history of international sporting events: it had two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup and will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. But even though football is the Argentinians‘ most highly regarded sport, motorsports have a special place in their heart. Their fellow countryman Juan Manuel Fangio is the second most successful Formula 1-driver of all time and brought

racing-enthusiasm to Argentina. Between 1953 and 1998, the Autódromo Juan y Os-car Alfredo Gálvez hosted 20 Argentine Grand Prix before it discontinued on financial grounds. Furthermore, the prestigious Rally Dakar started and finished in Buenos Aires.

Set in the Puerto Madero region of Argentina‘s capital, the Buenos Aires circuit combines long straights, flowing corners and tight hairpins to provide the ultimate challenge for drivers as well as excitement for spectators.A long start-finish straight feeds into the 180-degree left hander at turn 1, with the cars then going right at turn 2 before ano-ther straight takes them into the flowing left handed turn 3. A long straight is followed

Argentina can look back on a fantastic motorsport history and with the Formula E ePrix the South American country once again hosts a prestigious event. Buenos Aires unique scenery already makes the race worthwhile and the challenging track will surely do the same.

by a 90-degree left hander at turn 4 before the cars head to the tightest corner on the cir-cuit, the hairpin at turn 5. Af-ter another 90-degree corner at turn 6, the cars will negotiate a tight left hander at turn 7 before the chicane at turns 8 and 9. A straight leads them into the fi-nal complex of turns 10, 11 and 12, which all follow closely after each other, before the cars come onto the start-finish straight to begin another lap. A month af-ter the 3rd round in Uruguay, the Formula E circus returns to South America for the first race of 2015. This time the capi-tal of Argentina, Buenos Aires, will provide the battleground on which the Formula E drivers will wage war. The three South American drivers in the series - Brazilians Lucas di Grassi, Bruno Senna and Nelson Piquet Jr. - will all look to do well in their home continent. If Mexico‘s Salvador Durán (a late stand-in for Ka-therine Legge in Punta del Este) continues to drive in the series, he will hope to impress too. Sam

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Bird, race winner in Putrajaya, will be looking for another victo-ry while Formula E‘s unluckiest man Nick Heidfeld will be ho-ping just to finish the race. And of course, if a new frontrunner emerges in Uruguay, they will also look to keep up their strong form in the Argentine capital...

#BuenosDesiresBruno Senna is one of the South American drivers

Buenos Aires can impress with a unique skyline

With Lucas di Grassi a South Ameri-can driver leads the championship

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THE IDEAL FORMULA E CALENDAR

Much has been discussed about the Formula E calendar consisting of only street circuits, but what if there were to be a calendar comprising of a mixture of street circuits and permanent circuits? It is a question to be considered for future seasons. What we here at e-racing want to know is if you had the power to choose a 10 race calendar, which circuits would you go for?

All you have to do is make a list of the top 10 circuits you would love to see Formula E visit and put them in your order of preference. From each list we will allocate a points system to each list we receive.

From this we will put together a final list of top choices for Formula E circuits and release it in the February edition of eNews!

Please email your lists to Topher Smith at t.smith@e-racing.net

SPARKING THE NEXT MONTH

13th December 2014 Punta del Este ePrixFormula E makes its way to Uru-guay for the first of two races on South American soil. Can Brazil‘s Lucas di Grassi extend his champi-onship lead in his home continent? 20th December 2014

e-racing.net Xmas QuizPit your wits against our quiz-masters and see if you can be one of three lucky prize winners!

10th January 2015 Buenos Aires ePrixThe first Formula E race of 2015 sees the teams and drivers make the trip from Uruguay to the capital of Ar-gentina. What will unfold in Formu-la E‘s second South American race?

14th January 2015 eNews 002It‘s the second Wednesday of the month, so it‘s time for a new issue of eNews. This time we will focus on the two South American rounds and give you a South American the-med ePaper. As usual we will have a detailed look at each driver‘s performances and let you relive the race in tweets.

This and lots of other interesting features will be delivered right to your inbox if you subscribe to eNews on our website.

next issue: 14th January 2015