Here is a post that got lost on my website, it's from earlier this year when I was invited along to the launch party of the all electric Formula-e championship at the Camden Roundhouse in London:
The Camden Roundhouse has played host to many greats over the years from Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Cream. Tonight sees a new rock and roll circus roll into town with the worldwide launch of Formula-e.
Inside the Roundhouse I’m circled by the various cars from the ten teams, they look fantastic and all of the VIP guests and media are eager to get a close up look.
I'm peering into the cockpit of the e.dams Renault car when I’m asked what I think, the question has come from four time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost. I ask Prost if he’s been tempted to take the car out for a spin at the test sessions but he says that he’s happy to leave that up to his son Nicholas these days who completes the e.dams Renault line up with Sebastien Buemi.
Alejandro Agag & Alain Prost
The sofas at the front of the room fill up with some big names including Formula-e CEO Alejandro Agag, Alain Prost, Emerson Fittipaldi, Damon Hill and Sir frank Williams who’s advanced engineering department has supplied formula-e with the batteries for the cars.
Agag is brought onto the stage by the compare and we are shown a film of the teams racing across Westminster bridge , I have to admit the cars really look the part in their livery and any of them would not look out of place on the F1 grid. Agag asks for the film to be shown again as he was sitting under it and missed the best bits so it is replayed.
During Agag’s opening speech he thanked the Mayor of London Boris Johnson who has supported the new Formula from the start and Sir Edward Lister, the Deputy Mayor of London who was present confirmed that the championships tenth and final round will be decided Battersea Park. There is a genuine felling of achievement coming from Agag and it’s not hard to see why with the fast development of the series and the support of the ten cities playing host to the races.
Emerson Fittipaldi
Speaking with Alejandro Agag after the presentation he tells me that it was amazing to have new partners like BMW and a real honour to work with legends like Sir Frank Williams.
I ask Agag if he sees the relationship with formula 1 as symbiotic?
“Absolutely, we are a child of Formula 1. We looked all over the world for the best technology and where did we find it? F1 of course, that is where the pinnacle of technology is truly. If we are able to multiply the capacity of the battery in the cars we may even see Formula-e racing against Formula 1 cars, who knows but that would be a cool race.”
Asking about the expansion of the season in the coming years Agag was equally as enthusiastic.
“We plan to add two races a year to the calendar, we have many cities that are now asking for races, going to Africa is a priority then there is Australia and the Middle East so we still have lots of new areas we would like to race at.”
Sir Frank Williams
I wanted to get some of the drivers opinions on the new Formula and what impression they had from driving the cars so far. I walked over to Bruno Senna who was showing one of the guests the controls of the car.
“What happens if I pull this?” asked the guest pointing towards the red plastic loupe on the duct behind the seat.
“No, No.” replied Bruno, “That’s the fire extinguisher.”
I got a chance to speak with Bruno and asked him about the challenges of street racing and the differences between this new formula and the Formula 1 cars that he was used to.
“The hardest thing for us at the moment is the stiffness of the setup, this combined wight the high wall all weather tyres required for the street races make it quit a different sensation for us as drivers.”
“I can see a lot of rapid and impressive development with the formula-e cars as soon as we get out there and start testing and racing, as currently we need to have a broad basis on which to work on considering the different weather conditions, road surfaces and cutting edge technology that has gone into the cars.”
Interested in the safety aspects of the new formula and if any issues unique to the formula had arisen, I put the question to Nick Heidfeld.
“No not at all, it is a very technically safe formula the main issue for me as a driver is the sound or lack of it - having driven single seaters for nearly twenty years now i’m used to hearing the feedback of an engine for instance when you get wheel spin you hear the RPM going up and you can react to that. Driving the new electric car is fantastic but requires a whole new mindset to get the best feedback from the motor beyond relying on the instruments on the wheel, it’s a case of trying to feel it in your body which is great as it’s exciting - a whole new game to play.”
“One of the biggest draws to formula-e for me was the professionalism of the setup and the strong drivers who are competing as I wanted some good competition.”
“The icing on the cake is that it is all street circuit based with fantastic locations, we go to miami, monaco, london, berlin, beijing and more it’s fantastic a real world tour.”
Formula-e drivers 2014
Another strong team joining the Formula-e lineup is the only owner/driver combination on the already impressive grid - Jarno Trulli of TrulliGP
“It feels great to be heading up my own team I’m also so happy to have a co-driver like Michela Cerruti as she is a quick learner who is very, very competitive and allows me the confidence in her to allow me to go ahead and race.”
As a spectator and Photographer I am really looking forward to what the new Formula-e has to offer in terms of innovation and it’s street racing circuits, it will provide some very exciting and close quarters action and from a photographic point of view the backdrops will provide excellent opportunities to make images that loo and feel very different to what we are currently used to seeing.
For more information on all of the teams, drivers and race calendar visit
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