Posts with «motor racing» label

Take a first look at Formula E’s new Gen3 car in action

Formula E recently showed off its latest Gen3 car that it says is faster, more agile and "the world's most efficient" racing vehicle to date. Now, we're getting a first look at one on a track at England's Goodwood in the form of the Mahinda M9 Electro with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel. 

On its Twitter account, Goodwood said that Heidfeld was "not holding back" and it looked like the car made a clean lap other than a few minor lockups. On track, the Gen3 design certainly looks more subdued and less dramatic than the Gen2, but it's lighter (840kg compared to 920kg including driver) and quicker in every way.

Here’s the first glimpse of the @FIAFormulaE Gen 3 car. The @MahindraRacing Gen 3 car has @NickHeidfeld at the wheel and he’s not holding back. What do you think of the new design?#M9Electro#Gen3#FOS#FormulaEpic.twitter.com/DsFLMxrGg7

— Goodwood FOS (@fosgoodwood) June 23, 2022

The Gen3 model is very specifically designed for street circuit racing with high maneuverability and speeds up to 200 MPH. That's not quite as fast as the 220-230 MPH top speeds for F1 cars, but the Formula E vehicles do that with less than half the power. They're also highly efficient, with over double the regenerative braking capabilities of the Gen2 cars. Overall, they convert 90 percent of battery energy to mechanical power, compared to 52 percent for F1 cars. 

There are now 11 Gen3 teams confirmed with 22 cars, including DS Automobiles, Dragon/Penske, Envision, Mercedes-EQ, Avalanche Andretti, Jaguar, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan and Porsche, along with Mahindra. The first season of Gen3 will kick off this winter with pre-season testing. 

McLaren will join Formula E in 2023

Team news is starting heat up ahead Formula E’s Gen3 debut next season, and today one of the bigger expected announcements was made official. Ahead of the Berlin E-Prix, McLaren Racing announced its move to Formula E for season nine, committing to fielding a team when the series’ new spec makes its first competitive laps. Rumors began to swirl weeks ago that the company was coming to the all-electric racing series. 

True to the reports, McLaren will acquire the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team. Current team principal Ian James will remain to ensure "a smooth transition." Mercedes-EQ is the current world championship team and driver Nyck de Vries won the individual series title in 2021 to complete the double trophy season. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown explained that it was "satisfying" to provide a new home for the "class-leading" Formula E team that Mercedes has built. No word on a driver line-up just yet, but de Vries' stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne will move to DS Penske next season.

“McLaren Racing always seeks to compete against the best and on the leading edge of technology, providing our fans, partners and people with new ways to be excited, entertained and inspired,” Brown said in a statement. “Formula E, like all our racing series, fulfills all those criteria."

McLaren is certainly no stranger to Formula racing. As the second-oldest active team in F1, the constructor made its debut in 1966 at Monaco. It amassed eight constructors championships in the 70s, 80s and 90s with 12 individual drivers championships. Its most recent trophy-winning season was 2008 when Lewis Hamilton won his first championship (and did so in quite dramatic fashion).

McLaren also has experience racing EVs as it competes in the off-road Extreme E series. The racing series is still in its infancy after it first debuted in 2021, however, like Formula E and Formula 1, Extreme E is also sanctioned by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). McLaren also fields two cars in IndyCar as Arrow McLaren SP, an open-wheel series it returned to in 2021 after a 40-year break. The team is a joint effort between Arrow Electronics, McLaren Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

McLaren joins Maserati as a major manufacturer entering Formula E next season. Maserati announced in January that it would participate in the series, and in April it revealed a partnership with the Monaco-based ROKiT Venturi Racing. Nissan also recently took full ownership of the e.dams team it has partnered with since 2018. In the lead up to this weekend's Berlin E-Prix, German team ABT Sportsline revealed plans to return to Formula E next season and Avalanche Andretti announced it would run Porsche powertrains starting in 2023.

'F1 22' has been redesigned to fit the new Formula 1 era

For the 2022 season, Formula 1 has entered a new era. The sport introduced a new car spec for this year, complete with a new set of regulations that govern how it can be used. There’s a new circuit in the United States as well as a continuation of the sprint race format that’s still in its infancy. Big changes for teams at the start of the season led EA-owned Codemasters to redesign the latest entry in the F1 game series to match the real-life updates on the track.

