Tomorrow January 28 I will leave from there Formula E Season 8, the championship dedicated to 100% electric single-seaters. For this reason, 2022 will start with a double event in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, to put a lot of irons on the fire right away. This season will be the last to be contested with Gen2 cars, which in 2023 will give way to the much more advanced Gen3, but the FIA and Formula E still wanted to introduce some technical and regulatory developments, to make the most of the potential of these single-seaters before sending them to retirement. With this mini guide we want to explain all the changes, introduce the teams and show you where to follow the races, on TV and online.
At the end of last season Audi And BMW they had taken everyone a little by surprise with the decision to drop the show, despite investing heavily in it. The place left by BMW was immediately recovered by its historical partner, Andretti, who found the collaboration of Avalanche. The situation was different for Audi, whose seat in the pit remained vacant, and for this reason the cars on the grid for this season there will only be 22. Situation which allowed Maserati to take advantage of the free slot for next year.
New qualifications, more power and cooldown
The biggest change concerns the qualificationswhich will no longer be mini groups with super poles to follow, but will have a structure distributed between the classic qualifications, with head-to-head playoffs to decide the fastest on the track. You can discover the new structure in detail in our dedicated article. In racing, however, the differences are few and the format remains unchanged. 45 minutes + 1 lap. There will be to add the recovery time, long invoked by many fans. Indeed, in a timed race the entry of the safety car makes the show much shorter than in a race with a fixed number of laps. It will be the safety car, or the full course yellow, who will decide the recovery time, which will have a maximum of 10 minutes.
Finally, the latest news concerns the technical sphere of cars. Having partially archived the subject of energy management, the potential of electric motors is even more open. During the race the maximum power limiter passes from 200kW to 220kWwhile the extra power given by attack modes increases from 235kW to 250kW, making the cars noticeably more powerful and faster. This change should also give rise to more varied strategies, since the battery will always remain the same, with 54 kWh available.
Schedule for season 8, two races in Rome
Turning instead to the calendar, it is worth noting the defection of some localities, a situation conditioned by the pandemic, and corrected by using it often the double event formula in the same stadium. For this year there will be two more appointments in the city of Rome, April 9 and 10and we also report the return to the streets of the principality of monacowhere the cars now race with the same historic layout as Formula 1. Still on the patriotic theme, while waiting for the arrival of Maserati, we have a little air of Italy with the arrival of Antonio Giovinazzi in the Dragon Penske team.
TV channels and times
Formula E is also trying to carve out a niche for itself among broadcasters, and fans will have various options to follow the races. media play confirms its transmission, even if it seems definitely moved to the Channel 20. Here you can follow the race (subject to change for individual events) on the website Sportmediaset.it the two free practice sessions, qualifying sessions and the race will also be streamed.
She also got the rights Skywho will operate the channel Sky Sports Action. No free practice here, but live broadcast of qualifying and the race. Alternatively, the free practice sessions can be followed on the Official Formula E YouTube Channelor in the live section of the institutional site. For the first race, the program is as follows:
- Training 1: Thursday 27, 3:55 p.m. – 4:40 p.m.
- Training 2: Friday 28, 11.25 – 12.10
- Qualifying: Friday 28, 1:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
- Race: Friday 28, 5.30 – 7.30
For the second race on January 29, the times will be repeated, the only difference being a single free session.
Teams and riders, favorites and news
The team to beat will definitely be mercedeswho won the constructors’ and drivers’ titles in the last championship, with Nyck De Vries. It certainly can’t be said to be a landslide victory, with Venturi, BMW, Jaguar and Virgin finishing just a few lengths behind. Have jaguars I will seek redemption, because he expected more from the duo Evans Birdwhile Venturi will now be able to count on the experience of Lucas Di Grassi. The team Techeetah however, he remains among the best, and the new qualifying format could allow him to demonstrate this better than last season, and watch out for underdogs, like NIO and Dragon, who could prove competitive with the new technical regulations. We will also be able to follow the races from the drivers’ point of view, thanks to the arrival of the Driver’s Eye micro-camera also in Formula E. The crews are listed below (click to access the page with the details of the drivers and teams).
