ABB Formula E has revealed its new electric racer which the series will use in its 2018-19 season, the fifth in the burgeoning all-electric championship’s existence.

The new car – called the Gen2 – sports a dramatic contemporary look in the digital images released by Formula E, with a wider nose, a single-plane front wing and a mandatory Halo cockpit safety device.

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While Spark Racing Technologies has been retained as the car’s manufacturer, McLaren Applied Technologies won the tender to supply the car’s new battery system which sees its capacity increase from 28kWh to 54kWh.

The key change will enable drivers to complete a full race distance in the next season and do away with the mandatory mid-race car swap.

• Formula E ‘will be the only motorsport’ by 2040 – Agag

“This car represents the future of racing,” said Formula E Founder and CEO Alejandro Agag.

“When we started Formula E, our goal was to break the mould and challenge the status quo – bringing a revolution to motorsport. This next generation car represents that revolution.”

With the covers coming off the physical car at its global debut on March 6 2018 at the Geneva motor show, the Gen2 Formula E car is the first vehicle to have been designed by the FIA – the governing body of motorsport.

“I’m very proud that the FIA has been at the forefront of this car’s development, it’s something new for the Federation, and the project has been a huge success,” said the organisation’s President Jean Todt.

The electric series’ fourth round will take place this weekend in Santiago, Chile. This year’s championship includes 12 rounds with the series concluding its campaign in New York mid-July.

Check out the video presentation of Formula E’s Gen2 racer.

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Force India believes that the FIA’s decision to implement the Halo cockpit protection device has cost them around a million dollars in development.

Technical director Andrew Green said that the introduction of the Halo meant that they couldn’t just evolve last year’s chassis. Instead, they had to go back to the drawing board to solve issues it caused.

“It was a huge challenge,” Green told reporters at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Monday. “For a team like us it was massive.

“Expense-wise it’s huge because we had to do a new chassis,” he pointed out. “You’re looking at hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to put the Halo on the car.”

The team had already invested a considerable amount with last year’s aerodynamic and tyre regulation updates. It hadn’t expected another major upgrade just 12 months later.

“We wouldn’t have anticipated doing a new chassis this year given the amount of changes we made last year,” Green confirmed. “For a team like us, we’d try to get two years out of the chassis if possible.”

The problem was exacerbated by the late notice of the decision. The FIA only decided to make the Halo mandatory during last year’s summer hiatus. Teams were already a long way down the road developing their 2018 cars.

“It was late summer, autumn time before we actually had a specification of Halo to put on the car,” explained Green. “Even then we didn’t know what the homologation test was going to be.

• Still pretty in pink – Force India unveils its VJM11

“To try and design the chassis, not knowing what was going to be bolted to it and what loads would be inflicted on it was tough.

“We knew we were going to end up with one shot to get it right and if we’d’ve failed we wouldn’t be sitting here now,” he added. “We’d be left with a chassis – and lots of bits!

“It was a big challenge and the architecture of the car was changing right up until the last minute,” he said. “It’s a commendable effort by the team to do the job, pass first time and get us here.”

The aerodynamic impact of the Halo on the car means the team will still be working on it for weeks to come.

“[The Halo] is not designed to be an aerodynamic device. It doesn’t do us any favours in that department.

“It still requires a lot of work to mitigate the issues that it causes,” Green said. “We’re still actively working on that. We won’t have a solution until we get to Melbourne.

“I’m confident we’ll have it under control by then,” he insisted. “We’re confident the parts we’re bringing to the car will sort it out.”

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Mercedes has yet to officially unveil its new W09 charger, but before the formal presentations begin Valtteri Bottas took to the track at Silverstone for a shakedown run.

Visible details are scarce for now but one notes the half-developed fin on the Merc’s engine cover, a design a bit more prominent than what we’ve seen up to now from Williams, Haas or Renault.

At first glance, the W09 looks like a straightforward evolution of its predecessor, the championship-winning W08, an impression confirmed by team boss Toto Wolff.