As studios typically do for games like this, Codemasters is touting F1 22 as the “biggest overhaul” to the title in years. And with the debut of a new generation car, it’s not hyperbole. Specifically, the company says the handling is “better than ever” with upgrades to the aerodynamic and suspension simulation, plus changes to tires per the real-life regulations. Codemasters says it was in contact with both F1 and teams on how the new generation of cars would drive so it could completely overhaul mechanics and the physics of the game to mirror IRL racing.

In an effort to increase the realism of the game, Codemasters has swapped out the voice of the race engineer on your team for Marc Preistley, a former member of McLaren Racing’s F1 crew. The studio even went so far as to record Preistley’s guidance through a Formula 1-spec headset so the audio is as authentic as possible. Further changes to race day include Formation Lap and AR-guided grid lineup. Pit stops have been updated for the speed of real life and there’s a timed pit box entry mechanic that impacts the efficiency of your stop.

Practice sessions now include an AR projection on the track to help both experienced drivers refine their lines and rookies to learn circuits. What’s more, both Formation Lap and safety car sequences give you the option of actively participating or watching a more broadcast-like cinematic version of the process. Codemasters says this gives users who crave authenticity the ability to go through every motion of a race, but it also offers more casual gamers the choice of something more relaxed. Pit stops are another area where things can be as active as you want them to be. You can either manually hit your pit box with the timing mechanic or watch from a TV-style perspective.

EA/Codemasters

For beginners, there’s a new Adaptive AI feature. Codemasters says this is built for users who are fans of F1 but may not be skilled at racing games just yet. Essentially, the game’s AI plays more closely alongside the user so that even a novice driver can participate in the race rather than struggle to keep up with the pack. There are two levels to Adaptive AI: standard and a more aggressive mode that slows down the game even more.

F1 22 will also add the sprint race format that Formula 1 adopted for select weekends in 2021 and has continued this season. A short dash determines the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix at these circuits rather than traditional qualifying (quali is used to set the grid for the sprint). Sprint races will be part of the season at Imola, Austria and Brazil and they’re part of the game at those locales as well. F1 added a second race in the US this year in Miami, and that circuit will also feature in the game. Codemasters made changes to Australia, Spain and Abu Dhabi in line with the updates to the actual tracks that better accommodate the new cars.

There are changes for the career or My Team mode as well. First, you can choose between three entry levels: newcomer, midfield challenger or title contender. You can begin with a team that already has established operations and a great driver, or you can make things more challenging. There are things like the option of skipping an interview or not dealing with a facilities problem, issues that real team bosses face, that can impact how your season goes if you don’t handle them properly.

EA/Codemasters

In My Team, you’ve had the ability to customize your livery before, but Codemasters has expanded this area. There are more finishes for the car (gloss, metallic, matte, satin) and there are more places on the car that are available to change. Interface updates here allow you to copy and paste livery color schemes to places like your engineering facility so that you have a cohesive identity for your team.

With F1 Life, the game’s new central hub, you’re able to see the supercars you unlock from playing (that are driveable in secondary game modes), browse your trophy case and customize your driver’s style. There’s a closet here where you can update both casual and race wear – right down to the helmet and gloves. F1 Life also serves as the lobby for multiplayer racing, where your driver and their personal style will show up for everyone to see. You even have the ability to customize your “space” or living area where furniture, lighting, art and more can all be swapped out as you see fit.

Lastly, there’s a VR component for PC. With this game mode, you’ll be able to race from the perspective of the driver, taking in the entire race from the cockpit. If you’ve ever seen a driver cam during a race, that should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect here. You can still race against friends even if they don’t have a VR headset since online play is still available for players who opt for the more immersive virtual reality option.

F1 22 will be available June 28th as a digital Champions Edition on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Epic, Origin and Steam). The “regular” version will follow on July 1st.

Formula E teams envision what Gen3 livery could look like

It's a big week for Formula E. The all-electric racing series has debuted it's incredibly efficient Gen3 car ahead of this weekend's Monaco E-Prix. And while Formula E's show car gave us a good idea of what the next-gen racer will look like when it hits the track next season, it wasn't exactly decked out in circuit-ready livery. Thankfully, some of the teams have shared concepts of what their cars could look like in Season 9, so those give us a better reference point for track-ready Gen3 cars. 

