The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

As of today, I've given up on my Formula E hiatus, given in and caught up on all the races from this season. If I were to give a nomination for Reject of the Year before the season's over---and all signs are pointing that I'll give him the number 1 spot---it would be for Nico Prost. Man he's been doing badly this season.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by madmark1974 »

Susie Wolff named team boss for Venturi, starting immediately :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/44619410

Apparently, "This is not linked to Mercedes and Toto", but I'm guessing getting a friendly face in the series a year before the Mercedes works team enters isn't going to do any harm ...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

Yes, I'm absolutely sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she is married to the head of the Mercedes Formula 1 team. Only a cynic would think otherwise :roll:
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

Well the final round of the fourth Formula E season has passed us, and I was hoping somebody else would post before I make my judgments. I'll probably get on my high horse and do my own Reject of the Year podium for this season, but anyway...

I'm shocked that Vergne didn't get a penalty for jumping the start. To me he clearly did. Not only did they not penalise Vergne, but they did penalise his teammate for the exact same thing. Formula E has had a bunch of very dodgy calls in its short history that always seem to be related to front-running cars (especially with regards to disqualifying certain front-runners) but this seemed outrageous to me that Vergne didn't get a penalty for the exact same infringement as Lotterer. Admittedly Lotterer committed the same infringement but more so, but to me that doesn't matter. Same crime, same punishment. Rant over.


Well the results paint an interesting picture overall. Nice to see di Grassi claim a couple of wins at the end, though it would have been nice to see Buemi in the same position. I've been impressed by Abt as well for the first time, though Prost is probably Reject of the Year. Lotterer wasn't nearly as strong as I was hoping, and I have no idea what happened to the form of the Mahindra drivers or chassis.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by madmark1974 »

With the first concepts appearing for the Season 5 car, I thought I'd check up on what's going on with Formula E.

Details of Season 5 changes are listed here :

http://info.fiaformulae.com/season-5-calendar/

I knew the cars would be able to do a whole race distance, but I don't remember hearing that the races would be run over a time limit.

And there's a new DRS-style power boost in addition to the Fan Boost. Personally I don't think the series needs that, as part of the fun has been watching the cars running closely without being able to just breeze past each other ...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Samster »

Anyone else really not like the gen 2 car. Looks like they have tried way too hard to appear futuristic. :facepalm:
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Aguvazk »

Samster wrote:Anyone else really not like the gen 2 car. Looks like they have tried way too hard to appear futuristic. :facepalm:


I also not like the car, especially all around the tires... I like to see the tire alone, without such aero appendixs...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Turbogirl »

Samster wrote:Anyone else really not like the gen 2 car. Looks like they have tried way too hard to appear futuristic. :facepalm:

Futuristic? As in 2008/09 LMP style futuristic? I think the designer in charge just admitted his (her?) creative bankruptcy...

Check these out. Look awfully similiar, don't they?
https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/img/The ... 06212.html
https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/img/Cre ... 28873.html
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Salamander »

I, for one, love the look of the new cars and can't see a single thing wrong with them. Genuinely.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by WaffleCat »

I personally don't mind the look of the new cars, but then again I'm a crazy fan of Formula E, so what do I know ¯\_(O_o)_/¯. But honestly, the look of the cars just looks like the future, and I love the extra big diffuser to make up for the lack of rear wing.

Only thing I don't really like about Season 5 is the extra 'hyperboost' bit of track. It makes overtaking feel artificial, which Formula E does not have any need for, given their amazing battles already without fanboost. While I hope the 'limited use' bit of it makes it feel like a push-to-pass that I may be kinda okay with, it's still a bit unnecessary IMO.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Turbogirl »

Salamander wrote:I, for one, love the look of the new cars and can't see a single thing wrong with them. Genuinely.

WaffleCat wrote:I personally don't mind the look of the new cars, but then again I'm a crazy fan of Formula E, so what do I know ¯\_(O_o)_/¯. But honestly, the look of the cars just looks like the future, and I love the extra big diffuser to make up for the lack of rear wing.

