After Mexico City in mid-January, followed by the two races in Saudi Arabia two weeks later, the teams put their cars away for six weeks. This long break was unexpected at the start of the season and was the result of the cancellation of the Hyderabad round. For the French manufacturer DS Automobiles, entered in the championship with the American outfit Penske, this situation has generated a little frustration. The Franco-American team had scored some big points and finished on the podium once, but seemed to have found the rhythm that would enable it to take on the Jaguars and Porsches, who dominated last season.
The result is that everyone has been left wanting more, and is now eager to get back into the battle. "We miss the adrenalin of racing," says Eugenio Franzetti, head of DS Performance, the DS automobiles department which develops the DS Penske single-seaters. "We're really happy to be back in the championship, especially as there are some exciting races coming up."
For Formula E, this break was also damaging in terms of media coverage, especially as in February Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship had not yet started. So the Formula E teams took to the media with photos and videos of the start of the season, and even of the 2023 championship, to remind their fans of the good times of past races.
At DS Penske, Stoffel Vandoorne's pole position in Sao Paulo for the championship's first appearance in Brazil was a choice moment. A choice moment, and a good omen because the Brazilian track, located in the district where the traditional carnival takes place, is precisely the next round on the calendar. But while the communications teams were busy, the engineers and drivers were not idle.
The rest of the season... and next year!
It's not easy for the teams to remain in full race configuration during such a long break. For some team members, it was an opportunity to take a few unscheduled days off and get off to a flying start. For others, it was an opportunity to see what could be done to the car from a regulatory point of view, but also to prepare for the future in a more serene manner.
Since 1 January, the teams have no longer been allowed to hold private test sessions with the 2024 single-seaters. They have therefore concentrated on next year's cars. "We drove for several days in Calafat with our Gen 3.5 single-seater," says Eugenio Franzetti. "It wasn't quite complete, but we were still able to work on it. We also welcomed a new race director [Phil Charles, from Jaguar] and this break between races helped us to integrate him better into the team, and to start working according to his methods.
"Our drivers remained under pressure, because between the physical test sessions and the simulation sessions, this time with this season's car and circuits, they were put through their paces. It's been a real team effort, which has enabled us to solidify our objectives, which are above all to put both cars in the points at every race. This is just as important to us as winning."
After a six-week break, the championship will now line up nine races at six venues between mid-March and the end of May, which means one or two races (for double-headers) every fortnight.
