Villeneuve: Formula E Is Professional Racing

Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Formula E is not only exciting but demonstrates professional racing too.

The Canadian has joined the Monaco-based Venturi squad for this season and is impressed with what he saw from season one.

“I was watching the races, and it was exciting,” said Villeneuve. “The racing was fun and exciting and I was thinking ‘Damn, I should be out there’. It was making me hungry to go there and to go for it. It’s that simple.

“It’s professional racing at an international level. All the races are downtown in big cities; I like the courses that are in between walls, so all that was quite attractive. I watched races last year, and it looked exciting, and the level of driving is good. So why shouldn’t I be here?”

Villeneuve previously raced in the normally aspirated V10 era of F1 where engines had upwards of 1000bhp; nowhere near the current all-electric powertrains of Formula E. The ex-F1 and NASCAR racer feels that the joy of racing is still there regardless of the electric power.

“The problem is you look either at normally aspirated or electrical, said Villeneuve. “You have to take that away. There’s a race car, there’s an engine. You step on the throttle and it goes forward. That’s the simple matter.

“It doesn’t matter what the engine is, it’s what happens when you step on the throttle. That’s the key factor.

“When I drive an open wheel car, now that actually is fun to drive, ok it’s got less power but it’s still fun, it’s still difficult to go fast, because you’re a group of drivers, everyone trying to go fast. It’s still difficult to go fast, so that’s exciting.

“There’s a level of competition where you have to push, and that’s what makes the difference.”

#FE #formulae