Formula E driver Oliver Askew on the challenges of a rookie season

As an all-electric racing series, Formula E presents a unique set of challenges for drivers. The hurdles include power management, when to enable attack mode and the constant effort not to overheat the tires. The day before the Monaco E-Prix, we stopped by the Avalanche Andretti Racing garage to chat with Formula E rookie Oliver Askew, the lone American driver in the series. Askew discusses the series’ challenges, racing in Monaco and the new Gen3 car.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Billy Steele: With this being your first year in Formula E, are there any specific challenges that are unique to this series? Are there things you didn't expect or aspects that have been more challenging?

Oliver Askew: Multiple things. We'll start with the tracks. They are very different from what I'm used to. I have raced street tracks from the Road to Indy and IndyCar, but there are different straight tracks, they're a lot more tight. Combine that with how I need to drive this car, which has very little grip. It's very heavy, no aero and we're on treaded tires. So that's been a bit of a challenge.

But it's a race car at the end of the day, and it has good power, good acceleration and it decelerates well. The window of operation is very small, so in the racing situation, with our energy, it's a completely different story.

SOPA Images via Getty Images

Qualifying is one thing, but when we go to the race, it's all a big chess match. You are racing other guys and deciding when to deploy energy and when to save energy. Obviously, qualifying is very important. But if you're able to go fast, while saving energy at the same time, you can overtake guys. It's a very action-packed race day, usually, and you keep seeing guys come from the back to the front by preserving energy in the beginning and then deploying it at the end – and vice versa.

We rely a lot on our engineering. Our preparation in the simulator is massive, especially for me. I show up on the race weekend, and I get like six push laps if I'm lucky before qualifying, which is nothing from what I'm used to.

BS: What is your favorite aspect of Formula E?

OA: I'd like to say that the car suits me. I do like operating in that very small window – the fine margins – especially when we go to the street tracks. It's a game of inches. And though I'm still learning how to get the most out of it, my development is on a very steep road at the moment. And I think it'll continue to be that way until we get to where we want to be at the front.

The traveling aspect I really, really enjoy. It can be tiring. But back in the States racing IndyCar the biggest trip that I would take would be from Florida to Indianapolis, or from Florida to the west coast, which doesn't take much time at all. Traveling to Jakarta and then going back to the simulator in Munich, seeing countries that I wouldn't have the chance to see before this experience, is pretty cool.

BS: And not the opposite. What’s your least favorite?

OA: Probably my teammate, Jake. Super annoying bloke.

Just kidding, we get along really well. I’d say the fact that we get virtually no practice.

BS: Most of your practice is in a simulator, right?

OA: Yeah, and at the end of the day, it’s very impressive what we're able to do there. But it’s still not the real thing.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

BS: What are your thoughts on the circuit here in Monaco? It’s quite different from other tracks.

OA: There is a lot of elevation. I've never been to this city before, so I didn't realize how vertical it was. Like you're literally taking elevators across town just to get to where you want to go.

On the track, Monaco is pristine – like everything about it. It's the most gorgeous three track I've ever been to. Combine the harbor and the yachts with the glitz and glam and it's definitely a special place. And just to imagine are legends of sport, icons racing around here. I'll definitely take that in for the first couple laps and then get to work.

BS: Are there any specific challenges to the circuit?

OA: This is our most high speed circuit. To put that into perspective, this is one of Formula 1’s slowest. So yes, these cars are not as quick as the F1 course, but they're very difficult to drive – combined with a very high speed circuit. Take turn three, for example, the line is a very long left hander, and you're cresting the hill on approach. It's difficult to find the braking zone. You have to rely a lot on the car settings through there. And then you take the hairpin, the heavy braking out of the tunnel into turn 10. Like we spoke about before, the brakes in this car are vital to get right.

Billy Steele/Engadget

BS: With this weekend being the debut of Gen3, do you have any initial thoughts on the new car?

OA: Hopefully I get to drive it at some point! On paper, it seems very powerful and very fun to drive. I think the other drivers are in the same boat. It's impressive what they've been able to put into this car. And I think it's going to be a lot more enjoyable to drive than the Gen2.

BS: Is there one aspect that stands out more than the others in terms of the new technology on board?

OA: With four-wheel regeneration, we're able to put twice as much battery into the car throughout a race. We put back 40 percent into the battery of what we use energy-wise during a 45 minute race, which is pretty impressive. The brake zones are kind of going to condense with that extra front axle breaking. I don't know what that's going to do to the racing aspect of the series. It's probably going to make it a lot more difficult to overtake but the excitement is still gonna be there.

