Formula E drivers put trust in FIA after safety concerns at Valencia

The new generation of Formula E cars generated quite a bit of discussion. Not only because of thier distinctive looks, but also because of a safety hazard that reared its head during the winter test in Valencia. This weekend FE will start again, but how safe do the drivers feel in the Gen3 cars? GPblog put the question to them.

Several drivers crashed during the Valencia test with braking problems. This was caused by the new braking system the sport introduced at the rear of the car, which involved removing the traditional brake discs and replacing them with motor units. However, the system proved to cause problems, with the rear brakes not functioning. As a result, with only cold front brakes, several drivers slammed into the wall at full speed.

Mahindra driver Oliver Rowland experienced it from the front, as did his teammate Lucas di Grassi. Both crashed due to the same cause during the Valencia test, but Rowland does not want to speak of a real problem. After all, that is what testing is for, he judges.

Confidence in the FIA

"I think the issues that caused the crashes during testing allowed us to put things in place so they don't happen again," says the Brit. Rowland does acknowledge that it is a concern, especially at a track where the walls are a bit closer. "I guess just fingers crossed that we can get through the weekend without any any big accidents or anything serious happening," he adds cautiously. However, he trusts the FIA will take care of a solution.

Rene Rast, driver with the new Neom McLaren Formula E team, also experienced a few problems himself. "I heard about those issues and I think the organisers and the FIA are really on it to improve the situation," said the German.

"The organisers did a lot of changes on the track to make it safer in terms of more run-offs and put one more chicane in so we arrive a bit slower to some corners." According to Rast, time was too short to implement a solution in the cars' braking system, but according to rumours it may be introduced at the next race.

Challenges during Formula E test in Valencia

Someone who did experience some problems was Mitch Evans. "There have been some challenges in recent testing," says the Jaguar driver. However, he too is confident that the FIA will ensure driver safety. "The FIA are fully confident we won’t have issues in the race, we have to wait and see but from what I understand all the problems are fixed."

Sam Bird echoes his teammate's words. "Every time anybody goes out on the circuit we learn and improve with our software. I have every confidence that Formula E are doing their utmost to make sure all the cars are as safe as possible," concluded the Briton.

Safety is the priority

According to Andre Lotterer, Formula E was able to learn important lessons from the problems that occurred during the test. He himself did not experience those problems. "Safety is always the priority," stated the driver, who will be in action this year on behalf of the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team. "Teams have learnt from that. The championship has learnt from that. Measures have been taken into account to operate at the highest safety levels."

He continued: "There are no brakes for the rear, only for emergencies. We still have front brakes, normally this should not be an issue. We just trust that everyone is doing their job and everything should be fine."

Nissan driver Norman Nato also did not experience any problems. For him, therefore, it is not really a concern as it is not up to him to solve it. "It’s more to the engineers and the team to discuss about it with the FIA and FE," he judges. Problems are part and parcel of motorsport now, according to Nato. "You don’t think about these kinds of accidents. Every team had some issue, it’s pretty normal. The beginning of a new car."

Formula E weekend to follow here

The 2022/2023 Formula E season kicks off this weekend in Mexico City. GPblog will report on the FE sessions throughout the weekend and all results and first reactions will also be available here.