Mexico ePrix: Presentation and Stakes

Vergne will want to accumulate, Rosenqvist and Bird to get closer

Thanks to his victory in the last race in Santiago, Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne is racing ahead at the top of the standings. His goal for this ePrix will be to score big points again to maintain his position at the top of the driver standings. This will logically require a strong performance in both qualifying and the race.

Just behind the former Toro Rosso F1 driver, we still find the same two protagonists, namely Felix Rosenqvist and Sam Bird. The Swedish driver from Mahindra was leading the championship before the Chilean race but relinquished it to Vergne due to his fourth place in the event. The multiple Macau Grand Prix winner will certainly rely on his speed to reclaim his provisional championship lead. The situation won’t be much different for the DS Virgin driver who also has his eyes on the top. He can rely on his consistency and the reliability of his driving as well as his car to close in on his direct competitors.

Let’s now discuss two other important competitors in the race, Sébastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet. For the Swiss champion of season two, the catastrophic start to the season is gradually being forgotten, thanks to consecutive second and third place finishes, allowing him to maintain his chances of being crowned again. As for the Brazilian, who is back at the forefront since joining Jaguar, he maintains his status as an underdog in the championship, although his vehicle tends to fall back in the race hierarchy.

To conclude the issues of this ePrix, the case of Audi and Lucas Di Grassi remains just as concerning with repeated retirements due to various reliability problems. As a result, the defending champion has yet to score points in the championship, and the team, now fully controlled by the brand with the rings, cannot find the solution to its problems. Let’s hope for the Brazilian, the German team, and Daniel Abt that the dark clouds finally clear to salvage what’s left of the trio’s season. But no one doubts that a lot of work needs to be done internally to clarify the situation.

An appointment that has now become essential

In fact, this will be the third time Formula E visits the Rodriguez brothers’ circuit on the outskirts of Mexico City. The introduction of this non-urban track came after its near-complete renovation and the return of Formula 1 to Mexico. This makes it the only circuit used by both FIA-supported championships. The 2.092-kilometer track, featuring no less than 17 turns, is unique for being situated at 2500 meters above sea level. This is expected to primarily affect the drivers’ physical condition, rather than the electric motors of the cars. Note that the version used is shortened compared to the one used by F1. Nonetheless, the single-seaters will still pass through the now-legendary Stadium filled with spectators.

Get onboard the first lap of this weekends 2018 Mexico City E-Prix! Will you be joining @FIAFormulaE in Mexico? 🇲🇽 #MexicoCityEPrix #VirtuallyLive #FormulaE pic.twitter.com/4yqnZXNbM3

— Virtually Live (@virtuallylive) 1 mars 2018

The latest information to remember

The possibility of a boosted mode considered for next season:

The championship is studying the possibility of equipping the single-seaters with a boost mode system. This would allow drivers to gain 25 KW of power for a maximum duration of eight minutes. This power boost could only be used once by each driver within the limit of these eight minutes. Another limitation is that this boosted mode could only be used between the second lap and the penultimate lap. Formula E is also considering ways to better inform the public of certain useful data regarding the cars, notably by using the possibility of adding LEDs to display information that would be positioned on the halo, which will be introduced next year.

NIO will not participate in the first testing session of the upcoming race car:

The Chinese team NIO has informed the championship leaders and other teams that it does not intend to participate in the first testing session of the second-generation single-seaters, which will take place at the Monteblanco circuit in Spain from March 26 to 28. The reason given is that the team wishes to take more time to prepare its testing program. However, representatives from the team will be present on site. On the other hand, NIO will be operational for the second session which will take place at the Calafat circuit, also in Spain. It seems that a second team intends to skip these initial tests.

DS fears significant disparities concerning the brake-by-wire system:

The director of DS Performance, Xavier Mestelan-Pinion, is concerned that the adoption of the cable braking system for the next season might create disparities between the different teams. The system itself is not being contested and could allow for performance gains in this area, but the development costs are worrying the director of Virgin’s partner. For example, an independent team like Techeetah might struggle to mobilize enough resources to properly develop this new system. Mestelan-Pinion believes that this could lead to an increase in costs because each team might develop its own system or some might be tempted to buy this system from other suppliers. This opinion is not without ulterior motives, knowing that it is highly likely that DS will join Techeetah next season.

The TV program

As since the beginning of the season, you will have two options to follow the qualifications and the race. First on Eurosport 2 at 7 PM for the qualifications and 11 PM for the race. But also on Canal + Décalé at 6:50 PM for the qualifications and 10:50 PM for the race.