Formula E Gen3: The world's most efficient race car

Although some of the details have already been announced, Formula E officially unveiled its Gen3 car today ahead of this weekend’s Monaco E-Prix. Big changes are coming in terms of power and efficiency when the new cars hit the track next season, but the vehicles will also sport a new look that differs from the current second-gen design. In fact, Formula E has gone so far as to call the Gen3 “the world’s most efficient racing car.”

Until now, much of the focus on Gen3 has been the massive upgrades to performance and efficiency, but the car also sports a new overall body design. Wheel covers are gone in both the front and rear, making the new model more of a true open-wheel car. There are no individual wings over the rear wheels either. Instead, Gen3 has two jet-like fins on the back. That’s because the aerodynamic shape of the car was inspired by fighter aircraft, and indeed the vehicle looks a bit like a more modern F-18 on wheels.

Formula E hopes the new design, which is both lighter and smaller than the Gen2 model, will enable more entertaining racing. Like the new Formula 1 cars that debuted this season, Gen3 is built for more speed, but also for more “agile” wheel-to-wheel racing. Any tweaks that enable more duels on the track usually means a better viewing experience for fans. Plus, these cars should be two to four seconds faster in both qualifying and race conditions.

“The Gen3 is a creature designed for its habitat: racing on city streets in wheel-to-wheel combat,” Formula E CEO Jamie Reigle said in a statement. In fact, the series says this is the world’s first race car specifically designed and optimized for street circuits. With that in mind, it’s fitting that the series would debut the vehicle in Monaco, where last year’s E-Prix saw a half-dozen lead changes and more than 60 overtakes.

Billy Steele/Engadget

When it comes to powertrain, Formula E says the Gen3 car is its “most powerful, lightest, and fastest race car to date,” according to Reigle. “Formula E’s Gen3 race car represents a leap forward for motorsport and electric mobility," he explained. "Designed to demonstrate that high performance, efficiency and sustainability can be packaged together without compromise.”

Inside, an electric motor can deliver 350kW of power (470BHP) to reach top speeds of 200MPH (320 km/h). What’s more, Formula E explains that the power-to-weight ratio for the Gen3 is twice as efficient as the output for a comparable internal combustion engine (ICE). For reference, Formula 1 cars average speeds between 220 and 230MPH during a Grand Prix, depending on the circuit layout. Then there’s the motor efficiency. Formula E says the electric power units can convert over 90 percent of their energy to mechanical power, compared to around 40 percent for an ICE motor.

“The overall performance of the car is going to be much quicker than we have today,” Roger Griffiths, team principal Avalanche Andretti Racing, told Engadget. “That’s the exciting bit – combination of the lower weight, the electric powertrain and the regeneration. Two to four seconds faster around the race track is huge.”

Gen3 won’t rely solely on batteries for power. Around 40 percent of the energy cars will use during an E-Prix will be produced by regenerative braking. This will also be the first Formula car ever with both front and rear powertrains, which will add 250kW to the 350kW in the back. All of it combines for a total of 600kW, which will be more than double the regenerative abilities of the Gen2. In another first for a Formula car, the Gen3 won’t be equipped with hydraulic rear brakes thanks to the addition of the front powertrain and its regenerative output.

Billy Steele/Engadget

“As drivers, we’re always very excited to race with cars that are more competitive with more performance and more efficiency,” ROKiT Venturi Racing driver Edoardo Mortara told Engadget. “With this new Gen3 car, it’s going to be lighter, more powerful and more grip, so it’s going to make [racing] more fun.” Mortara said the second powertrain at the front could be a challenge, demanding a new driving style and enabling new race strategies from the current Gen2 car.

Of course, sustainability is also a key piece to the overall Formula E mission, and Gen3 certainly takes this into account. The series says this will be the first Formula car that incorporates Life Cycle Thinking, or how used components are dealt with once they’re removed from service. In this case, there’s “a second life” already in place for recycling tires, parts and battery cells.

For the new Hankook tires, Formula E says a new process allows for the overall composition to comprise 26 percent sustainable materials, including natural rubber and recycled fibers. The series plans to use the same process as from aviation and aerospace industries for carbon fiber recycling to produce material that can be used in other applications. In fact, recycled parts from the current Gen2 cars will be used to make components for the new vehicles. Formula E says this is the first time recycled materials have been used in the body for a Formula car. Lastly, Gen3 will be a net-zero carbon vehicle, in line with Formula E’s achievement as the first net-zero sport. And part of that is strict sustainability benchmarks for suppliers.

