Due to the lack of discussion thread for the last race (and the fact it was obvious a lot of people watched it) I thought I'd get the discussion thread for the Mexico race up nice and early.
Formula E breaks new ground by not only coming to Mexico for the first time but by also holding its first ever none street race. The race will take place on a revised lay-out of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but will make use of the massive stadium section and the Peraltada curve.
Whilst personally I prefer seeing the cars on a street track it will be interesting to see them race on an actual designed race track. I imagine the wide run off areas will mean there will be far less likelyhood of a safety car. This of course will mean that energy management will be key as they'll be no get out of jail free card as usually happens. The king of energy management in the field is of course the ever loveable Nelson Piquet Jr however, due to the fact his NEXTV car's rear end is so chunky that it keeps getting late night calls from Sir Mixalot, I don't expect him to be able to capitalise. It would be very surprising to see anyone else but Renault E-DAMS be the fastest car here but there is a glimmer of hope as the only other time these cars have driven on an actual circuit was during testing at Donnington and at the time it was Audi Abt that had the pace. I expect we'll be looking at a Buemi vs Di Grassi situation with Sam Bird possibly coming to play if he is having a good day. I expect that for most of the season to be honest.
All three of those drivers have team-mates of course but none of them really seem on it. Nico Prost has been so bad this season there is talk of replacing him with Carmen Jorda and as nice a bloke as Danny Abt is I'm afraid he really is nowhere. JEV in the other Virgin is a bit of a head scratcher though as we know how good he can be and I haven't decided yet whether he is just off form or Sam Bird is just that good. The other possible interlopers are the Dragon and Venturi teams. Venturi have designed both chassies and its obviously quite good with the Dragon boys being up there more or less but managing to throw away really good results. Venturi's problem is its awful driver line up and whilst they've got rid of Jacques Villeneurve they still have Sarrazan trundling around. Can't help but think a better driver would be getting better results.
Other things to watch out for will be Antonio Felix Da Costa (Team Aguri) and Robin Frinjs (Andretti) grabbing last years cars by the scruff of their neck and making them competitive with the rest of the field. They've been doing it all season and neither has really got the credit they deserve for it. A quick mention to Nathanal Berthon who was also doing the same thing before being dropped in favour of Mexican money Salvador Duran. Other things to look out for will be Bruno Senna hitting something or someone and Nick Heidfeld being unlucky.
The race will run on Saturday 12th March but due to snooker (yes fricking snooker) ITV4 will not be showing the race live. They will run in later in the evening as if it was live after the snooker has finished. Its all a bit annoying when you think how many channals they have! Don't worry though Formula E have come to the rescue and will be streaming the race live and completely free on youtube for all UK viewers! Hurrah.
Any thoughts on the series and it coming of the streets and on to a circuit?
Formula E breaks new ground by not only coming to Mexico for the first time but by also holding its first ever none street race. The race will take place on a revised lay-out of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but will make use of the massive stadium section and the Peraltada curve.
Whilst personally I prefer seeing the cars on a street track it will be interesting to see them race on an actual designed race track. I imagine the wide run off areas will mean there will be far less likelyhood of a safety car. This of course will mean that energy management will be key as they'll be no get out of jail free card as usually happens. The king of energy management in the field is of course the ever loveable Nelson Piquet Jr however, due to the fact his NEXTV car's rear end is so chunky that it keeps getting late night calls from Sir Mixalot, I don't expect him to be able to capitalise. It would be very surprising to see anyone else but Renault E-DAMS be the fastest car here but there is a glimmer of hope as the only other time these cars have driven on an actual circuit was during testing at Donnington and at the time it was Audi Abt that had the pace. I expect we'll be looking at a Buemi vs Di Grassi situation with Sam Bird possibly coming to play if he is having a good day. I expect that for most of the season to be honest.
All three of those drivers have team-mates of course but none of them really seem on it. Nico Prost has been so bad this season there is talk of replacing him with Carmen Jorda and as nice a bloke as Danny Abt is I'm afraid he really is nowhere. JEV in the other Virgin is a bit of a head scratcher though as we know how good he can be and I haven't decided yet whether he is just off form or Sam Bird is just that good. The other possible interlopers are the Dragon and Venturi teams. Venturi have designed both chassies and its obviously quite good with the Dragon boys being up there more or less but managing to throw away really good results. Venturi's problem is its awful driver line up and whilst they've got rid of Jacques Villeneurve they still have Sarrazan trundling around. Can't help but think a better driver would be getting better results.
Other things to watch out for will be Antonio Felix Da Costa (Team Aguri) and Robin Frinjs (Andretti) grabbing last years cars by the scruff of their neck and making them competitive with the rest of the field. They've been doing it all season and neither has really got the credit they deserve for it. A quick mention to Nathanal Berthon who was also doing the same thing before being dropped in favour of Mexican money Salvador Duran. Other things to look out for will be Bruno Senna hitting something or someone and Nick Heidfeld being unlucky.
The race will run on Saturday 12th March but due to snooker (yes fricking snooker) ITV4 will not be showing the race live. They will run in later in the evening as if it was live after the snooker has finished. Its all a bit annoying when you think how many channals they have! Don't worry though Formula E have come to the rescue and will be streaming the race live and completely free on youtube for all UK viewers! Hurrah.
Any thoughts on the series and it coming of the streets and on to a circuit?
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