Formulation 1 might do its preseason exams proper earlier than the brand new schedule of races begins, however Formulation E holds its trials months earlier than the primary E-Prix. The official motion begins in Mexico Metropolis in January, however final week the all-electric collection took to the turns of Valencia for its annual preseason take a look at. 2024’s Season 10 would be the second for the ultra-efficient Gen3 automotive, following a debut that delivered numerous wheel-to-wheel racing and a hard-fought driver’s championship that was determined within the closing two races. Whereas there isn’t a brand new automotive this yr, there’s nonetheless lots to know earlier than the lights exit in Mexico.

A battery hearth minimize testing quick

Groups misplaced a substantial quantity of observe time after a battery hearth following the Tuesday morning session. The Race experiences that the incident occurred in a pit stall occupied by WAE, the all-electric collection’ battery provider. The fireplace reportedly began from a battery that had been faraway from the DS Penske pushed by rookie Robert Shwartzman for 3 separate stints. Shwartzman needed to cease on observe attributable to a difficulty and as soon as the automotive was again within the pit lane, the battery was eliminated and brought to WAE for inspection. Motorsport.com experiences that the automated battery security system was activated inflicting the motive force to cease. In line with The Race, witnesses say there was a small audible explosion about 90 minutes after the automotive got here to a halt on the circuit.

Formulation E canceled the Tuesday afternoon and each Wednesday periods whereas it seemed into the reason for the fireplace. One particular person was taken to the hospital as a precaution however was launched with none therapy. The collection’ governing physique, the FIA, deemed situations secure to renew testing on Thursday afternoon following “investigations and findings supplied by the technical suppliers,” Formulation E defined.

As The Race notes, there has by no means been a traction battery hearth at an E-Prix in almost 10 years of occasions. There have been incidents in 2015 and 2017, however these affected the smaller 12-volt battery. This was additionally unrelated to the brand new Assault Cost as Shwartzman had but to demo that infrastructure. Formulation E solely had eight items for 11 groups and DS Penske didn’t have one on the time, The Race experiences.

The primary feminine driver in a Gen3 automotive

Throughout the preseason take a look at in Valencia, groups had been required to place rookie drivers of their automobiles for 3 of the 18 scheduled hours of operating. The lineup included former F2 driver Robert Shwartzman (DS Penske) and present F2 drivers Victor Martins (Nissan) and Zane Maloney (Andretti), amongst others. The rookie take a look at noticed the primary feminine driver in a Gen3 Formulation E automotive as properly. ​​LMP3 and GT4 driver Gabriela Jilkova bought behind the wheel of the Porsche workforce’s EVs, finishing a 46-lap run. Formulation E beforehand held rookie exams forward of the Berlin E-Prix and through an additional follow session in Rome, each occurring earlier this yr.

The primary take a look at of Assault Cost

Throughout a 10-hour session final Friday, Formulation E held a simulated race, giving groups a 27-lap trial to check setups, run by way of security automotive durations and demo the upcoming Assault Cost pit stops. The collection had deliberate to introduce the stops final season, however supply-chain points meant the know-how would solely be prepared for the ultimate few races. By then, Formulation E felt it might be too late and determined to postpone the debut of Assault Cost to this season.

There’s nonetheless loads of unknown about how the stops will work, however what we do know is that they are going to happen throughout a selected window Formulation E officers will announce proper earlier than the race. The collection has additionally mentioned that groups can be unable to double stack their two automobiles, a follow of pitting each autos back-to-back, which might result in some attention-grabbing choices about which driver will get precedence. An Assault Cost cease can also be anticipated to be fairly lengthy at 30-35 seconds. A mechanic hooks up a charging cable to the again of the automotive whereas the battery is replenished.

Jaguar and Porsche are fast… once more

After robust showings firstly of the Gen3 period final season, it appears to be like like Jaguar TCS Racing and TAG Heuer Porsche are going to be contenders as soon as once more. Jaguar and Porsche autos claimed 4 of the highest 5 instances in every of the three take a look at periods, together with fast laps from the Envision workforce that runs Jaguar powertrains.

Jaguar’s Mitch Evans posted the quickest time of the week, notching a 1m24.474s mark that was over half a second faster than the quickest lap in final yr’s take a look at. Evans, who completed third within the driver’s championship in Season 9, additionally topped the instances within the second session. New teammate Nick Cassidy, who completed second within the championship final season whereas driving for Envision, stored Evans from sweeping all three periods with a 1m24.617s within the closing operating of the week.

Mahindra appears poised to bounce again

Season 9 was one to neglect for Mahindra. The workforce that’s been in Formulation E because the collection started completed tenth out of 11. Vital offseason adjustments embody an all-new driver pairing of Edoardo Mortara and Season seven champ Nyck De Vries. Mortara was fifth quickest within the first session of the week whereas De Vries posted the third finest time in session two. Mahindra was hampered by the battery hearth because it suffered injury to its tools and each automobiles, however each drivers confirmed nice tempo at totally different factors through the week.

The driving force’s championship needs to be shut once more

19 of the 21 drivers set lap instances inside 0.7 seconds of one another over the last session of the week. Certain, that’s one-lap tempo versus managing all the nuances of a Formulation E race (like vitality consumption and regeneration), but it surely’s clear the drivers are studying easy methods to unlock the potential of the Gen3 automobiles. Final yr, for instance, groups had been grappling with new automobiles and new tires, having to determine the optimum efficiency for a more durable Hankook compound.