Karun Chandhok gives us the lowdown on his experience from the inaugural Formula E race.
What was the biggest takeaway for you and Mahindra from Beijing?
I thought it was a positive start to the season for us. Considering I was in the first group, to get 4th on the grid was very satisfying. Unfortunately we had some overheating issues in the race so I dropped a couple places but still a top 5 finish was a good way to start the season. While you are using spec equipment, like in GP2 there’s a lot you can change on the mechanical set up of the car. More than mechanically, it’s the mapping for the energy usage and recovery that can be changed a lot in Formula E and this makes a big difference to the performance.
What was it like racing on all weather tyres instead of slicks?
It was a bit strange because obviously you don’t have the same contact patch as the slicks so the cars slide around a bit more. Having said that, you don’t really feel the tread blocks moving around like we expected so they’ve done a reasonably good job with the tyres.
Have you had to alter your driving style for Formula E as compared to F1, GP2 or even LMP1 where you have previously competed?
Yes the main thing is the braking is very different because we’re using carbon brakes with no brake ducts so the temperature control is very tricky. Also the brake balance isn’t electronically controlled like in F1 or LMP1 so we have to do it all manually in the cockpit which is very tricky.
How close is the series to doing away with having a driver switch to another car during a pit stop and implementing wireless charging?
I think we will have this format for at least one more season where we start to test the system and by year 3 perhaps the wireless charging could be implemented.
What is the best way in which you can ‘sell’ the series to a layperson who is more used to F1, MotoGP and WRC?
Formula E is all about access and technology. The series is running on street circuits so it’s easy for people to get the races, it’s very internet and social media friendly and the technology involved is something that’s not just impressive but it’s being developed in a cost effective way so that it will make it to your road cars in the near future.
How close do you feel Mahindra is to scoring a win within the first season itself?
I think we’re certainly competitive although in terms of race pace, it looks like there are still a couple teams ahead of us. We learnt an awful lot in Beijing and we now have a reasonable gap to study the data and make some progress. Of course all the other teams will also be doing the same so we’ll see what the pecking order is when we get to Malaysia.
What will teams be allowed to do next year as constructors?
There’s a lot of talk about the teams being allowed to make their own powertrains, but I’m not sure what exactly that will involve, ie. whether it will be just motors or batteries or gearboxes or all of the above.
How do you fill the time between the rounds??
Because I live in the UK, I’ve been working with the engineers at Carlin Motorsport to develop our simulator. We’ve now finally got some real track data from a street circuit so the first job is to work on correlation of the simulator to the real track. This will take a few months and once we do that, we can start to get the simulator to be a strong engineering tool. There are no shortcuts but fortunately I have experience of working in the Mclaren, Red Bull Racing and Williams simulators in the past so hopefully I can use that knowledge to help the Formula E team in this development program.
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