Formula E 2015/16 Season Preview

In just a few short days, the exciting all-electric motor racing series powers back into life around the streets of the Olympic Park in Beijing. With seven new powertrains and a handful of days testing under the teams’ belts we head into Beijing with no idea about who is where; or do we? Renault eDams Renault eDams are the team to beat and they look to have continued their form through testing. Breaking lap records on a number of the days their speed impressed those in the paddock. The team also has the benefit of being a fully-fledged works team with their links with Renault. They’re just one of two teams to boast this accolade. Their drivers missed out on the championship last season and they both look keep to make amends in 2015/16. Drivers: Nico Prost, Sebastien Buemi Pros: Renault backing, essentially a works team – also a manufacturer team Consistency in driver line-up Reigning champions Quick in testing Cons: A few reliability woes in testing Dragon Racing Dragon quietly got on with it during the 2014/15 season and put in some solid performances. Their second half of the season when Duval joined the team was ultra-consistent. The team are using the Venturi powertrain which completed the most amount of laps in testing, and as we saw last season, the team knows how to develop a car. Drivers: Jerome D’Ambrosio, Loic Duval Pros: Reliable and strong in testing Consistent driver line-up Excellent development rate Cons: Not a manufacturer team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport If eDAMS are the team to beat, then ABT are the team to give them a hard time. Like their French opponents, they have manufacturer status with backing from Audi, and they look like a match for outright pace, potentially even faster in qualifying, the pace for which neither Prost nor Buemi were 100% happy with in testing. Their one weakness is that the car does not look as bulletproof as the Renault eDams which, with longer races for this year, could stop them challenging in races. Drivers: Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt Pros: Quick in testing Strong technical partnerships Consistency in driver line-up Manufacturer team Cons: Not as reliable as closest competitors NEXT EV TCR Despite having the current Formula E World Champion in their team, NEXT EV were somewhat under the radar during testing. They didn’t appear to be the quickest or the most reliable, but they do have a very good pairing with Nelson Piquet Jr and Oliver Turvey, McLaren’s former F1 test driver, who seems unfazed by Piquet’s World Champion status. So if they are off the pace this season, they won’t be able to use the drivers as scapegoats. Drivers: Nelson Piquet Jr, Oliver Turvey Pros: Strong driver pairing Piquet is drivers’ champion Campos Racing personnel Cons: Some reliability issues in testing About a second off the pace in testing DS Virgin Racing Virgin Racing could be a dark horse going into the new season. They have a driver pairing which many would call the strongest on the grid and showed flashes of speed during testing. They still have work to do in terms of overall lap time, but their manufacturer status will help with that. Drivers: Sam Bird, Jean-Eric Vergne Pros: Strong driver pairing Another works team, technical partnership with DS Citroen Reliable motor Topped a day of testing in the wet Cons: Not showing the same ultimate pace as Renault eDams or ABT Andretti Where do you start with Andretti? They had a disastrous pre-season test with Simona de Silvestro stuttering out of the pits only a handful of times using their new motor. The team have set up a new division called Andretti Technologies which has designed and developed the new motor. It’s a technical wonder but didn’t work, and as a result the team have had to revert to the season one McLaren powertrain. It’s a year of development for Andretti who will be using this season to develop their motor. Drivers: Simona de Silvestro, Robin Frijns Pros: Strong technical division Good yet inexperienced driver line-up Cons: Very little running in testing Late decision to revert to season one powertrain Team Aguri It’s a season of consolidation for the Anglo-Japanese squad for 2015/16. The second team to keep the McLaren powertrain from season one; they feel confident that they can make enough strides away from this area to keep competitive. Having fielded eight drivers at one point during the tests their completed line-up was announced just a week before the Beijing ePrix. Drivers: Antonio Felix da Costa, Nathaneal Berthon Pros: Working with familiar technology Reliable in testing Race winning driver Cons: Using season one powertrain Late driver announcements Mahindra Racing One of the most popular teams on the grid, Mahindra are fan favourites with a stellar driver line-up. Their powertrain, which is an evolution of last years’ McLaren motor, is absolutely bulletproof and hardly hit any issues all testing. The car is still some 0.8 seconds off the pace, but with a good rate of in-season development this deficit could easily be halved. The drivers feel confident however with Heidfeld targeting wins this season. Drivers: Bruno Senna, Nick Heidfeld Pros: Super reliable motor Team manufacturer status Good driver line-up Cons: Lacking some speed Venturi All focus on this team has been pointed at the 1997 Formula One World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve. He will certainly be a great asset to the team, and he needs to be because the car hasn’t been in any way the quickest in testing. He and Stephane Sarrazin make for an experienced line-up, which will help the team as they look to recover the perrformance gap to the top teams. Drivers: Jacques Villeneuve, Stephane Sarrazin Pros: Experienced driver line-up Team manufacturer status Cons: About one second off the pace in testing Trulli Every day during testing, the question on everyone’s mind was ‘Where are Trulli?’ We didn’t see them in the garage until the final day, and even then they barely managed to get any laps in between rain and the car simply not being able to go the distance – sometimes unable to make it past the end of the pit lane. Like Andretti, they had something special in their powertrain that, once the kinks had been untied, would be the fastest on the grid. Unlike Andretti, however, they are sticking with it. While in the early part of the season they may struggle, the gains they will make across the season will be astronomical. Drivers: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Salvador Duran Pros: Experienced driver line-up Team manufacturer status Strong technical partnerships Cons: Almost zero running in testing

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