While the 2024/25 Formula E season brings an exciting new breed of machine to the series, there have been several issues even before the season opener in Sao Paulo.
Season 11 of Formula E will see the introduction of the Gen3 Evo car – or Gen3.5 as some drivers are calling it. The car will be the fastest-accelerating car in a championship governed by the FIA.
While the new machine is set to bring more competitive action on the track and tense battles throughout the field, the championship has already suffered several issues. The 2024/25 calendar will again have an almost two-month gap from February to April as FE were unable to find a replacement for the proposed Thailand ePrix.
FE have also had multiple new ideas that would add more drama to the all-electric series knocked back by team principals and drivers. Nissan boss Tommaso Volpe says ‘nobody wants’ the ‘attack charge’ format due to the potential unreliability of the 600kW charge boosters and that each team only gets one booster for their two cars.
The latest proposal that has seen backlash from the sport’s key figures is the idea of ‘Golden Laps’, and drivers and team bosses have not held back in their criticism.
Formula E’s ‘Golden Laps’ proposal receives brutal backlash from drivers and team principals
Simply put, the way ‘Golden Laps’ would work is that two laps during a race would be chosen at random and the leader at the end of that lap would receive a bonus point.
This means that the maximum number of points available during a race would be increased from 29 to 31 points – 25 points for a win, three points for pole position, one point for the fastest lap and two points for the ‘Golden Laps’.
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It is unclear as to whether this initiative will be coming in as a replacement for the ‘attack charge’ format due to the several issues that have plagued it before testing. What is clear is that drivers are equally are frustrated by the idea of ‘Golden Laps’ as they are by the ‘attack charge’ proposal.
Speaking on The Race Formula E Podcast, Sam Smith discussed alongside Maserati driver Jake Hughes the ‘range of opinions’ the idea has received and how negatively some are viewing it.
“I mean, there are so many questions about this. Formula E didn’t comment on it when I reached out to them,” he said.
“We ran the story because we know that it’s been presented to team principals and other key stakeholders in the championship.
“And it was met with a range of opinions, one of which was it went down like a knackered lift. And the other was from a driver that I spoke to, not Jake [Hughes], as we know!
“Another driver who said to me one of the greatest quotes ever, which was: ‘it would be like switching off air traffic control at an international airport’, which I thought was fantastic!”
Formula E will run an all-female driver test in Valencia in November
FE will see the Gen3 Evo car take to the track ahead of the 2024/25 season for testing at Valencia in November.
As part of testing, the series will give 22 female drivers the opportunity to drive more modern machinery with the 11 FE teams, with several big names set to take part.
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F1 Academy championship leader Abbi Pulling will be driving with Nissan in Valencia, while former IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro will be testing with the newly rebranded Kiro Race Co team.
Jaguar will be bringing Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick to Valencia. Having previously tested with the team in 2020, Chadwick is ready for the ‘mind-blowing’ opportunity to drive a Gen3 Evo car.