The situation could have been serious, but the worst was avoided thanks to perfectly applied safety procedures. On Tuesday morning, test driver Robert Shwartzman stopped the #2 DS E-TENSE FE23 usually driven by Stoffel Vandoorne at Turn 11. The car appeared to be experiencing a battery problem, a part common to all cars and supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). The car was brought back to the pits, its battery removed and transferred to the British supplier's garage for inspection. It was then a small explosion during the lunch break that caused a fire, leading to the evacuation of the premises and the intervention of the fire brigade.
No-one was injured, but this incident involving an element that had been in operation for over a year (and had been reconditioned for this new season) led to a number of investigations. It is also worth pointing out that since its debut in 2014, Formula E has never had to deal with a fire, demonstrating the high level of safety of its electric single-seaters.
DS Penske prefers to highlight the positive side of this mishap. "Everyone reacted very well, even though it was the first time such an event had occurred," stresses Eugenio Franzetti, Director of DS Performance. "The problem was managed very well from start to finish, and in the end everything was able to restart in good conditions, after numerous checks. I like this very professional approach to the subject, which is very reassuring. It was also fortunate that the battery caught fire in the WAE garage and not in Stoffel Vandoorne's No. 2 DS E-TENSE FE23, which could have gone up in smoke. It should be noted that the neighbouring garage, that of Mahindra Racing, suffered some collateral damage.
Successful testing for Vergne and Vandoorne
The DS Penske drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne, were nevertheless able to gauge the performance of their 2024 single-seaters, despite being deprived of a fair amount of running time despite the efforts made to extend the final day of testing. After a fresh start to testing on Thursday afternoon, followed by a race simulation in the early hours of Friday, the track remained open non-stop until the evening, with no problems to report on the battery front.
Over the next few days, the electric single-seaters will be placed in containers for shipment by boat from the port of Valencia to Mexico, where the first race will take place on 13 January. The batteries, meanwhile, will be sent later by air, after undergoing further checks. Over the coming weeks, the teams will be able to continue testing their development cars, and prepare for the second season of these third-generation electric single-seaters.
This will mark the start of the 10th season of the Formula E world championship, and the ninth for French manufacturer DS Automobiles.
