Silly Season 2016/2017

[NathanOlder]

Yeah, its half as good as the F1 circuit. And when it comes to F1 curcuits, Monaco doesnt make the best racing, infact its probably the worse race to watch for the average fan.
So Formula E's best track (monaco) is half as good as F1's worse track (monaco) as they only use half of it.

Formula E may be the future, but not yet. I think far more would watch it if they raced on better tracks. If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

[Jolle]

Yeah, its half as good as the F1 circuit. And when it comes to F1 curcuits, Monaco doesnt make the best racing, infact its probably the worse race to watch for the average fan.
So Formula E's best track (monaco) is half as good as F1's worse track (monaco) as they only use half of it.

Formula E may be the future, but not yet. I think far more would watch it if they raced on better tracks. If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

I Know that this should go into the FE topic but... can't let this question get unanswered .

First of all, FE is slow (at the moment) and they try to make it interesting my putting them on very hard tires where you can do a whole weekend with one set (well, two sets, one for each car). All the wings and stuff are there for show at the moment. Even at a track like monaco they are on a very low downforce level.

The second reason you'll find them in city centers is marketing. It's a big attraction for a brand like Audi or Mercedes to be able to invite their customers and suppliers for a great spectacle in a city center instead of a hard to reach half baked (from a spectator side) like Zandvoort. At the moment the racing comes second.

FE isn't a big challenger for F1 for the next decade at least, but it is for WEC! which is also relies much more on on-track advertisement and marketing with customers and suppliers then F1, where television is the main selling point.

[ClarkBT11]

Yeah, its half as good as the F1 circuit. And when it comes to F1 curcuits, Monaco doesnt make the best racing, infact its probably the worse race to watch for the average fan.
So Formula E's best track (monaco) is half as good as F1's worse track (monaco) as they only use half of it.

Formula E may be the future, but not yet. I think far more would watch it if they raced on better tracks. If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

I Know that this should go into the FE topic but... can't let this question get unanswered .

First of all, FE is slow (at the moment) and they try to make it interesting my putting them on very hard tires where you can do a whole weekend with one set (well, two sets, one for each car). All the wings and stuff are there for show at the moment. Even at a track like monaco they are on a very low downforce level.

The second reason you'll find them in city centers is marketing. It's a big attraction for a brand like Audi or Mercedes to be able to invite their customers and suppliers for a great spectacle in a city center instead of a hard to reach half baked (from a spectator side) like Zandvoort. At the moment the racing comes second.

FE isn't a big challenger for F1 for the next decade at least, but it is for WEC! which is also relies much more on on-track advertisement and marketing with customers and suppliers then F1, where television is the main selling point.

+1

[roon]

Yeah, its half as good as the F1 circuit. And when it comes to F1 curcuits, Monaco doesnt make the best racing, infact its probably the worse race to watch for the average fan.
So Formula E's best track (monaco) is half as good as F1's worse track (monaco) as they only use half of it.

Formula E may be the future, but not yet. I think far more would watch it if they raced on better tracks. If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

I Know that this should go into the FE topic but... can't let this question get unanswered .

First of all, FE is slow (at the moment) and they try to make it interesting my putting them on very hard tires where you can do a whole weekend with one set (well, two sets, one for each car). All the wings and stuff are there for show at the moment. Even at a track like monaco they are on a very low downforce level.

The second reason you'll find them in city centers is marketing. It's a big attraction for a brand like Audi or Mercedes to be able to invite their customers and suppliers for a great spectacle in a city center instead of a hard to reach half baked (from a spectator side) like Zandvoort. At the moment the racing comes second.

FE isn't a big challenger for F1 for the next decade at least, but it is for WEC! which is also relies much more on on-track advertisement and marketing with customers and suppliers then F1, where television is the main selling point.

Agree. Different markets. Overall its a pretty smart use of what is a somewhat limiting technology. Lack of noise pollution & emissions allows them access to venues heretofore impossible. And the attendees don't have to travel far for the show.

Makes me wonder how far off electric drift and rallycross may be, to exploit the same access benefits.

[henra]

If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

Anything other than these Mickey Mouse circuits will cause massive Energy problems because the average Watt hours will be significantly higher on even only slightly faster circuits.

