With the season starting in less than two weeks- lets take a look on how a race day works/ points system/ tyres.
Race day format-
Shakedown– At most of the E-Prix’s a shakedown session is held on the Friday-the day before the main event but this all depends on the track being available. When this does happen drivers use this session to check the electronic systems and the reliability of the car, but not overall performance as the cars run at a reduced speed.
Practice- Each event has two practice sessions- an opening 30 minute session which is then followed by a further 30 minute session. This is reduced to only one session on the second day of a double header. The practice is the first time the teams and drivers will take to track under timed conditions in which they can get a feel for the track and adapt to the car set-up.
Qualifying format- Brand new for season 8 the qualifying allows the best teams and drivers to showcase their speed and skills but maintains the possibility of any driver to step up, pull a lap out of the bag which makes them go further up the grid.
The group stage sees two groups of 11 based on their Drivers World Championship position battle it out at 220kW to set lap times in a 10 minute session, with the fastest four progressing to the Duels stage.
The 8 then through will battle it out in the quarter finals where they compete against one another head to head in a knockout at 250kW.
The winning driver of the final dues takes Julius Baer Pole position whilst the runner-up lines up second. The semi-finalists will line up 3rd and 4th, the quarter-finalists between fifth and eighth depending on their lap-times.
The 5th to 12th placed drivers who competed in the pole sitters group will fill the odd positions on the grid. The corresponding drivers from the other group will be classified in the even grid slots- fro example if the pole sitter comes from Group 1, the fifth place driver in Group 1 will line up 9th on the starting grid.
E-Prix- Races or E-Prix begin with a standing start, meaning that the cars are stationary until the lights go green. The drivers line-up on a dummy grid which is a short distance behind the actual grid- they slowly file into their position to start the race.
The E-Prix lasts for 45 minutes, at the end of the 45 minutes and the leader has crossed the finish line, there is still one more lap to go until the race finishes.
Attack Mode was introduced for the 2018/19 season, which let drivers pick up an extra hit of power at their own risk. To fire up Attack Mode, drivers will need to aim their car to drive off the racing line and through the Activation Zone- as taking a slower line through the corner they will be able to collect an extra 30kW of power.
As well as Attack Mode, there is also Fanboost which is where the fans have a chance to impact the race. The five drivers who receive the Fanboost are awarded a significant burst of power which they can deploy in a five-second window during the second half of the race.
Tyres and allocation-
18 inch treaded all weather tyres used by all teams and drivers are supplied by Michelin which is official tyre supplier of the FIA Formula E World Championship. Each driver can’t use more than four new rear and four near front tyres for each event. That means they need to make a total of two sets of tyres last from Shakedown all the way to the end of the race.
Points system–
Formula E follows a standard points system, used in other FIA-sanctioned series – awarding points to the top-10 finishers.
- 1st – 25pts
- 2nd – 18pts
- 3rd – 15pts
- 4th – 12pts
- 5th – 10pts
- 6th – 8pts
- 7th – 6pts
- 8th – 4pts
- 9th – 2pts
- 10th – 1pt
Additional points are also awarded for securing Julius Baer Pole Position as well as the Fastest Lap in Qualifying and the race.
Julius Baer Pole Position: 3 points
Fastest driver in Qualifying: 1 point
Fastest Lap in race: 1 point (if in a top-10 finishing position)
Jordan's F1 Blog 