• Bottas unaffected by Halo in race simulation test

“We’ve tried to stay true to our design philosophy and develop an already solid base,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“We hope we have kept the good character traits of the diva,” he said.

“We all like divas, but sometimes she was a bit difficult to understand and this is the area where we worked the most, trying to understand and preserve the speed in the car and find more driveability.

“Because the regulations have stayed stable, there is not a lot of difference. The most visible change is aerodynamic and how tight the packaging is of the car and how closed up the bodywork is.”

Earlier this year, Wolff expressed his negative view on the aesthetics of the mandatory Halo cockpit safety device. He hasn’t changed his mind since but does hope the protective element will evolve.

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“I’m not impressed with the whole thing and if you give me a chainsaw I would take it off!’ joked the Austrian.

“We need to look after driver safety but what we have implemented is aesthetically not appealing. We need to tackle that and come up with something that looks better.” 

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The FIA has confirmed that many of 2018 Grand Prix races will have new start times. It’s he biggest shake-up in the Formula 1 schedule for decades.

Up to now, all events have started on the hour. But the sport’s new owners have bowed to requests from TV broadcasters to offset the time for lights out by ten minutes.

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Many broadcasters start their coverage on the hour, making the traditional start time a problem for schedulers. Now they will have time to introduce their coverage, set the scene and run an advertising break.

“Television viewers will be brought closer to the teams and the drivers,” said the FIA in a joint statement with FOM. “[They will] fully enjoy the spectacle offered just before the red lights go out.

In addition, there will be an across-the-board change to start times for practice sessions, qualifying and races in Europe.

FP1 will move from 10am to 11am, FP2 from 2pm to 3pm, and FP3 from 11am to midday local time. Qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon at 3pm.

• Later Grand Prix start times on the agenda for 2018

Historically, the races themselves have started at 2pm local time in Europe. That will now be pushed back by an hour on top of the ten minute internal.

“Research has indicated that a wider TV audience is reachable later in the afternoons,” said the FIA. “Especially in the summer months.

“Consequently, it has been decided to move the schedule of every session back by one hour across the whole weekend for each of the [European-based] Grands Prix.”

There is also a one-off change to the start time of the French Grand Prix. The race will now start at 4.10pm local time, an extra hour later than the other Europe events.

It’s to ensure that the race doesn’t clash with a crucial FIF World Cup match.

There are other local changes to allow for differing sunset times and attract a wider attendance to individual events.

Singapore remains a full night race, starting at 8:10pm local time. The Bahrain race will start 13 minutes after sunset, rather than racing under the setting sun.

Practice for the Monaco Grand Prix remains on a Thursday.

2018 session times (all local)

Event
FP1
FP2
FP3
Qualifying
Race

Australia
12:00-13:30
16:00-17:30
14:00-15:00
17:00-18:00
16:10

Bahrain
14:00-15:30
18:00-19:30
15:00-16-00
18:00-19:00
18:10

China
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
11:00-12:00
14:00-15:00
14:10

Azerbaijan
13:00-14:30
17:00-18:30
14:00-15:00
17:00-18:00
16:10

Spain
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Monaco *
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Canada
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
11:00-12:00
14:00-15:00
14:10

France
12:00-13:30
16:00-17:30
13:00-14:00
16:00-17:00
16:10

Austria
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Great Britain
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
11:00-12:00
14:00-15:00
14:10

Germany
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Hungary
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Belgium
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Italy
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Singapore
16:30-18:00
20:30-22:00
18:00-19:00
21:00-22:00
20:10

Russia
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
14:10

Japan
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
14:10

United States
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
13:00-14:00
16:00-17:00
13:10

Mexico
10:00-11:30
14:00-15:30
10:00-11:00
13:00-14:00
13:10

Brazil
11:00-12:30
15:00-16:30
12:00-13:00
15:00-16:00
15:10

Abu Dhabi
13:00-14:30
17:00-18:30
14:00-15:00
17:00-18:00
17:10

* FP1 and 2 on Thursday

Calls to ban F1’s ‘party modes’, mainly centered around Mercedes’ use of extra power in qualifying, have been dismissed for now by FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have voiced their criticism of Mercedes’ ability to dial in at will an extra boost of horse power in qualifying, to produce a marginal but impacting advantage.

