January 2021 edi�on #11 ALL GOOD STORIES COMETOAN END Allan McNish goes into detail about the reasonings for Audi’s departure. +We catch up with NIO 333’S Christian Silk about their hopes for season seven. WE PREVIEW THE 2021 DIRIYAH E-PRIX IF YOU ENJOY OUR FORMULA E CONTENT THEN FEELFREE TO SUPPORT US AT: https://www.patreon.com/join/formulaezone? Formula E Zone January 2021 2 CONTENTS JANUARY 2021 SECTION 1 SECTION 2 4 EDITOR’S LETTER 20 NIO 333’S ROAD TO RECOVERY MOMENTS 10 Chris�an Silk 6 THE NEWS DESK Formula E’s best pictures 24 DIRIYAH 2021 PREVIEW 10 THE NEWS DESK All the latest news from the world of Formula E 12 ALL GOOD STORIES COME TOANEND Allan Mcnish 12 ALL GOOD STORIES COME 18 STAT ATTACK TO AN END 20 NIO 333’S ROAD TO RECOVERY Formula E Zone January 2021 3 Formula E Zone January 2021 4 WE WILL FINALLY GET THE SEASON UNDERWAY Hello, and welcome to the January edi�on of the Formula E Zone Magazine. I hope you have had a great start to the new year. We should have already seen the first two races of the season in San�ago, but unfortunately the COVID-19 Pandemic has struck again and put Formula E's seventh season into disarray. Currently, we look set to be moving away from street circuits and move towards tradi�onal racing circuits for this season. This is the right move for Formula E at the moment as a temporary measure, but it will be interes�ng to see if this effects the EDITOR DNA of Formula E by racing on tradi�onal circuits in the future, rather than solely using city centre street tracks. JACK GIORDMAINA In other news, McLaren have come forward and signed an op�on to Jack co-founded Formula E Zone back enter the series for the first season of the Gen 3 era at the end of 2022. in 2014. He studied Sports Journalism This is the good news story which Formula E needs a�er the shock exits at the University of East London, and of Audi and BMW; both German manufactures will leave the series at the has worked in a variety of motorsport end of the 2021 season. However, for McLaren there are s�ll a few series such as Moto GP and Bri�sh obstacles in the way which might convince them not to take up their Speedway. op�on. At the present moment there is no space for the Bri�sh manufacturer to join the series due to Andre� and Abt holding the Contributors vacant spots le� by BMW and Audi. You would assume the Abt would step out of the way to allow McLaren in, but Hans Jürgen Abt has expressed interest in con�nuing in the series under the Abt Sportsline EDWARD HUNTER name. Sub-editor Therefore, it makes sense that we talk to the current Audi team principal in this edi�on of the Formula E Zone Magazine. We catch up When he isn’t edi�ng videos or with Audi's Allan McNish to discuss how the team has progressed since podcasts, Edward serves as the he took charge in season four and we look at the reasons why the magazine's news and features German manufacturer is leaving at the end of this season. We also catch editor. up with NIO 333 team principal Chris�an Silk. The Chinese team have become a bona fide manufacturer for season seven in a bid to change their fortunes a�er two difficult seasons at the back of the grid. Will they JACK PICKERING be able to become a points scoring force once more? Well, stranger Reporter miracles have happened in Formula E, so you never know. Jack “Picko” Pickering is a second year Sports Journalism student who has been an avid Motorsport I hope you enjoy our magazine, fan since he was three and has been working towards a career in Jack Giordmaina Journalism since the age of 12. JASMINE BUTLER Jasmine Butler is currently studying Sports Journalism at the University of East London. She has a passion for motorsports and has covered other sports such as Olympic Boxing qualifiers for the 2020 games ABBEY CONROY Reporter Abbey is currently in her final year of studying Sports Journalism at the University of East London. She has covered a wide range of sports and developed a passion for Formula E. Formula E Zone January 2021 5 MOMENTS A GREAT DAY Alexander Sims started both Diriayh E-Prix’s from pole posi�on and went on to win the Sunday race. Date: 23.11.19 Picture: FIA Formula E MOMENTS DEFENDING Nyck De Vries in his Mercedes defending the inside line against Sam Bird who won the opening round of the championship in Diriyah in 2019. Date: 23.11.19 Picture: FIA Formula E