Formula E - London
Discussion
Well I've just watched the race & everything about it is...awkward.From the presenters who are amateur at best, to the racing in what looks like a level toboggan run. The whole thing was pitiful in my opinion. But hey, you've got to start somewhere I suppose & this can only get better. All they need to do is make a wider track with somewhere for crashed cars to be moved out of the way & employ decent presenters. Oh yes, one more thing, shove an engine in the back!
I challenge you to stand on the inside of turn 1 and maintain the attitude that it's too slow. They are incredibly quick through there with concrete walls either side. It's impressive. What's less impressive is a lack of commentary at the venue. Due to lack of mobile signal, I didn't find out who won until I got home!
Ahh, you should have picked a free earpiece radio from the VISA stand. Full race commentary on that.
Went today and to be honest I left a little disappointed. Whilst I agree the cars are fast the track was far to narrow to have any meaningful racing. The actual track layout was pretty decent but was just not wide enough and all the drivers were complaining on how bumpy it was(but to be fair it is a street circuit) If I remember there were only two overtakes on track in the entire race and they were pretty suicidal do or die moves. Even the start was under a safety car to prevent a pile up in the first corner.
Another annoyance was the complete lack of support races (I'm not including the junior racing as that was pretty pointless and I don't think they exceeded 20mph). So you have 4 rounds of quali then have to wait nearly 4 hours for the race to start. Yes, you can go and explore but it's the usual gouge-fest with prices and a few stands with electric cars and the ubiquitous simulators with about 6 million kids queuing up to have a go. Not interested. Yes the GA tickets were cheap but you should expect more from an FIA approved race. If you didn't pay for a grandstand ticket you were challenged to find a decent view. Especially behind all of that fencing. We managed around turn 5/6 but we had to get there early and then look at an empty track for an hour and a half further pissing me off with the lack of track action.
All in all I'd give it around 5/10. Not a total loss but could have been sooo much better.
Went today and to be honest I left a little disappointed. Whilst I agree the cars are fast the track was far to narrow to have any meaningful racing. The actual track layout was pretty decent but was just not wide enough and all the drivers were complaining on how bumpy it was(but to be fair it is a street circuit) If I remember there were only two overtakes on track in the entire race and they were pretty suicidal do or die moves. Even the start was under a safety car to prevent a pile up in the first corner.
Another annoyance was the complete lack of support races (I'm not including the junior racing as that was pretty pointless and I don't think they exceeded 20mph). So you have 4 rounds of quali then have to wait nearly 4 hours for the race to start. Yes, you can go and explore but it's the usual gouge-fest with prices and a few stands with electric cars and the ubiquitous simulators with about 6 million kids queuing up to have a go. Not interested. Yes the GA tickets were cheap but you should expect more from an FIA approved race. If you didn't pay for a grandstand ticket you were challenged to find a decent view. Especially behind all of that fencing. We managed around turn 5/6 but we had to get there early and then look at an empty track for an hour and a half further pissing me off with the lack of track action.
All in all I'd give it around 5/10. Not a total loss but could have been sooo much better.
knowitall said:
Incredibly disappointing. I only saw two overtakes all race!
Whoever thinks that was a good event is really easily pleased.
From a TV perspective I think that was the worst race I have ever seen, why did they not build a track that showcased some of London and allowed the cars to overtake?Whoever thinks that was a good event is really easily pleased.
Watching on TV that was just a pathetic narrow funnel between concrete walls with horrible 10 foot high steel fences visually one of the worst possible combinations.
9.3 said:
Can someone remind me why they can't race these cars on normal race circuits? Even the Monaco round had a bastardised layout.
Because on most proper tracks they would be full throttle, top speed for much of.the lap and the batteries would be gone in no time. Even Monaco had too much full throttle on the proper circuit..They seem light years away from being fast and efficient enough to use on a proper circuit.
I have a theory that too many 'technology' based things are released onto the market too soon in case someone else pips them to the post. This racing is no different to that...it's not ready yet!
I suspect if you went to one of the great outdoor karting circuits to see awesome racing, you'd find the fuel used in the karts was less than the fuel used to charge Formula E batteries. Much more entertaining.
I suspect if you went to one of the great outdoor karting circuits to see awesome racing, you'd find the fuel used in the karts was less than the fuel used to charge Formula E batteries. Much more entertaining.
I was there yesterday all day, it was total rubbish, I was a guest of one off the teams, the cars were very slow, even from the vip stands you couldn't see a thing other than what was right in front of you, the marshals didnt have a clue, I had an all access pass yet they wouldn't let you in one end of the Pitt lane, so if you wanted to get close to the cars etc you had to go for a very long walk, people weren't bothering.
I was discussing the very poor organisation to one of the team principles and he just laughed and said battersea is s work in progress and some of the other races were much better.
Formula E has a very long way to go, I wish I had gone to good wood
I was discussing the very poor organisation to one of the team principles and he just laughed and said battersea is s work in progress and some of the other races were much better.
Formula E has a very long way to go, I wish I had gone to good wood
Edited by Adrian W on Sunday 28th June 11:55
Having seen quite a lot of these races on ITV, I would say the whole series is totally dependant on the quality of the circuits. Some of the races where they have space have been terrific, others like Monaco and seemingly London have been rubbish.
I watched some of the highlights yesterday and the surface and the width of the track were a joke. One of the circuits (I can't remember which.) had enough room for them to go in to a corner four abreast, which meant proper racing.
However, given the state of F1 financing at the moment, the amount of VISA branding would have given certain people pause for thought. Interesting, that Citroen have announced they are coming in too next season.
Said it before, I wanted LOATHE this formula. I wanted to dance on its grave. But some of the racing has been very good and some big names who the F1 teams would desperately want on their sidepods are clearly looking to put money into it. If they can get the circuits sorted out, who knows? It certainly isn't going to collapse overnight like A1GP.
I watched some of the highlights yesterday and the surface and the width of the track were a joke. One of the circuits (I can't remember which.) had enough room for them to go in to a corner four abreast, which meant proper racing.
However, given the state of F1 financing at the moment, the amount of VISA branding would have given certain people pause for thought. Interesting, that Citroen have announced they are coming in too next season.
Said it before, I wanted LOATHE this formula. I wanted to dance on its grave. But some of the racing has been very good and some big names who the F1 teams would desperately want on their sidepods are clearly looking to put money into it. If they can get the circuits sorted out, who knows? It certainly isn't going to collapse overnight like A1GP.
I'd given up watching a few races ago but thought I'd give it a last try since it's our UK race. Had to switch off when the "drum beats" started during replays. No one would think of playing engine noises during a music concert so how do we have to endure music over car racing...no no no ,just not needed and spoils it for me. Even stopped buying car/ racing cd's as they are going the same " background music way" why? .To any ph person real car sounds ,tyres , engines ( even whinnying electric motors) are an integral part of our sport ...don't spoil it with music any more please.
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