Formula E

[Tazio]

I felt the car change ruined it a bit to be honest. It seems to have so much of an effect on the race, people losing 4 or 5 positions or gaining the same, which seems a bit unfair.

Ultimately it gave us the race we had at the end, but it still is a bit strange

I'm going to have to disagree with you mate. The pit change is actually very fair. With a pit lane speed limit, and a mandatory 50 second wait as a safety precaution to make sure you are properly strapped into your second car. The only variable is how fast you can get out of the first one and run about 2 meters to the second.

[Doc Austin]

I felt the car change ruined it a bit to be honest. It seems to have so much of an effect on the race, people losing 4 or 5 positions or gaining the same, which seems a bit unfair.

Ultimately it gave us the race we had at the end, but it still is a bit strange

I would much rather see them run two separate heat races.

[Doc Austin]

Doc, a ten place grid penalty isn't nothing.

Want to bet on whether or not Prost drives dirty again before the year is out? I say he does. 10 grid spots isn't going to deter him the next time a win or podium is on the line.

Today's drivers can't help themselves because they grew up watching Prost, Senna and Schumacher do it. Not only did Schumacher master the chop, block and swerve, but he was almost universally revered for his "hard but fair" driving. It's no wonder today's drivers think ramming another car is ok because their heroes made entire careers out of dirty driving.

It isn't enough in my opinion, but only because Prost is continuing to try and blame Nick for the crash, and refusing to take responsibility, as I stated earlier.

Schumacher came right out and admitted that he tried to crash Villeneuve and they threw him out of the championship for that year. I think it's only fair they throw Prost out of the 2014 championship before he kills someone.

Whether or not the FIA want this type of racing doesn't really seem to figure into the severity of the penalty that Prost has to serve for the next race AFAIC.

I don't really think that they want it. They just don't want to do anything to stop it. The Nico/Lewis accident has brought more attention to F1 than almost anything I can remember since Rubens had to give the Austrian GP to Schumacher. This sort of thing gets press and viewers, and the FIA doesn't want to interfere with that.

[Tazio]

I would much rather see them run two separate heat races.

I would too mate, but a 12 or 13 lap race on tight street circuits, doesn't give the guys in back much hope of scoring points for final finishing position. Of course you could reverse the order for the second heat. Tough call Doc!

[Tazio]

Want to bet on whether or not Prost drives dirty again before the year is out? I say he does. 10 grid spots isn't going to deter him the next time a win or podium is on the line.

Massage Doc! N. Prost already has a rep. for dirty driving, but this was the first race of the season. Although, as I stated, I don't think the penalty is severe enough, I have faith the next time will have serious consequences. As for Mike, and JV. that was not the first time Mike had been reprimanded by the FIA in F1, he already had a history. From here on out I have every confidence that Prost will be kept on a short leash.

[Doc Austin]

I would too mate, but a 12 or 13 lap race on tight street circuits, doesn't give the guys in back much hope of scoring points for final finishing position.

I think eventually they will figure out how to recharge the things quickly and then they can just race them. The whole changing cars thing is, well, phoney.

I'm not going to judge the series by one race, or even the first season or so, because the technology is evolving. I think it is a minor miracle they have gotten this far. I look forward to this being a great series, but they have to ditch the gimmicks like fan boost and car changes. I can't think of another race in history where they allowed mid race car changes, and certainly not planned changes.

If they want this to be relevant to road technology, they need to be able to "refuel" the cars the same way the rest of us refuel our road cars, or recharge our hybrids.

Of course you could reverse the order for the second heat.

That would be a lot of fun.

N. Prost already has a rep. for dirty driving, but this was the first race of the season.

I'm not surprised. He grew up watching his dad crash Senna on purpose and then Senna crash his dad on purpose. I'm sure he thinks that just how you go racing.

Although, as I stated, I don't think the penalty is severe enough, I have faith the next time will have serious consequences.

Getting someone killed would be a serious consequence.

Prost gets a 10 place grid penalty and Heidfield's team loses an entire car, or at least has a big repair bill. Certainly doesn't seem very fair, but fair is not what I expect from the FIA anyway.

As for Mike, and JV. that was not the first time Mike had been reprimanded by the FIA in F1, he already had a history.

And they still did essentially nothing considering he kept his wins and poles and points. He just lost second place in the championship, as if he even cared about second place. They should have let him keep his second place and make him sit out the next season, or at least the first three races. Why not? They banned Verstappen a couple of races in 94 for an accident that was not even his own fault!

From here on out I have every confidence that Prost will be kept on a short leash.

I hope you are right. Today's incident could have very easily been deadly.

[Tazio]

I think eventually they will figure out how to recharge the things quickly and then they can just race them. The whole changing cars thing is, well, phoney.

I'm not going to judge the series by one race, or even the first season or so, because the technology is evolving. I think it is a minor miracle they have gotten this far. I look forward to this being a great series, but they have to ditch the gimmicks like fan boost and car changes. I can't think of another race in history where they allowed mid race car changes, and certainly not planned changes.

If they want this to be relevant to road technology, they need to be able to "refuel" the cars the same way the rest of us refuel our road cars, or recharge our hybrids.

I agree with you here whole-heartedly, and F-E is in its teething stages. It's too bad that simply changing batteries isn't practical. Maybe they will add KERS in the not too distant future. As for recharging that is fine, but just like adding KERS it will be expensive. They will need a supplier to provide uniform charging systems that are powerful, fast, and safe, that will have to be monitored by race control. All the improvements we want to see have to be cost effective, which means the series has to succeed. I really hope it does, because unlike a lot of my associates that are in their 60's I love change, I'm not afraid of it, in fact I embrace it. Looking forward too riding my scooter up to LA for the US race.

[Tazio]

prost is an idiot, pure and simple

...................

[RS]

I agree with you here whole-heartedly, and F-E is in its teething stages. It's too bad that simply changing batteries isn't practical. Maybe they will add KERS in the not too distant future. As for recharging that is fine, but just like adding KERS it will be expensive.:

They already have regenerative braking.

[RS]

Watched it this morning, I thought the racing was pretty good!

Interesting how Heidfeld saved his juice to attack until the last lap, I think he could have had the win there...

Also interesting that the cars were able to follow each other closely without losing performance, unlike in F1.

Not keen on the sound trackside, but onboard where you can hear some revs from the motor and gear changes it's not so bad.

Still not keen on that car change mid race, surely they can get the things to last one race distance with time?

Maybe it would be better long term to have all the teams share the chassis but develop their own powertrains? I appreciate this would escalate costs but it would also force on the development of electric vehicles and give the engineers a real chance to flex their brain power.