Well, let's face it: Whether one loves or hates the new design, it's here to stay, and in a few rounds nobody will care anymore as long as the racing is exciting. :)
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Ataxia »

WaffleCat wrote:Only thing I don't really like about Season 5 is the extra 'hyperboost' bit of track. It makes overtaking feel artificial, which Formula E does not have any need for, given their amazing battles already without fanboost. While I hope the 'limited use' bit of it makes it feel like a push-to-pass that I may be kinda okay with, it's still a bit unnecessary IMO.


I like it, for the reason that it challenges what racing is. Motorsport has been defined as a very certain thing, a competition of cars going head-to-head. Formula E comes in, changes the game with electric cars and challenges the common perception of big, loud, expensive cars. Now it's coming in and adding elements of strategy with something new. To me, things like mandatory pitstops are just as artificial, but we have them to spice things up. Hyperboost does the same, it's just not hiding behind a facade to do so.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by mario »

Samster wrote:Anyone else really not like the gen 2 car. Looks like they have tried way too hard to appear futuristic. :facepalm:

Personally, I would have to agree with you there too - it is true that part of the design brief was to make the cars look different to other racing series because they wanted to make it visually distinct, and there are some aspects of the design where it looks like making the car "look good" instead

The small winglets over the wings are one, as when a similar concept - the Central Downwash Generating wings - were proposed in the early 2000s as a possible option for F1. Ducarouge was commissioned to undertake wind tunnel testing, and it seems he found that the concept was pretty flawed in just about every respect - efficiency, impact on trailing cars and so on - that meant the concept was abandoned pretty quickly.

Ataxia wrote:
WaffleCat wrote:Only thing I don't really like about Season 5 is the extra 'hyperboost' bit of track. It makes overtaking feel artificial, which Formula E does not have any need for, given their amazing battles already without fanboost. While I hope the 'limited use' bit of it makes it feel like a push-to-pass that I may be kinda okay with, it's still a bit unnecessary IMO.


I like it, for the reason that it challenges what racing is. Motorsport has been defined as a very certain thing, a competition of cars going head-to-head. Formula E comes in, changes the game with electric cars and challenges the common perception of big, loud, expensive cars. Now it's coming in and adding elements of strategy with something new. To me, things like mandatory pitstops are just as artificial, but we have them to spice things up. Hyperboost does the same, it's just not hiding behind a facade to do so.

As an aside, one of the more serious complaints that has been raised in the past is whether the Fanboost system is being abused, even if there are meant to be systems in place to check if cheating is taking place.

Whilst Daniel Abt is one of the main beneficiaries of the Fanboost system, he has publicly questioned whether the system is open to abuse and whether there are enough checks in place to prevent unscrupulous individuals from rigging the system by using fake social media accounts - di Grassi has also raised complaints in the past about whether the Fanboost system was being rigged.

Even Agag has accepted that there are potential flaws - even if a team were not to cheat, the system still disproportionately favours larger teams that can afford to spend more on marketing, especially those manufacturer teams which can set up dedicated PR efforts (as well as encouraging their own staff to vote for their own drivers).

I think that the idea of hyperboost will be accepted, so long as the effect isn't too powerful - the more influential it is, the more likely it will be that there will be some sort of controversy that ends up causing a major backlash.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

mario wrote:As an aside, one of the more serious complaints that has been raised in the past is whether the Fanboost system is being abused, even if there are meant to be systems in place to check if cheating is taking place.

Whilst Daniel Abt is one of the main beneficiaries of the Fanboost system, he has publicly questioned whether the system is open to abuse and whether there are enough checks in place to prevent unscrupulous individuals from rigging the system by using fake social media accounts - di Grassi has also raised complaints in the past about whether the Fanboost system was being rigged.

Even Agag has accepted that there are potential flaws - even if a team were not to cheat, the system still disproportionately favours larger teams that can afford to spend more on marketing, especially those manufacturer teams which can set up dedicated PR efforts (as well as encouraging their own staff to vote for their own drivers).