Lewis Hamilton’s impressive performance in the Saturday afternoon session in Melbourne highlighted once again the Silver Arrows squad’s edge, prompting Red Bull to call for restrictions on special engine modes

Horner has suggested teams qualify and race with identical engine settings while Red bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko has urged the F1 and the sport’s governing body to intervene to enforce parity among engine manufacturers.

Kill the party, and get rid of qualifying engine modes – Horner

However, the FIA currently has no intention of taking action to police special engine modes, which Whiting insists are not clearly defined by the technical regulations.

“Some teams were hinting that they might not be getting equal power units,” the FIA race director told Motorsport.com.

“Whatever party mode is, I’ve not seen it written in any technical documents!

“Put it like this. If Mercedes customers come to us and say, ‘We’ve asked for party mode and we’re not getting it,’ then we might have something to say about it.”

Furthermore, Whiting doubted any imposed restrictions would actually solve the issue given the engineering complexity of F1’s power units and the various modes which are exploited.

“There are all sorts of modes on these engines, and we know full well that they change at various times during the race,” he said.

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Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he’s still struggling to get comfortable with the new 2018 Ferrari.

That’s despite his dramatic win over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Australian Grand Prix season opener last weekend in Melbourne.

“I’m not yet exactly there with the car,” he said this week. “And if I don’t feel what I need to feel then it’s a bit tricky.”

Vettel had been running in third place early in the race and admitted that he’d been falling back from the leaders during the opening phase.

“Towards the end of that first stint I lost a little bit the connection to Lewis and Kimi ahead. I was struggling a little bit with the tyres,” he said. “Obviously I was praying for a safety car.”

And a safety car – or a virtual one at least – was what he got when one of the Haas cars stopped on track.

Both Hamilton and his own team mate Kimi Raikkonen had already made their pit stops. However Vettel was now able to do so under VSC conditions, and it put him into the lead of the race.

If it hadn’t been for that turn of events, Vettel acknowledged that third place might have been the best he could have done.

• Vettel admits he ‘got lucky’ to grab Melbourne win

“I think the car has huge potential but yeah, I’m still struggling a little bit,” he admitted afterwards.

“I think if we also compare to where we’re still a bit weak, it’s where I also feel that the car is not yet there.

“What am I missing? When you talk about something that you miss as a driver, the car doesn’t respond the way you like and it’s still sliding in places you don’t want it to slide.

“I want the car to be spot on when I hit brakes and turn in,” he continued. “In that window, I’m not yet happy, so it’s always sort-of a compromise.

“Of course, it’s our job to drive around problems that we have,” he conceded. “But if I could chose, I would like it a bit different.

“It’s not a big drama,” he insisted. “I think we can live with it. But I feel also if we get on top of that then you feel more confident.

“That’s exactly where it makes a difference: if then then have the confidence and you trust the car, you don’t think for a second, you just go out and do it.

“At the moment, it just feels a bit too conscious. So, let’s hope I get to think less, and we need to think less in the next races.

“A track like [Albert Park], when you have confidence it makes a big difference,” adding that gusty winds had also been a factor on Sunday.

“You always try to push but equally to try to be a bit safe – because you don’t want to throw it away,” he said.

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Tariq Aziz, former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq has passed away. Twelve years of suffering in Iraqi jails have ended and he can finally rest in peace.

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Unwell, deprived of adequate medical help and abandoned by the outside world, he was held hostage by Iraqi governments following the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US and the UK governments in 2003. Tariq Aziz was needed by a struggling authority as a symbol of victory after having inherited a destroyed nation following years of sanctions and a failed occupation.

It does not matter to us that our words of sadness and respect for Tariq Aziz – a leader during many dark days of his country – will be used by some to discredit us for alleged support of a dictatorial regime.

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