THE NEWS DESK McLAREN SIGNS ‘OPTION TO ENTER’ FORMULA E FOR GEN3 McLaren Racing has signed an agreement with Formula "With some of the most famous names in motorsport E that gives the ou�it the op�on to join the championship already compe�ng in Formula E, we are thrilled that for the Gen3 era beginning in 2022. McLaren Racing has decided to examine a poten�al entry The deal does not guarantee absolutely that McLaren to Formula E." will race in the series, but it does formally assure the McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said last month that eight-�me Formula 1 constructors' champion of an entry the team was evalua�ng an entry into FE for the Gen3 on the grid. regula�ons, which will be headlined by a 120kg car weight This follows the December announcements that both reduc�on and a power boost up to 350kW - equivalent to Audi and BMW will exit FE at the end of the forthcoming 470bhp. 2021 season, freeing up two vacancies from the 12-team In recent years, the Woking-based team has increased field. its racing involvement beyond F1, including two The agreement also follows the precedent of Mercedes, Indianapolis 500 entries for Fernando Alonso before which secured an op�on to join FE in October 2016 ahead partnering Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for a full- of the 2018-19 campaign - although the HWA Racelab �me programme that commenced in 2020. concern that contested FE for one season did act as a It is also interested in the World Endurance precursor to the manufacturer's full-�me a�ack. Championship and IMSA SportCar's nascent LMDh FE CEO Jamie Reigle said : "It's a vote of confidence in category. the championship. Brown said: "We've been closely observing Formula E "They're going to do some work and evalua�on on that for some �me and monitoring the series' progress and over the coming months and then make a decision. future direc�on. "If we can go from the op�on stage to full confirma�on, "The opportunity to take an op�on on an entry and the I think that would be very exci�ng. comple�on of the McLaren Applied supplier contract with FE co-founder and chairman Alejandro Agag said: the FIA at the end of Gen2, gives us the necessary �me to "McLaren Racing securing an op�on to join the Formula E decide if Formula E is right for McLaren as a future grid from Gen3 is testament to the ongoing impact of our compe��on pla�orm." sport. Formula E Zone January 2021 10 SANTIAGO SET TO RETURN ON JUNE 5TH Formula E is set to reinstate the San�ago E-Prix for early June, according to a le�er sent out by the president of the Chilean motorsport federa�on. In December, the races in the Chilean capital city were postponed from the revised 16-17 January slot, owing to the travel restric�ons enforced by the na�onal government following the detec�on of the rapidly spreading variant of COVID detected in the UK. A statement from FE said that the championship was "working with the city to finalise dates on which to stage the races later in Q1 of 2021." However, it now appears that a two-race event in San�ago will be reinstated for 5-6 June. This follows a le�er sent out by Mauricio Melo Avaria, the president and director of the Chilean federa�on for motorsport, who stated the race would take place on the first weekend of June. MANUFACTURERS LOSE TESTING DAYS IN GEN 3 Formula E will significantly �ghten its private tes�ng rules for manufacturers when the Gen3 technical era begins next year. Just 10 days of running are now available for teams to prepare with their all-new cars and new tyre supplier Hankook for the 2022/23 campaign, down from 13 at present. This move has been mooted since early 2020 and was finally confirmed when further details of the Gen3 spor�ng and technical regula�ons emerged this week. In the current rules manufacturers are granted six extra days if they supply a customer with a powertrain. The new registra�on procedures now detail an extra eight days of tes�ng capability for manufacturers who do deals with customers for 2022 and beyond. However the condi�ons have been changed to ensure half of that �me (four days) is given over to the customer team, rather than the manufacturer being able to use all the alloca�on as it pleases. This means that manufacturers will get a maximum total of five fewer days of tes�ng in Gen3 than they presently do with the Gen2 cars.