MISANO, Italy — The 22 racecars took their positions, shot off the starting line, and accelerated down a straightaway through the shimmering heat. The race was on — quietly.
“This is the most relevant form of motorsports for the future,” said James Barclay, the racing team director for Jaguar, whose commercial fleet will become all electric next year. “If you look at every single major manufacturer in the world, they’re spending their money on electric vehicles. That’s the reality of the industry. And the pace the sport transitions will mirror the industry.”the sport.
He led a reporter toward the cockpit of his black and red Porsche, slapped with sponsor logos, and pointed toward a monitor on his steering wheel that can gauge the energy he uses on every lap, along with other data that teams closely guard as proprietary.He said he receives a series of beeps and buzzes in his headset around every turn, signaling when to lift off the throttle, how significantly to slow down.
Formula E energy restrictions have some downsides, too, when translated onto the racetrack. Fred Smith, the motorsports editor for Road & Track, described the typical Formula E race as aIn 2021, when Formula E used more complicated rules for determining the length of its races, a rainy and collision-filled event in Valencia, Spain, ended with several cars slowing to a halt on the final lap. “None of them have energy!” the broadcaster said. “This is an absolute catastrophe.