The chaotic racing has been an attraction of the first Formula E season but important upcoming changes have been delayed.
The reality of high R&D costs of electric vehicle technology seems to have caught up with the FIA Formula E Championship’s ambitious plans of allowing teams to find their own battery manufacturers as well as open up development on components like electric motors.
A statement by Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag revealed that it would not be until its fifth season when one could expect to see new technologies available for teams to develop on their own and push the boundaries of performance and endurance.
As a compromise, teams will pool in their resources to develop a new common battery for the third season, which is expected to have better performance than the current units used.
So for now if there is enjoyment to be had via on track action, it is best to focus on that.
PIQUET IN COMMAND
Team China Racing’s Nelson Piquet strengthened his lead at the top of the Formula E drivers championship with a dominant victory on the streets of Moscow.
Piquet passed slow pole position starter Jean-Eric Vergne on the run down to turn 1 and never looked back, eventually crossing the line with a two second lead in hand. The Brazilian built a sufficient buffer in the first stint by using more power than his rivals and defended it well to take his second win of the season.
Lucas di Grassi – who was stripped of a lights-to-flag victory in Berlin – finished a distant second after passing Vergne during the mandatory pit stop.
Vergne later on lost two places to Sebastien Buemi and Nick Heidfeld on the final lap, handing the Swiss driver the final spot on the podium. Buemi, however, wouldn’t be contend with the result after his team held him 10 seconds more in the pit lane, on the false assumption that the minimum pit stop time was 68 seconds instead of 58.
Daniel Abt scored his second best result of the Formula E season in sixth ahead of the Amlin Aguri pairing of Salvador Duran and Antonio Da Costa. The latter was indulged in a race long battle with Trulli’s eponymous entry which cost him a heap of time.
Meanwhile, Miami ePrix winner Nicolas Prost finished down in ninth place ahead of the second Andretti of Justin Wilson who collected the final championship point on his Formula E debut.
DREADFUL WEEKEND FOR MAHINDRA
Mahindra’s run of non-point finishes now extends to three races with neither Bruno Senna nor Karun Chandhok were able to convert their lowly grid positions into a top 10 result. Chandhok finished 13th having started in 17th place while Senna damaged his rear wing at turn 1 with a spin and later incurred a drive through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
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