Written by Elisabeth Brown, Edited by Umut Yelbasi
Image Credit: Umut Yelbasi
Entering the 2022 SABIC London E-Prix there’s a four-way battle for the title, and six of the 22 drivers are competing on home soil. This is just the second time Formula E is racing in London, with last year’s race seeing British driver Jake Dennis bringing home a win.
The 2.141 km circuit, located in the ExCel exhibition centre and East London’s historic docklands, has 22 turns and provides an interesting challenge for the drivers. It has an inside-outside layout and is characterised by its tight and twisty nature. Additionally, last year’s double hairpin has replaced a chicane sequence spanning between Turn 10 and 13.
Image Credit: Umut Yelbasi
When asked for thoughts on this tweak during the drivers’ press conference today, Mitch Evans of Jaguar said he believed more could have been done, saying “the chicane is too fast” and that “it could have been more of a braking zone into the first chicane” in order to make more of a corner out of it. He believes the change has removed a good overtaking opportunity one of last year’s hairpins provided. Pascal Wehrlein shared the same opinion, with the belief that overtaking will be even more difficult this year.
Additionally, this year the maximum energy has been reduced to 46 kilowatt hours from 52 kilowatt hours. Evans feels that the energy could be reduced even more so there would be “more energy saving on the race” and so the coasting phase is longer, going on to say that naturally he needs to drive it to get a better feel of such changes. Stoffel Vandoorne echoed Evans’ thoughts, saying he feels energy management is “a bit too easy around the circuit.” Wehrlein believes the reduction “could be more” as well but also that it’s “not too bad.”
Championship leader Vandoorne’s title rival Evans said that qualifying will be crucial given the aforementioned potential for reduced overtaking, which in turn may lead to a “big swing this weekend” in terms of the championship. He admits qualifying has been a weakness for Jaguar, and he expects the margins to be “very, very small,” emphasising the importance of ensuring the car is put in the right window.
Vandoorne and Evans sit first and third in the championship and are separated by 14 points, with Edoardo Mortara in second place with 144 points and Jean-Éric Vergne in fourth with 128 points. There is still plenty of time for the order to be shaken up, however, with the two rounds in London and a double-header in Seoul coming up, so be sure to keep a close eye on how the rest of the season unfolds.
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