Formula E’s most successful racer shares his ideas about racing technology

Formula E will conclude the season this weekend with a first visit to Seoul, South Korea. It not only marks the end of season eight and the final race for the Gen2 electric race cars, but also marks the 100th race of the series. The sport has come a long way since the inaugural ePrix in Beijing in 2014, with more powerful cars, bigger batteries and the ability to drive a thrilling race in Monaco, something Formula 1 hasn’t been able to say for decades. .

Lucas di Grassi was the winner of that first ePrix and has competed in every ePrix since. He still frequents the victory lane, most recently in last Sunday’s London ePrix, and this weekend may see his 1000th career point in the series. With a background in Formula 1 and then Audi’s mighty R18 e-tron Le Mans program, di Grassi knows his way around a race car. So he’s usually a good person to talk to about the future direction of the sport.

Next season, the sport will have a new car, one that is much more powerful and also lighter. But it’s not quite as bold, technologically speaking, as the concept Di Grassi lobbied for. While that car shouldn’t even be racing furiously yet, the various minds contributing to Formula E’s R&D roadmap are already thinking of Gen4. Since we had the chance to speak to the driver ahead of this week’s Seoul ePrix, I wanted to know what he thinks about where the sport should go next. As I hoped, he had plenty.

You’ve been pretty candid in the past about where you think the technical direction of the sport should go, especially since road car EVs contain technology beyond what Formula E allows. Where do you think Gen4 should go?

“That’s a great question. For me it’s very clear from the start where the technology roadmap is going, not just Formula E, but the entire FIA [the organizing body for global motorsport], anything – for me they should be much more segmented in terms of which solutions are better for different series. For example, endurance racing should focus on car-relevant technologies. Formula 1 should have the most extreme powertrains between power and weight. Then Formula E: the most efficient engines ever. So for me I would segment it a lot more and make sure that the manufacturers who want to develop and invest them do so,” he told me.

“[The FIA] have a championship that can develop, and it can use some of that expertise to move to different series, but they don’t overlap. And right now there’s a lot of overlap between endurance racing, Formula 1, Formula E. It’s that the regulations aren’t very clear. And I don’t think anyone is giving really, really clear indications that this is the way these championships are going to develop, and that’s the technology that actually creates long-term value for the manufacturer and for the fans and for the world. I think it’s not easy to do at the moment. And at the moment I don’t believe the work is being done properly,” said di Grassi.