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Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

economist.com

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Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#21

Post by andrewcooke »

And just as its premier race series has helped drive innovation in the engines, brakes, suspension and aerodynamics of everyday cars

are there any statistics / studies on this kind of thing? or the similar claim from space exploration?

i don't dispute there are useful advances, but i wonder whether they would have been made anyway (perhaps at a lower overall cost, if "cost" can be at all well defined).

[edit: i see from the comments below that maybe i need to repeat i don't dispute there are useful advances and the question are there any statistics / studies on this kind of thing?]

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#22

Post by alan_cx »

moocowduckquack wrote: post #2

"In addition, spectators will be able to interact with the cars using social media. The talk is of allowing them to award drivers extra goes on their “push-to-pass” boost buttons" Well, that sounds wide open for abuse. Also, I am not sure how the bookies would deal with something like that when calculating the odds. "Well, this driver is better, but the other one has a huge following on twitter, so the odds are in th…

From a proper pure racing POV, a horrible nasty idea, born of Satan's rectum.

Putting aside the technical / abuse angle, which is totally valid.......From a getting fan interaction and publicity idea, its not a totally bad idea. Its a bit "reality".

Now, if there is a god, he knows full well I cant stand all this "reality" and social media lark, but frankly, it is popular. FE needs to hook in to something as it needs to build a following. Its never going to appeal to the olde skool big engine and noise brigade who cant get their heads round electric at all, so it needs to get new fans interested. IMHO, that means going all youth and modern. So, things like this are a reasonable idea.

Problem I see is that this specific idea is possibly born of gray suited men in a meeting not really understanding either racing or social media. I understand the general intent, but not the currently touted solution.

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#23

Post by walshemj »

alan_cx wrote: post #16

Rival? No. Leaving aside the massive world wide following and it's deep history and legends... What will continue to happen is that F1 will get more and more electric over time. The new regs for 2014 are for a smaller engine, supplemented by larger KERS, pushing for fuel efficiency. Long term, I see that trend continuing. Burning up shed loads of fossil fuels to merely race will get more and more difficult while norm…

The amount of gas burned at a f1 race weekend is tiny and fast and furious will only appeal to the Barry/Chav crowd

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#24

Post by walshemj »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #4
moocowduckquack wrote: post #2

"In addition, spectators will be able to interact with the cars using social media. The talk is of allowing them to award drivers extra goes on their “push-to-pass” boost buttons" Well, that sounds wide open for abuse. Also, I am not sure how the bookies would deal with something like that when calculating the odds. "Well, this driver is better, but the other one has a huge following on twitter, so the odds are in th…

"In addition, spectators will be able to interact with the cars using social media. The talk is of allowing them to award drivers extra goes on their “push-to-pass” boost buttons" That's the most stupid thing I've heard all week. No matter how it's implemented it's silly. Fans shouldn't be able to influence the result of a race.

Yeh can you imagine Monza run under this harebrained idea remember the Martin Brundel quote " its monza if your not Italian or driving for Ferrari they tend to throw things

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#25

Post by thekid314 »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #4
moocowduckquack wrote: post #2

"In addition, spectators will be able to interact with the cars using social media. The talk is of allowing them to award drivers extra goes on their “push-to-pass” boost buttons" Well, that sounds wide open for abuse. Also, I am not sure how the bookies would deal with something like that when calculating the odds. "Well, this driver is better, but the other one has a huge following on twitter, so the odds are in th…

"In addition, spectators will be able to interact with the cars using social media. The talk is of allowing them to award drivers extra goes on their “push-to-pass” boost buttons" That's the most stupid thing I've heard all week. No matter how it's implemented it's silly. Fans shouldn't be able to influence the result of a race.

It is a stupid idea from a gamesmanship point of view.

But it is a brilliantly viral idea from the marketing point of view. Think of that Saturday afternoon when you have a few posts popping up on facebook and twitter "Your friend is supporting ____...", it is sure to get a bump in non-hard-core fans watching the race.

Racing is one of the few places they can do this.

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#29

Post by hrkristian »

andrewcooke wrote: post #21

And just as its premier race series has helped drive innovation in the engines, brakes, suspension and aerodynamics of everyday cars are there any statistics / studies on this kind of thing? or the similar claim from space exploration? i don't dispute there are useful advances, but i wonder whether they would have been made anyway (perhaps at a lower overall cost, if "cost" can be at all well defined). [edit: i see f…

I would think a common racing term is sufficient as answer here: The faster the better.

Did F1 historically slow down or speed up various technological advances? Similarly, will FE speed up relevant tech if it becomes a hit like F1? I don't see why not, as I can see many ways where FE can contribute and/or be a testing ground for tech.

Conductive charging on the race track

Battery tech, the sky is the limit when the manufacturers will always want a full hours worth of power with the best output

Re: Could Formula E ever rival Formula 1?

#30

Post by ericcumbee »

andrewcooke wrote: post #21

And just as its premier race series has helped drive innovation in the engines, brakes, suspension and aerodynamics of everyday cars are there any statistics / studies on this kind of thing? or the similar claim from space exploration? i don't dispute there are useful advances, but i wonder whether they would have been made anyway (perhaps at a lower overall cost, if "cost" can be at all well defined). [edit: i see f…

Brakes and Tires are two big things where advances have come from racing. Audi's FSI technology was originally built for the Audi R8 LMP.
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