Call me Nostradamus...
dinizintheoven, 30 July 2017 wrote:I think there needs to be an investigation into Fan Boost as well. The top two drivers (Buemi & Di Grassi) have been given Fan Boost at every race they've competed in, and Daniel Abt has had it at eight races out of 11 so far. At the risk of repeating myself, call me a cynic if you must, but that looks like Renault e.dams and Abt Schaeffler (or possibly the whole of Renault and Audi) are getting all their employees to vote en masse and putting every other driver out of contention at the vast majority of races. That said, Nicolas Prost has never had a single Fan Boost in three seasons, and I wouldn't expect him to get one today either.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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mario wrote:As an aside, one of the more serious complaints that has been raised in the past is whether the Fanboost system is being abused, even if there are meant to be systems in place to check if cheating is taking place.

Even Agag has accepted that there are potential flaws - even if a team were not to cheat, the system still disproportionately favours larger teams that can afford to spend more on marketing, especially those manufacturer teams which can set up dedicated PR efforts (as well as encouraging their own staff to vote for their own drivers).

Nostradamus wrote:I think there needs to be an investigation into Fan Boost as well. The top two drivers (Buemi & Di Grassi) have been given Fan Boost at every race they've competed in, and Daniel Abt has had it at eight races out of 11 so far. At the risk of repeating myself, call me a cynic if you must, but that looks like Renault e.dams and Abt Schaeffler (or possibly the whole of Renault and Audi) are getting all their employees to vote en masse and putting every other driver out of contention at the vast majority of races. That said, Nicolas Prost has never had a single Fan Boost in three seasons, and I wouldn't expect him to get one today either.

While I see Ataxia's point that a self-declared "different" series that challenges racing as we know it (and was laughed off at first for exactly that) shouldn't fear to tread new grounds when it comes to finding ways on how to enhance the show, I'm still unsure whether the fanboost system is a good one or not.

I'm a casual Formula E viewer, so I miss a lot of races (sometimes on purpose). But when I first heard about the fanboost system I thought to myself that this is all too similar to a talent show on TV. The votes on there also seem to be rigged everytime. And that's fine. But for a motorsport series? I mean, if they'd let us, we would storm the track and give our favourite driver(s) a push, if it would help them go faster. But that doesn't mean we should be allowed to do so...

Yet, artificially rigging a series for the purpose of the show is a common thing. Pitstops, tyre compounds, homologations, driver changes, car changes, DRS, you name it - it's been done at least once in motorsport history. And the fans always tend to moan about that because no one really likes it, yet watching an utter domination by a single driver year after year is also nothing anyone would want to see.

Formula E has so far given us some pretty solid and entertaining racing. They already have an artificial way to enhance the show (car changes), so maybe they should drop the fanboost entirely. Maybe bring it back in a few years when technology has evolved far enough to guarantee the system to be at least 90% less flawed?
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

I've been agreeing with the fanboost conspiracy sentiment ever since Season 1 personally. I mean, were people really voting for Nelson Piquet Jr., maybe the most derided driver of his time in Formula 1, to win races? Time has passed, but really what did Piquet Jr. do to deserve six out of eleven fanboosts in Season 1? Where the hell is his grand support base?
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by CarloSpace »

For me personally FanBoost is the single biggest reason I'm not watching Formula E. It's a huge turn-off that some people get advantage in the race because they are popular. What does that have to do with anything? I agree that it has been clear from the start that the system can and will be rigged in one way or another. Ditch the stupid boost-thingy and I'd have a lot more interest to follow the races. I do, however, acknowledge that the FanBoost doesn't have a lot of influence in the actual results but I can't help but feel turned off by it anyway.

I for one would turn Formula E into a true testing ground for manufacturers to showcase the cutting edge battery and electric motor technology. One-make series is of course good for racing and caters for the wide audience but I personally enjoy more the kind of series where technological advancements play larger role - like LMP a couple of years ago or F1 when testing, engine development etc. were more loosely regulated.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Turbogirl wrote:
mario wrote:As an aside, one of the more serious complaints that has been raised in the past is whether the Fanboost system is being abused, even if there are meant to be systems in place to check if cheating is taking place.

