I grew up watching, listening and hearing about Formula One. The cars were the fastest in the world of motorsport and the engines were just sublime aural delight. I gobbled up articles on articles about Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Montoya, Hill, Raikkonen, Barrichello et al and wondered what a brilliant sport it is.
I have stood on that imaginary podium so many times receiving the award for second place behind Michael Schumacher. The roar of the crowd and the fist in the air were all part of that one moment where I became the first Indian driver to be on the podium of an F1 race.
I grew up and realized that the dream was long over but the passion persisted and this introduced me to the world of Motorsports. So it was clear when Formula E decided to enter the ring of motorsports, I opened my arms to the idea. It's the electric cousin of Formula 1 and I know what you're thinking, electricity? Race car? No way! But it is the future and an attempt to tell those skeptics that an electrically powered car can in fact race and all that can be a lot of fun.
The 2014-15 season kicks-off in September in Beijing and we are here to tell you what Formula E is all about. To begin with, this will be the first all-electric racing series which says a lot because motorsports has been facing a lot of flak over emissions and waste of fuels. The cars will run on a battery that produces 270bhp (180 in race spec) which when compared to an F1 race car isn't much at all but that doesn't mean it's slow. 0-100km/h is dealt in 3 seconds while the top speed is at a respectable 225km/h.
42 cars will be built by Spark Racing Technology, a French company, with the help of Renault, who is the technical partner. The chassis, which is a carbon-fibre and aluminium monocoque, will be built by chassis maker Dallara, while McLaren Electronics Systems will provide the AC electric motor. Hewland will provide a sequential gearbox, and drivers will even get a push to pass switch boosting output by an additional 90bhp.
The minimum combined weight of car and driver will be 800kg, about 150kg more than F1 which is not bad. Williams Advanced Engineering will provide the batteries to power the motors and the battery unit will be called the RESS or Rechargeable Energy Storage System, and can weigh not more than 200kg.
F1 has clearly spoilt us by kick-starting a weekend of fun. Formula E, however will be a one day affair. One hour of practice followed by four laps of qualifying and an hour long race right after that. There is a good reason for this quick wrap-up. The races will be held on street circuits so the plan is to not disrupt proceeding in the host city.
Another twist in the tail is that each driver will pilot two cars, yes two! So when the driver pits, he will change cars and jump into the cockpit of a fully charged race car. 30 seconds is the minimum time allotted to each team for the car to be in the garage, so that they would get all the safety checks done before heading back into the race.
Ten teams will compete in the inaugural race with 10 rounds of racing across the globe. We will be following it closely but for now, here's what the calendar for the 2014-15 season looks like.
13th September 2014 - Beijing, China
18th October 2014 - Putrajaya, Malaysia
13th December 2014 - Punta Del Este, Uruguay
10th January 2015 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
14th February 2015 - Awaiting Confirmation
14th March 2015 - Miami, USA
4th April 2015 - Long Beach, USA
9th May 2015 - Monte Carlo, Monaco
30th May 2015 - Berlin, Germany
27th June 2015 - London, UK
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