The FIA Formula E World Championship sparked into life in São Paulo last weekend, and the debut of the new GEN3 Evo car did not disappoint. Our FE Editor Jack Smith was on the ground with the latest news and gossip.
It never rains, it pours. And in Brazil, that was very much the case when everyone arrived on Thursday. Tropical-style storms were on show, causing worry that such weather would be an issue on race day.
Despite the extreme heat and sunshine on Friday, the track walk brought observations that some damp patches were still on parts of the bumpy Anhembi Sambadrome, but come Saturday, the rain held off and no problems arose.
Phew!
Being on the ground in Sao Paulo, Motorsport Week was able to get plenty of reaction before and after the race.
No expectations from Evans before superb triumph
When Mitch Evans lined-up last on the grid, he did not expect to get much out of the race ahead, and you would imagine most people didn’t.
But don’t write off someone like Mitch Evans.
He utilised his attack modes perfectly and benefitted from two red flags to win brilliantly, becoming the first man in FE history to win from last place on the grid.
“I didn’t have any expectations, because historically here, it’s been very hard to progress from that far back,” Evans told Motorsport Week.
“The top 10 is the limit of where you want to be starting at, so I was expecting quite a tough race to get into the points.
“But then I was on the edge of the points by lap two, so I thought ‘OK, this changes things.’ And then after how powerful the attack mode was, it changed things again.
“I was trying to be optimistic, thinking I could do my best and get something out of it.”
Da Costa settled for second to get ‘points in the bag’
Antonio Felix da Costa told us after the race that the priority for himself was to score as many points as possible, and change the all-or-nothing reality of Season 10, in which he won more races than anyone else, but failed to score sufficient points in races he didn’t.
When asked whether it was important to get second place rather than risk a move for a victory, da Costs told us: “100 percent man!
“I was looking at it the other day, I was by far the guy with the most DNFs, or zero points scored last year, and that’s definitely not the way to win the championship, and I know that.
“Today, I really wanted that win, I could’ve put something more on the line to try and risk a win today, but I told myself ‘let’s go home with. P2, go through the Christmas break with a good chunk of points in the bag.’
“It’s a long year, so my mindset was: let’s try and win but if we can’t, the most points possible.”
Barnard not informed of team orders at late stage of the race
Taylor Barnard showed calmness and maturity to drift his way through the field late-on to score his first FE podium on his full debut.
The youngster led team-mate Sam Bird home, last season’s winner being informed by the team to hang back in order to allow Barnard to challenge da Costa and Evans for the win.
Barnard told MW that he had been kept in the dark on the decision, the team choosing to allow him to focus on the task at hand.
“Actually, I wasn’t told. The end target was extremely high and I was trying to attack Antonio the best I could.
“Being the reserve driver last year, I know how they work. I kind of expected that, we were trying to protect our positions as best as possible.
“Sam’s a great team-mate, and he didn’t have to do that, and thanks to him.”
Rowland’s pre-race anxiety unfounded after strong show
Before the race, Oliver Rowland told MW that he was “anxious” about how the Nissan team would fare, but it seemingly became unfounded, as under different circumstances, he may well would have won.
The Brit took second on the grid and lead for much of the race before receiving a drive through penalty for “overpowering,” an issue caused by a glitch in the Nissan system, which affected not only team-mate Norman Nato, but also the Nissan-powered McLarens of Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard.
However, there are lots for the team and Rowland to feel confident about. He said he did not “want to get complacent in terms of [his] thinking”, but is “relatively” confident” of getting himself into the championship mix.
Four-wheel drive launches are cause for concern
Whilst everyone is in agreement that the all-wheel drive feature of the GEN3 Evo cars are incredibly exciting, and made for better racing – particularly in the Attack Modes – one area that is causing concern for some is the ferocious launch off the start line.
Race-winner Evans told MW that the initial feeling is “violent” but also called it “impressive”.
Sebastien Buemi warned that there is little time to react if a driver gets off the line slowly in-front of someone who has gone quickly.
“It’s just at the start, if someone doesn’t start in front of you and you start four-wheel drive like that, that initial acceleration is very strong,” he told MW.
Even for more experienced drivers, the adjustment has been hard. Antonio Felix da Costa explained on Friday that “it was hard to optimise all the driving with it” in the first few tests. “I felt the driving style had to change, the lines had to change and we all took a little bit of time to get used to it.”
Ticktum ‘relaxed’ within Kiro but ponders ‘how good we’re going to be’
Dan Ticktum came away from São Paulo surely pleased with a points finish in Cupra Kiro’s first race. Whilst the first race might not give the clearest picture of where every team is, the hype around the nascent outfit after a successful pre-season test in Madrid looks to be justified.
Before the race, Ticktum told MW that “the car is effectively brand new, but the team who run everything are all the same.”
“I’m very relaxed within the team, which is nice,” he added. “There’ll be a lot of stuff to learn from my side and the team, but it’s nice the faces are at least familiar.”
When asked if he feels he may be in a car that can finally show his true talents, Ticktum said: “I would say exactly that.
“At the end of the day, I don’t know how good we’re going to be, I think we’re going to be a lot better than we were, but it’s difficult to set expectations.
“The powertrain we’ve got won the championship last year, so it’s very good! But it depends on how you put everything together, you have to set the car up mechanically well, so it’s all got to come together, and we have the potential to be very strong.”
Sette Camara to potentially stand-in for WEC-driving Nato
Sergio Sette Camara was signed by Nissan the week leading-up to the race as its reserve and simulator driver. The Brazilian was fired by ERT, now Kiro, ahead of the season, and was looking to be without a seat of any sort.
Motorsport Week understands that Nissan chose to sign him partly based on the possibility that he may deputise for Nato at the penultimate weekend in Berlin, as it clashes with the 6 Hours of São Paulo at Interlagos. The Frenchman is driving for Jota Cadillac in WEC this season and may be committed.
At Portland last season, Caio Collet stood-in for an unwell Rowland and did a remarkable job, considering he had no had any simulator time, but the team feels that Sette Camara will be a guaranteed safe pair of hands, particularly as it aims to be in contention for the Teams’ Championship.