They have 33 kW Hours. Running half an Hour on one battery means they may consume on average 66kW as average power over a lap.
With F(d) =Rho/2*Ca*A*v^2 the speed does hurt squared. If we assume a Ca of 0,6 and a projected frontal area of 1,5m^2 (SWAG) at an average speed of 160 km/h they would consume 47kW just for overcoming the aerodynamic drag. With an efficiency of the whole drive train of ~90% there remain ~13kW for overcoming the mechanical drag.
This means these cars could run max 150 - 160 km/h continiously on a straight line and without any acceleration given their current battery size and race duration.
On a Non- City circuit the will have no chance to run one hour at only half decent speed.
This might somewhat improve when they move up to 54kW Hours. Then we might potentiallysee the first real race circuit thrown in.

[Scorpaguy]

First: no FE fanboy here...some of the races can be quite mediocre (just as some F1 events)

Second: while most of the FE manufacturers are EV start-ups...Jag is not, Audi is not, Renault is not, BMW is not, Mercedes is not (note some ex-F1 names)

Third: my post was not meant to be anti/pro F1 or FE...rather stating that FE, to me, seems to be operating via a strategy that is attractive to manufacturers.

I go to numerous top level races per year, I opt to visit FE in person and follow F1 on TV/internet (to see if Lewis beat Nico or vice versa).

[WaikeCU]

Yeah, its half as good as the F1 circuit. And when it comes to F1 curcuits, Monaco doesnt make the best racing, infact its probably the worse race to watch for the average fan.
So Formula E's best track (monaco) is half as good as F1's worse track (monaco) as they only use half of it.

Formula E may be the future, but not yet. I think far more would watch it if they raced on better tracks. If they dont want to race the same tracks as F1 (so it cant be compared and shown up on how slow it currently is) why not go to places like Imola, Estoril, Mugello, Zandvoort, Zolder, Assen in Europe. Or are they worried the cars will be slower than a moto2 bike around Assen Mugello ect.

I Know that this should go into the FE topic but... can't let this question get unanswered .

First of all, FE is slow (at the moment) and they try to make it interesting my putting them on very hard tires where you can do a whole weekend with one set (well, two sets, one for each car). All the wings and stuff are there for show at the moment. Even at a track like monaco they are on a very low downforce level.

The second reason you'll find them in city centers is marketing. It's a big attraction for a brand like Audi or Mercedes to be able to invite their customers and suppliers for a great spectacle in a city center instead of a hard to reach half baked (from a spectator side) like Zandvoort. At the moment the racing comes second.

FE isn't a big challenger for F1 for the next decade at least, but it is for WEC! which is also relies much more on on-track advertisement and marketing with customers and suppliers then F1, where television is the main selling point.

The thing is that FE carries the technology of tomorrow, which is already reality in road production vehicles. The technology in those race cars are the tech which is right underneath our butt during our daily drives (if you own an electric car that is). The more we go into the future, the less we'll see ourselves using fuel driven engines imo.

If I don't get a seat in F1, but I do get a seat in FE manufacturer teams such as Jag, Merc, Citroen or BMW. It does look great on your CV and might open doors in the future regarding other areas of racing, etc.

I feel that F1 drivers are ambassadors of road safety, but imo I could see them call FE drivers ambassadors of road technology.

[PlatinumZealot]

This means these cars could run max 150 - 160 km/h continiously on a straight line and without any acceleration given their current battery size and race duration.
On a Non- City circuit the will have no chance to run one hour at only half decent speed.

This is exactly what the EVs are good at: driving at part load and low speeds in the city. And makes them even more related to street cars and so the pot even sweeter for the manufacturers to show off.

[Racer X]

No Esteban or Maldonado right... lol.... please....

[dren]

So how long will Stroll last at Williams? He seems to like to park the car often in testing.

[Quantum]

So how long will Stroll last at Williams? He seems to like to park the car often in testing.

His dad is bankrolling Williams, 80 million dollars worth, that equates to more than all the Chassis in Grove.

Once Liberty Media have sorted out and increased the payouts to lower teams, paydrivers should be outlawed.

[dren]

Ahh, I figured he had some backing, but that is quite substantial! It makes sense. I just hope he doesn't Maldonado races.

[PlatinumZealot]

Have to open a new silly season thread now.

[adrianjordan]

Have to open a new silly season thread now.

Maybe hang on until we know whether Alonso is going to stick around for another season of under-performing McLaren Honda....

[Manoah2u]

so i haven't been keeping up but is Wehrlein in the car now or still out?