Sam Bird: New cars will make Formula E better

“When you look at Formula E, there’s much less of a pattern when it comes to a standing order, compared to Formula 1,” he says responding to our queries about how the new car and new rules will affect the order.

“In Formula E, who knows? It can be six different drivers, from six different teams at the front. That order can change. There’s [sic] 20 guys that can win a race. Even with a new car, there’s no order shakeup to be had, because there’s one every weekend anyway.”

Bird’s last season ended early due to a hand injury he sustained in London. It’s at this point in our conversation that we’re reminded racing drivers – and athletes in general – are a different breed.

“It was a case of having the operation, recovering, recouping. I then had the London marathon to train for, so get over the operation then get out on the road to do a little bit of running and then run a marathon. Since then, it’s been a case of doing a lot of work with the team, a lot of testing. Getting to grips with the Gen3 car, which has been very exciting, and just preparing for the new season. There’s been some time off, obviously Christmas and New Year, but it’s been busy.”

Speaking of the Gen3 car, we’re very curious. With 476PS (350kW) and said to be capable of up to 200mph, it’s the fastest and most powerful Formula E car we’ve yet seen. It’s also capable of much faster 600kW charging bursts, which will be implemented in the Attack Charge stops that come into the sport, as Fan Boost departs, albeit when introduced later on in the season. Hopefully like previous iterations, it’s a car that likes to get up on its toes and move around. Sam assures us the Gen3s battling it out will be an exciting watch.

“It’s exciting to drive, much quicker,” he confirms. “Braking performance is strong, with more aggressive front and rear regeneration. The new tyre from Hankook is interesting, working in a different way to the Michelin. You have to adapt setups.

“It’s not an aerodynamic vehicle – the car is designed to move around. I think the series wants that kind of racing. If you get into an aero race, it spreads people out. We can literally go bumper to bumper, millimetres away from each other, all the way around the circuit. That’s exciting for the viewer. It’s more about the mechanical balance of the car, rather than aero efficiency. The outside of our vehicle doesn’t change – there’s no advantage to be had. Everybody is in the same boat and it’s up to teams and engineers to develop mechanical setup and performance. We’ll find out how we find that edge when we go racing.”

As for the Attack Charge stops? He was curiously quiet on them – “I’m unclear yet when they’ll be implemented. I have tested it. It’s very, very fast”, though he does confirm he feels it’s the right time for the Fan Boost system to depart.

“We’re saying goodbye to Fan Boost which has been a really fun way for fans to get involved. But the series is in a place now, we have attack charge, the car is more developed. It was fun and did its job but yeah, onto the new things.”

As for how he and the Jaguar team are looking forward to the new season? It’s the typical conservative position, not giving anything away:

“What we were able to take away from Valencia is, we’re there or there abouts. There’s plenty to work on, but we can be bullish in that we’re competitive. How competitive? We’ll find out. Everybody is gradually learning every time you take the car out, the learning process is always positive, even if you find negative things.

“You get little snippets and whispers and murmurs from other drivers. Everybody’s in the same boat in terms of, they’re still learning. Everybody will be slightly coy and playing down their chances and use the usual buzz words – In a good place and optimistic.

“I’ve been working on my mental approach, in preparation for this year and going into it with a different approach and thoroughly looking forward to getting going. My main hope is that we can put on a good show for everyone. So far it’s been a really interesting, exciting journey and I think the public will love seeing 20 of the best drivers in the world going wheel to wheel in Mexico City. I’m excited to get out there.”

The new season of Formula E begins this weekend, 13th-14^th January in Mexico City.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.