Formula E's first race in Cape Town has been a"big deal" for South African motorsport, according to Kelvin van der Linde, as the drivers expect an energy-intensive race.The race is situated in the Green Point area of Cape Town, overlooked by the Table Mountain and Signal Hill natural landmarks, with the circuit also featuring a high-speed section along the beachfront.
"The PR activities we did yesterday going between the radio shows, you kind of get a feeling for what the people are expecting and it's exciting. "So we'll be communicating with engineers. They'll be telling us what's happening during the sessions, which way the wind is blowing. That's going to be a key factor."Explaining the challenges of the circuit, Mahindra's Lucas di Grassi said that teams would have to compromise on set-up given the differing natures of the high-speed corners.
"So it's going to be very challenging for qualifying, to extract the maximum out of the car and, especially with this compromise with the different corner speeds, with the different Tarmacs and the different bumps. Expanding on the energy demands, McLaren driver Jake Hughes felt that no-one would particularly want to be leading the race in the early stages, and that they would be trying to maintain a slipstream in order to save energy.
"And then I think we'll see quite a static race for the first third people trying to not have an energy deficit, and then it will start to open up for the attack mode as usual."