Three warnings for F1 from Formula E’s London debacle

Track experimentation

We will, for now, ignore how hollow Jack Nicholls shouts that “Formula E is about to electrify the streets of London” rang as the cars lined up in what is to all intents and purposes a shed, ready to race round a car park. The new circuit for the London ePrix was pretty cool, in concept at least. Running around the Excel centre in East London, with the start/finish straight, and several turns inside, it meant that big elevation changes could be created using the ramps around the exhibition centre.

The circuit itself was quite a good one, with a couple of very fast sections leading around the rear and some tight hairpins creating the kind of overtaking opportunities for which Formula E is known. The problem was the Formula E disappeared into new levels of desperation in the build-up when it was realised that the circuit allowed for so much energy regeneration the cars would barely need to save anything – a requirement that is often behind Formula E’s action.

Rather than just accept that it would be a different race, the powers that control Formula E decided to do what they do best – tinker. First the energy allowed was reduced, which in the grand scheme of things seems fair. Then the track was changed barely a matter of days before the weekend began, finally Attack Mode was altered, to double the amount of time it was mandated for use. If fans of cricket at the moment are up in arms at the modifications to the ancient rulebook for The Hundred, at least the ECB haven’t changed them mid game.

Contact sport

Formula E has basically let the drivers “have at it” when it comes to on track racing. The oft trotted out NASCAR refrain of “rubbin’s racing” almost completely covers the way that Formula E’s drivers approach a corner.

This has caused controversy many times, but it felt like in the second race at London this approach got completely out of hand. It’s almost impossible to remember how many collisions there were that ended races in the second ePrix, never mind the ones that were just irritating. Stoffel Vandoorne, who had led most of the race, found himself down in 14^th after a lock-up by Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, which ended Rowland’s race. A few minutes earlier team-mate Sebastien Buemi had turned his Nissan into a cruise missile attacking René Rast, causing catastrophic damage to Rast’s Audi and leading to at least three more collision before Rast could limp his car to a stop.

The rules have resulted in otherwise respected racing drivers apparently losing their heads too. André Lotterer is one of the most consistent drivers around everywhere else, but has become prone to a daft accident in Formula E. This time he took out Antonio Felix Da Costa with a bizarre defensive move that pushed the Portuguese into the wall on the start finish straight. Alexander Sims didn’t make it past the third corner of either of his home races, finding himself with a damaged car both times, and championship leader Sam Bird’s weekend ended pinned between Norman Nato and the wall on the inside of the first of the hairpin twins.

Fuzzy rules

Imagine if Lando Norris took the lead of the British Grand Prix by driving through the pits because it was faster than going down the start-finish straight. Well that’s what Lucas Di Grassi did on Sunday, trying to take advantage of what appeared to be a loophole in the rules to go from around eighth to the lead in a single straight. There was, it turned out, not really much in the rules to say that wasn’t allowed, which seems potty.

After a little while apparently someone found a rule to stick to Di Grassi’s actions, the one that says you have to stop if you come into the pits. Audi argued that he had, as Di Grassi did pause near his box before carrying on, but he never came to a full stop.

While Allan McNish – the head of Audi’s FE programme – raced to argue with the decision to award Di Grassi’s drive-through, time ticked down to basically nothing. Di Grassi, apparently having not been told of his drive-through carried on in the lead, only to be given a black flag. But, of course in this farce-filled afternoon, that wasn’t the end. The black flag was handed out too late for Di Grassi to actually pass the line to see it, so he crossed the line celebrating his latest win, only to be informed that it was nothing of the sort.

It is important to have a product that people are interested in watching, so there is no problem with Formula E and Formula 1 trying to make themselves more marketable. But F1 must remember two things: firstly it is still a sport, and one with a large, longstanding fanbase who can easily feel left behind. Secondly that sometimes just because it’s crazy, doesn’t mean it’s “better”.

The weirdest part of the weekend was the complete lack of fans able to see the event. There seemed to be two grandstands for non-VIPs (the start/finish line was full of influencers and fans of importance) and some people craning their necks over the barriers of the DLR. Bringing the sport into cities is supposed to bring it to the fans, but London seemed to be actively trying to do the opposite.

The second race of the London ePrix was a moment when all the decisions Formula E has made to make “the show” better collided, making it a total farce. They’ll call it crazy, and no doubt some people will celebrate the insanity and tune in because of the bonkers selection of short-form highlights clips FE and its various media partners can now put out. But in the long run, the traditional fan of racing, the one that actually sustains a sport, may well be put off. If Formula 1 spends too much time trying to fiddle and create more of a show, it is in danger of going the same way.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.