“For me, the key thing is efficiency,” Mahindra Racing principal Dilbagh Gill explained to Engadget. “If you look at every parameter, it’s more optimized. 40 percent regeneration is so amazing, and I think that’s something that will be applicable to road cars going forward and something that we’ll learn a lot from.”

Though Formula E has done some on-track testing and simulations of its own, the teams have yet to embark on running the new car. The series says seven teams – DS Automobiles, Jaguar, Mahindra Racing, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan and Porsche – have signed on with the FIA to race the Gen 3 car in Season 9. Pre-season testing is set to begin this winter.

Nissan now fully owns a Formula E team

Nissan has been racing in Formula E as a partner of the e.dams team since it made its debut at the circuit back in 2018. Now, the Japanese automaker has announced that it's no longer just e.dams' partner: It has acquired the racing team and has become its full owner. According to The Race, Nissan had a minority stake in the team prior to its acquisition from previous owners Olivier and Gregory Driot, children of Jean-Paul Driot, who founded the organization. 

Formula E supplies competitors with the same chassis, and it's up to manufacturers to equip it with their own powertrain. For its debut vehicle back in 2018, Nissan took cues from the Leaf's increased battery range and power — and it plans to continue "transferring knowledge and technology" between its Formula E and consumer cars going forward. Presumably, that means if it discovers a breakthrough technology for electric vehicles while working on a Formula E car, it will apply what it learned to its consumer vehicle models, as well. As Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta said in a statement:

"We have been on the grid for over 85 years, and our desire to win continuously accelerates us forward. We learn as we race, and the relentless pace of technological progression that drives the Formula E championship will provide us with many opportunities to inform and develop even better cars for customers."

In 2021, Nissan announced that it's investing $17.6 billion in the development of new electric vehicles and battery tech over the next five years. Its goal is to develop 23 electrified models by 2030 and to have a fleet that's 40 percent electrified in the US and in China by the same year. 

Formula E will unveil its Gen3 car on April 28th in Monaco

After months of teasing, Formula E and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced today they will finally unveil their new Gen3 all-electric car at an event in Monaco on April 28th. The two organizations said fans would be able to watch the unveiling through their associated digital channels. Formula E teams will begin using the car at the start of the 2022-2023 season, with testing expected to begin this spring.

The FIA first shared details on the Gen3 at the end of last year, revealing it would feature a motor capable of outputting 350kW of power (about 470 brake horsepower) and a top speed of 200 miles per hour. It will also include front and rear powertrains, a first for a formula car. With a total of 600kW of power, the Gen3 will feature more than double the regenerative capability of Formula E’s current Gen2 vehicle. The FIA has also promised the Gen3 will be its most sustainable vehicle to date, with a net-zero carbon footprint thanks to recyclable carbon fiber parts and other design considerations.

Formula 1 will use a VAR-style virtual control room to avoid controversy

The 2021 Formula 1 season ended messily, to put it lightly, and the FIA is hoping technology will prevent a repeat. As part of a string of changes, Formula 1 is implementing a "Virtual Race Control Room" akin to the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) you see in soccer. The "backup" will sit outside the circuit and use a real-time link with the race director to enforce rules using the "most modern technological tools."

The race director will also be cut off from direct radio communications to reduce pressure. It will still be possible to ask questions, but there will be a strict procedure for this.

The move comes after a controversial end to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021. Lewis Hamilton was leading the race, with five lapped drivers sitting behind the safety car and preventing rival Max Verstappen from realistically contesting Hamilton's position. However, race director Michael Masi made the controversial decision to let those trailing drivers "unlap" themselves by passing the safety car, giving Verstappen a much easier time of challenging Hamilton's lead. With the help of fresh tires, Verstappen passed Hamilton (who was using worn tires) to win the race and, in turn, the Driver's Championship. 

Hamilton's Mercedes team appealed Masi's call by pointing to rules requiring all cars to unlap themselves, and for racing to resume the following lap, rather than immediately. The team also claimed Verstappen's front wing briefly passed Hamilton while behind the safety car. Race stewards rejected the appeal.