Even Agag has accepted that there are potential flaws - even if a team were not to cheat, the system still disproportionately favours larger teams that can afford to spend more on marketing, especially those manufacturer teams which can set up dedicated PR efforts (as well as encouraging their own staff to vote for their own drivers).

Nostradamus wrote:I think there needs to be an investigation into Fan Boost as well. The top two drivers (Buemi & Di Grassi) have been given Fan Boost at every race they've competed in, and Daniel Abt has had it at eight races out of 11 so far. At the risk of repeating myself, call me a cynic if you must, but that looks like Renault e.dams and Abt Schaeffler (or possibly the whole of Renault and Audi) are getting all their employees to vote en masse and putting every other driver out of contention at the vast majority of races. That said, Nicolas Prost has never had a single Fan Boost in three seasons, and I wouldn't expect him to get one today either.

While I see Ataxia's point that a self-declared "different" series that challenges racing as we know it (and was laughed off at first for exactly that) shouldn't fear to tread new grounds when it comes to finding ways on how to enhance the show, I'm still unsure whether the fanboost system is a good one or not.

I'm a casual Formula E viewer, so I miss a lot of races (sometimes on purpose). But when I first heard about the fanboost system I thought to myself that this is all too similar to a talent show on TV. The votes on there also seem to be rigged everytime. And that's fine. But for a motorsport series? I mean, if they'd let us, we would storm the track and give our favourite driver(s) a push, if it would help them go faster. But that doesn't mean we should be allowed to do so...

Yet, artificially rigging a series for the purpose of the show is a common thing. Pitstops, tyre compounds, homologations, driver changes, car changes, DRS, you name it - it's been done at least once in motorsport history. And the fans always tend to moan about that because no one really likes it, yet watching an utter domination by a single driver year after year is also nothing anyone would want to see.

Formula E has so far given us some pretty solid and entertaining racing. They already have an artificial way to enhance the show (car changes), so maybe they should drop the fanboost entirely. Maybe bring it back in a few years when technology has evolved far enough to guarantee the system to be at least 90% less flawed?

I guess that one reason why the idea of Fanboost is something that does still sit poorly with some is the fact that it is ultimately a factor that is largely uncontrollable and not really transparent.

It is certainly true that factors such as pitstop requirements, homologation rules, tyre rules and so forth are methods that have been introduced over the years to artificially shake things up, but those have tended to be more acceptable because the teams and drivers still ultimately have control over those elements - teams and drivers can choose their strategies and whether to do less or more pitstops, a driver can adjust his driving style to a higher wearing tyre or a team can adjust their suspension layout to reduce the amount of heat input into a tyre, a team can choose to trade off when they homologate a part against the risk of premature failure and so on.

However, as CarloSpace notes, an element like Fanboost is something that really puts the emphasis on popularity over other factors, which feels a bit of an anathema when the purpose of the competition is meant to be a test of skill, both that of the driver and of their team. It also, in some ways, makes things less transparent, since by leaving it to the vox populi, it gives power to those who can shape and control the vox populi, such as those who can rely on a captive audience to vote in a particular way or those who can exercise control over the means of communication to a mass audience.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Turbogirl »

mario wrote:(...)
However, as CarloSpace notes, an element like Fanboost is something that really puts the emphasis on popularity over other factors, which feels a bit of an anathema when the purpose of the competition is meant to be a test of skill, both that of the driver and of their team. It also, in some ways, makes things less transparent, since by leaving it to the vox populi, it gives power to those who can shape and control the vox populi, such as those who can rely on a captive audience to vote in a particular way or those who can exercise control over the means of communication to a mass audience.

I agree. The term "popularity contest" pretty much sums this up. Still, one has to admire their guts for even trying something like this, no matter how terrible the idea is in the end.

