Fan boost—where people voted online to give three drivers extra power during parts of the race—was not well-received and contributed little to the show. But “attack mode,” a time-limited power-up that’s activated by driving over a specific part of the racetrack, has added an interesting strategy component to the races and delivered plenty of excitement.
Formula E has also shown it can respond to criticism—this year there’s a new compound in Hankook tires that’s far racier than the durable-but-gripless rubber of the last two seasons. And in addition to adding more power, during attack mode the front electric motor is allowed to actually send power to those wheels—normally it is relegated to just harvesting energy under deceleration.
Formula E wants pit boost to do something similar, but it neither replaces attack mode nor is tied to it—it’s now a second thing that race strategists are going to have to deal with.
“I think it’s gonna be fantastic because it’s gonna create a little bit of jeopardy into the race. And there are teams that are gonna be using that energy in different ways in different moments. And definitely, you know, it’s gonna bring that excitement that we want,” said Albert Longo, Formula E’s co-founder and chief championship officer.
The team view
“Pit boost is mainly a strategic element, which, like any change of this nature, will impact our approach, as a stop mid-race isn’t something we’ve had in the Championship since the Gen1 era,” said Frederic Espinos, team director at Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team.
“Choosing the right moment to pit, which balances the risk of losing track position with the extra power boost, will be essential, especially as only one car at a time will be able to come in for the pit boost, so we will have to go for slightly different strategies even if naturally it would seem going as soon as possible will be the best option. To add further jeopardy, pit boost will be available during the safety car, which could present a beneficial opportunity if you are lucky… but if not it could destroy your race,” Espinos said.
