Formula E | Diriyah E-Prix Discussion Thread

[Paul Jeffrey]

Welcome to the central discussion thread for the opening round of the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

A new season kicks into life this weekend in Saudia Arabia, and for the fans of Formula E racing, plenty of big name new teams and drivers are about to step up into the top level of electric open wheel racing.

Hitting the track for the first time in anger this weekend will be the might of German power house brands Porsche and Mercedes, both manufacturers making a debut in the series with top tier drivers Andre Lotterer and Neel Jani (Porsche), with Stoffel Vandoorne alongside young Dutchman Nyck de Vries at the three pointed star.

Returning fan favourite Felipe Massa will be keen to put into practice the lessons learnt from a tough debut campaign last season, and reigning 2018/19 champion Jean Eric Vergne will doubtless be keen to continue an impressive post Formula One career once the action kicks off again this weekend.

Potentially an explosive weekend of racing ahead...


Want to talk about the series with fellow fans and sceptics alike? Start a thread and get the conversation going at the Motorsport sub forum here at RaceDepartment.

Motorsport is AWESOME!

 

[Salvatore Sirignano]

Why is every sport selling out to Saudi Arabia? Football, chess, tennis, motorsport...
They have no interest whatsoever - I remember catching some of the Race of Champions and seeing roughly 5 people in the stadium ..

 

[Michel Bélisle]

ABBA - Money, money, money

 

[Dr. Death]

Why is every sport selling out to Saudi Arabia? Football, chess, tennis, motorsport...
They have no interest whatsoever - I remember catching some of the Race of Champions and seeing roughly 5 people in the stadium ..

INSHAHALLAH ARAB COUNTRIES WILL GET MORE MONEY FROM SWEET SWEET OIL, EVEN IF THEY SPONSOR RACES FOR CARS THAT IF SUCCESFUL WILL RUIN THEM.

 

[nerdthewise]

Where do I watch this in the US? I did a little looking and it seems to be on Fox Sports here, but the Roku app shows nothing in the upcoming schedule under the Formula E category.

 

[azaralamouri]

Where do I watch this in the US? I did a little looking and it seems to be on Fox Sports here, but the Roku app shows nothing in the upcoming schedule under the Formula E category.

All Formula E races are broadcast-ed live on Formula E Youtube channel for free. Race highlights and crazy team radio videos are also added there weekly. Racing for everyone, isn't that great?

 

[Alex Townsend]

I'm thinking about tuning in to this if I can. I really want to like it, but if I don't I'll just catch up on F2 from this year...

 

[liby88]

my granny will win she drives the sewing machine the best way

 

[eco2006]

All Formula E races are broadcast-ed live on Formula E Youtube channel for free. Race highlights and crazy team radio videos are also added there weekly. Racing for everyone, isn't that great?

Bear in mind that it's just free because they know nobody would pay to watch it and without at least some viewers they couldn't attract any sponsors or manufacturers.

 

[Jonny Austin]

Why is every sport selling out to Saudi Arabia? Football, chess, tennis, motorsport...
They have no interest whatsoever - I remember catching some of the Race of Champions and seeing roughly 5 people in the stadium ..

When Formula E is losing £22 million a year then taking some Saudia Arabian cash becomes a no brainer.

https://www.thedrive.com/accelerato...g-saudi-arabia-push-a-false-message-of-reform

 

[boomn]

I want to like FE but so far it hasn't hit the mark for me. I think most of the issue for me has been the driving standards.

I like that the cars are look pretty loose under braking and throttle, and the focus on street circuits is interesting. But when you combine those two things with dusty tarmac, too many chicanes and tight hairpins and aggressive drivers it seems that the result is lots of boneheaded optimistic moves and lots of crashes. I will give this new season a closer look

 

[Davy Jones]

I've no problem with Formula E and they can hype it up all they want but the track they created in that place, at least last year was a dusty, bumpy nondescript looking place.... so not quite Monaco

 

[SaberKt]

I want to like FE but so far it hasn't hit the mark for me. I think most of the issue for me has been the driving standards.

I like that the cars are look pretty loose under braking and throttle, and the focus on street circuits is interesting. But when you combine those two things with dusty tarmac, too many chicanes and tight hairpins and aggressive drivers it seems that the result is lots of boneheaded optimistic moves and lots of crashes. I will give this new season a closer look

For me, big turnoff is all the fake "aero" on the car. This along with bumping each other and the wall makes it look silly. Another problem is that the cars seem slow, on paper it looks fast enough (2.8s to 100km/h and 280 kmh max speed) but when you see it on track it looks much slower. Not sure if it is just my perspective or lack of sound, or whether the cars are traction or battery limited on track.

This season could be redemption for Stoffel. I'm hoping he does well.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

I have Youtube TV and it looks like they had qualifying and the race 4 hours ago on Fox Sports 2.

Haters hate. I find the races entertaining and I like the new cars' look. I miss the car swaps though oddly enough.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, BMW, plus DS and Nissan. The Germans can't get the stink of diesel-gate off of them fast enough... At least it makes for some good teams and drivers in the series.

 

[chili pepper]

I want to like FE but so far it hasn't hit the mark for me. I think most of the issue for me has been the driving standards.

I think the 2nd gen cars are a big improvement, both visually and power-wise (they're actually pretty cool looking now and damn quick to boot), but I must agree with this statement. The driving standards are poor at best, even more irritating when you consider some of the talent in the driver's seats. Waaaay too much contact (this isn't touring cars) and the circuits don't do much for me, either. I realize they are trying to bring the racing to the people with these circuits, but with plenty of proven race venues already in existence, I don't see the point of the mickey mouse layouts they run on and the barrier lined circuits almost guarantee damaged machinery and ruined races. I'd really like to see some clean formula racing on decent race circuits we'd all be familiar with...just my $0.02

 

[SaberKt]

I've watched the highlights, I've still got the same complaints as before.

SPOILER ahead (I'll put it in white, hopefully it's not visible).
Very unlucky for Vandoorne, he activated attack mode (lost one place for it) and I guess fan boost and then safety car came.

 

[boomn]

All Formula E races are broadcast-ed live on Formula E Youtube channel for free. Race highlights and crazy team radio videos are also added there weekly. Racing for everyone, isn't that great?

Unfortunately the YouTube races streams are only available in certain countries. In the US the races are on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Racing, cable channels that not many people have

I was interested in giving FE more attention this season and was disappointed to find this out. It's hard to follow a series and be excited just from short highlight videos after the races

 

[azaralamouri]

Unfortunately the YouTube races streams are only available in certain countries. In the US the races are on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Racing, cable channels that not many people have

I was interested in giving FE more attention this season and was disappointed to find this out. It's hard to follow a series and be excited just from short highlight videos after the races

To me, highlights are much, much, much important than races videos because who has infinitive hours to watch boring races.

 

[azaralamouri]

To me, highlights are much, much, much important than races videos because who has infinitive hours to watch boring races.

and by this I mean 20 minutes highlights and not 2 minutes.