Though one question remains: Who actually votes for Piquet jr.? And do they do it intentionally, just to troll us? ;)
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by madmark1974 »

Turbogirl wrote: Though one question remains: Who actually votes for Piquet jr.? And do they do it intentionally, just to troll us? ;)


I seem to remember, back in Season 1, there was one race where Piquet Jr. said something along the lines of "Lucas Di Grassi is no competition to me, I've never really raced against him properly as throughout his whole career he has been down the field behind me" ... And still won the Fanboost vote!

Maybe people are confusing FE with WWE ... :vergne:
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Slightly baffling press release on the Formula E website - they don't believe in making things crystal clear - saying that Mediaset will be showing the races live next year. Is that in the UK or in Europe? Instead of C5? (I believe Eurosport will still have live coverage)

And most important question - who the hell are they? Streaming only I assume.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Barbazza wrote:Slightly baffling press release on the Formula E website - they don't believe in making things crystal clear - saying that Mediaset will be showing the races live next year. Is that in the UK or in Europe? Instead of C5? (I believe Eurosport will still have live coverage)

And most important question - who the hell are they? Streaming only I assume.

Not quite. My Google-Fu tells me they are an Italian TV Network owned by Berlusconi, if this is the same Mediaset the Formula E website is talking about. English Wikipedia has this to say: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediaset

Seeing that they're only available in Italy, Spain, and various other countries surrounding Italy, I believe that Eurosport still has coverage, but don't quote me on that. ;)
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Barbazza wrote:Slightly baffling press release on the Formula E website - they don't believe in making things crystal clear - saying that Mediaset will be showing the races live next year. Is that in the UK or in Europe? Instead of C5? (I believe Eurosport will still have live coverage)

And most important question - who the hell are they? Streaming only I assume.


Last I heard, Channel 4 may be taking over the coverage - bear in mind this is nearly two months ago though ...

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2018/08/formula-e-set-to-usurp-formula-1-in-channel-4-uk-tv-deal/
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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madmark1974 wrote:
Barbazza wrote:Slightly baffling press release on the Formula E website - they don't believe in making things crystal clear - saying that Mediaset will be showing the races live next year. Is that in the UK or in Europe? Instead of C5? (I believe Eurosport will still have live coverage)

And most important question - who the hell are they? Streaming only I assume.


Last I heard, Channel 4 may be taking over the coverage - bear in mind this is nearly two months ago though ...

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2018/08/formula-e-set-to-usurp-formula-1-in-channel-4-uk-tv-deal/

So in five seasons, it will already have jumped from ITV4 to C5 to C4 (or Media set or whoever). Great way to maintain a loyal fan base... :roll:
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by mario »

Turbogirl wrote:
mario wrote:(...)
However, as CarloSpace notes, an element like Fanboost is something that really puts the emphasis on popularity over other factors, which feels a bit of an anathema when the purpose of the competition is meant to be a test of skill, both that of the driver and of their team. It also, in some ways, makes things less transparent, since by leaving it to the vox populi, it gives power to those who can shape and control the vox populi, such as those who can rely on a captive audience to vote in a particular way or those who can exercise control over the means of communication to a mass audience.

I agree. The term "popularity contest" pretty much sums this up. Still, one has to admire their guts for even trying something like this, no matter how terrible the idea is in the end.

Though one question remains: Who actually votes for Piquet jr.? And do they do it intentionally, just to troll us? ;)

Well, I suppose the earlier questions about whether it would be possible to rig the voting system does come to mind...

dr-baker wrote:
madmark1974 wrote:
Barbazza wrote:Slightly baffling press release on the Formula E website - they don't believe in making things crystal clear - saying that Mediaset will be showing the races live next year. Is that in the UK or in Europe? Instead of C5? (I believe Eurosport will still have live coverage)

And most important question - who the hell are they? Streaming only I assume.


Last I heard, Channel 4 may be taking over the coverage - bear in mind this is nearly two months ago though ...