There are no guarantees the virtual control room will improve F1 rule enforcement. This and VAR represent a shift in officiating techniques, however. Sports leagues appear less and less content to rely solely on human judgment — technology isn't replacing race directors or referees, but it might ensure their calls hold up under scrutiny.

Formula E is a great cure for F1 withdrawal

Like millions of other people, I’ve been enthralled by Drive to Survive on Netflix which means I’m also newly obsessed with the world of Formula 1. I’m all in. I have the calendar reminders set. I watch all the practices if work permits. It has really become a thing, which means that since the season ended, there was a massive void in my sports viewing – save for the archive of F2 races on ESPN+. But watching a backlog of races is only so exciting when you’ve been following the sport and already know Oscar Piastri ran away with the title.

Enter Formula E, the all-electric racing series that began in 2014 and is governed by the FIA, the same body that oversees F1. The first two rounds took place at the end of January in Saudi Arabia, offering two full E-Prix races in one weekend. I had never watched Formula E before that weekend, but I was so starved for racing I gave it a shot. Turns out, I’ve been missing a unique racing series full of entertaining quirks.

It’s a bit weird

You expect the cars to be different internally due to their electric power sources, but the overall design is also unique. Formula E got rid of the traditional rear wing in 2018, opting instead for a split-wing construction. These cars also have front wheel fairings that reduce drag and turbulence that comes off the front tires. The combination of those two elements alone give Formula E cars a much different aesthetic than those in F1.

Qualifying is quite different in this series, too. Starting this season, there’s a Group stage with two sets of 11 drivers, ranked in order of the current Drivers' World Championship position. They attempt to set the fastest lap time in a 10-minute session. The four fastest drivers from each group move on to the Duels stage. Here, eight drivers go head-to-head in a knockout style bracket with the winners progressing until one is left.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

The winner is awarded pole position, with the runner-up starting second, semi-finalists in third/fourth and the quarter finalists in fifth/sixth. Higher position goes to the faster lap time in those rounds. Remaining drivers from the polesitters group then fill in the odd positions on the grid and those from the other set start in the even spots. It sounds overly complicated, but the head-to-head matchups were fun to watch in Diriyah.

Then there’s a thing called Attack Mode, which has to have been designed by a gamer. During each race, a driver has to hit a certain area on the track that activates an additional 25 kW of power for a specified amount of time. That duration, as well as how many times the cars have to hit that spot during the E-Prix, are determined at each event. The catch is the Attack Mode area is out of the main racing line, so if someone is right on you, you may have to give up track position in order to fulfill your obligation. Plus, there’s a color changing ring around the halo on each car, so viewers know who has Attack Mode active.

Another interesting element is Fanboost. Here, viewers can have a direct impact on the race by voting for their favorite driver on social media. Voting starts a few days before the E-Prix and closes 15 minutes after the start. The top five drivers receive a five-second power boost that can be used during the second half of the race.

Races are quick

A friend of mine has a theory about European sports, and I think he’s spot on. You can watch an event, but individually they aren’t so long that one dominates the day (unless you watch several, of course). A soccer match is over in less than two hours, and Formula 1 races are about the same. Juxtapose that with the typical three-hour or longer NFL game or MLB matchup and you quickly see that folks in Europe are onto something.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Formula 1 races have a time limit because the cars can’t be refueled during a race. Ditto for Formula E: the cars have a finite amount of power and when it’s gone, you can’t exactly charge them up during a pit stop. For that reason, the electrified series races, or E-Prix, are limited to 45 minutes. There’s no set number of laps, just a countdown clock that keeps teams abreast of how much time is left. Once that period is up, there’s one additional lap to the finish. Starting this season, officials can now add up to 10 additional minutes in the event of a safety car or full-course yellow during the main racing window.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Unlike the current lineup of F1 drivers, there’s an American running in Formula E. New to the Avalanche Andretti team this season, Oliver Askew brings his IndyCar experience to the E-Prix circuits. When it comes to Americans within sniffing distance of an F1 car, Askew and Logan Sargeant, who currently races in F2 with Carlin, are the closest.

Who knows if I’ll keep up my new Formula E habit once F1 returns in March. There’s only one more E-Prix before a long break until April, and it’s this weekend in Mexico City. At the very least, I could see Formula E filling the void when there’s an off week between Grand Prix, which is exactly what it has done to get me through the final stages of the F1 offseason.