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2018/08/formula-e-set-to-usurp-formula-1-in-channel-4-uk-tv-deal/

So in five seasons, it will already have jumped from ITV4 to C5 to C4 (or Media set or whoever). Great way to maintain a loyal fan base... :roll:

The indication was that it might go to Channel 4 in the UK, and that it would potentially be getting a similar level of promotion as their F1 coverage gets at the moment - with that in mind, I suspect that, whilst it's a bit awkward for current fans to have to chase it round the channels, they might well forgive that if it means that the overall quality of the coverage improves and that the series as a whole gets much more promotion.

The other question that is worth asking is whether Formula E is quite as dependent on the traditional live broadcast service as other motorsport series, and how much they are relying on other means (such as online streaming) to reach their target audience. I wonder whether live broadcasts are quite as critical to them as it is to other series?
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Ataxia »

And to add to the already-stacked 2018-19 grid, Princess Pascal joins the party...

There's not a single weak driver this year, and it's pretty great.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by yannicksamlad »

For me the feeling I get when hearing Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Albon are in formula E is one of melancholy, and sigh of resignation that it's come to this.
I just cant really get into Formula E ; the battery management , the power-ups, the short races, the tracks. I keep trying - and the driver line up is super impressive, but ....
I started supporting Emmo in 1976 (3 points )....missed 75, 74, 73, 72...
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madmark1974
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by madmark1974 »

We have, though, lost the two drivers who, in some ways, put Formula E on the map.

That crash between Nico Prost and 'Quick Nick' Heidfeld on the last corner of the last lap of the very first FE race certainly helped to raise interest in the series.

A shame Heidfeld will again be leaving without having managed a win ...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

We can hope that he'll fill in on a one-off basis in a top car sometime this season... that said, he was pretty much outpaced by Felix Rosenqvist for the last two seasons.

If Princess Pascal does do well at Mahindra, might Mercedes backtrack and sign him for their works FE team, or will they remember how he earned his tiara in the first place and steer clear (and hopefully not into a wall)...?

And as for there not being a single weak driver, at some stage, someone in one of the Chinese teams is going to have a crash that puts him out for the next race, whether by injury or suspension, and Ma Qing Hua will make yet another comeback. Watch it happen.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

Good news, everyone! The Bleedin' Bodge-up Company has picked up Formula E coverage for season five.

Maybe not so good news:

The Bleedin' Bodge-up Company wrote:Races for the series will be featured live on the BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button.

It's better than a blackout, I suppose. Meanwhile, given that coverage seems to move every couple of years to a new host, I look forward (?) to seasons seven and eight being shown on Channel 4 and seasons nine and ten on a UKTV channel, probably Dave.
James Allen, on his favourite F1 engine of all time:
"...the Life W12, I can't describe the noise to you, but imagine filling your dustbin with nuts and bolts, and then throwing it down the stairs, it was something akin to that!"
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Ciaran »

Fingers crossed that UK Conquest is still around in 6 years...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dr-baker »

dinizintheoven wrote:Good news, everyone! The Bleedin' Bodge-up Company has picked up Formula E coverage for season five.

Maybe not so good news:

The Bleedin' Bodge-up Company wrote:Races for the series will be featured live on the BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button.

It's better than a blackout, I suppose. Meanwhile, given that coverage seems to move every couple of years to a new host, I look forward (?) to seasons seven and eight being shown on Channel 4 and seasons nine and ten on a UKTV channel, probably Dave.

https://www.autosport.com/fe/news/14001 ... -in-201819

.The broadcaster will also show at least one FE race live on one of its network TV channels - BBC One or BBC Two - during the upcoming season.

Not great, but it's something...
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Barbazza »

I was expecting C4 rather than the Beeb who, in their usual half-arsed way given that they don't REALLY care about motorsport have immediately decided to chuck it online even though surely the races on at odd times of the day in UK time could have been found a place in the TV schedule.

Looks like it's going to be Eurosport and Haven commentary (shudder) unless he's busy and they get the boring brothers in again instead (even bigger shudder) for me then.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

I'd heard the rumours about Channel 4, but I reckon that went west when they took the rights for F1 highlights, and if they had taken it up, would they have shunted it off to one of their subsidiary channels like Channel 5 did? Though at least with Channel 5 they had Spike, which is (sort of) their version of Dave, whereas neither the BBC nor Channel 4 have that type of subsidiary. Formula E on More 4 or on BBC4? Doesn't really fit, either way, and now that BBC3 has been shunted onto the internet only (and has degenerated into being a state-sponsored version of Vice, but that's a rant for another day) there'd be little point putting it on there instead of somewhere else on the BBC website...

Moan all you like about Martin Haven and Eurosport, but at least we're not all forking out for a separate subscription to that, for a series with half the races of F1.
James Allen, on his favourite F1 engine of all time:
"...the Life W12, I can't describe the noise to you, but imagine filling your dustbin with nuts and bolts, and then throwing it down the stairs, it was something akin to that!"
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Barbazza »

dinizintheoven wrote:Moan all you like about Martin Haven and Eurosport, but at least we're not all forking out for a separate subscription to that, for a series with half the races of F1.


Oh yes, the one thing I totally approve of is Formula E's commitment to get live races on free to air TV. Which is more than you can say for our 'premier' motorsport....
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dinizintheoven »

I will add something, if you will allow me to go off one one of my rambling tangents, about not looking a gift horse in the mouth, with an analogy from cricket.

Right now, it is 5:37 am, and I'm listening to commentary on the Test match in Sri Lanka. Until yesterday, I hadn't realised it was possible to do so. All I knew was that, instead of Test Match Spectal, some of the staff would be sitting in a studio in Salford, waffling as if it was a lengthy rain delay, but punctuating those comments with an occasional "...oh, and Sam Curran's just belted Dananjaye for six over long-on. Now, where were we..." The one-dayers and the T20 (which I missed) had been covered this way, and it didn't seem right; it was, at best, half-baked. Come the Tests, "The Cricket Social" started at 7:00, during the lunch break - so it won't even have started yet today - and the only way to listen to it (or, rather pointlessly, watch what's going on in the studio) is via the BBC cricket website, which immediately spoils what's happened in the morning session before Dan Norcross or Simon Mann or whoever's drawn the short straw for the day has even had a chance to read it out...

Imagine my shock, then, when I was idly browsing the BBC cricket website, decided to look in the comments (that are usually quite sensibly hidden) and, amongst all the *autistic screeching* about The Cricket Social (which might actually have some merit), someone spilled the beans that TalkSport had the rights for live commentary all along. I had never, ever listened to TalkSport up to this point. It always came across to me as a station aimed at Stella-guzzling Sun readers who could phone in and bang on endlessly about football, football, football as they would in the local used-to-be-spit-and-sawdust-until-a-big-chain-took-it-over pub, before having a big fight outside Khan's Kebabs. And, in those BBC comments, few of them were particularly complimentary about TalkSport's commentary, as if they'd assembled the cricketing equivalents of Jonathan Pearce, Gazza and Lee Bowyer to entertain us.

Imagine my further shock, then, after tuning into TalkSport 2 yesterday morning - that it isn't a bunch of idiots. They know they don't have Aggers or Boycott or any of the "old firm". But they do have Mark Nicholas and Neil Manthorp as their flagship commentators, they have a well-known contributor from the opposition in Roshan Abeysinghe, and there are other contributions from Darren Gough, Matt Prior, Gareth Batty, Michael Atherton, Mike Gatting and Jarrod Kimber - all of whom know what they're talking about. Talksport 2 is a bit of an oddity - it's not on MW, DAB or Virgin Media (as the main TalkSport station is) - it looks like it's an internet-only station, which is annoying if I've got to go somewhere while the match is on - at least TMS is carried on Radio 4 LW as well as DAB and I can carrying on listening to that as far away as northern Germany (and I know, because I did, four years ago).

Imagine my further further shock when the commentary isn't continuously interrupted by adverts, the way ITV used to do with their F1 coverage, and RTL still does (with six-minute breaks). Cricket does at least have a natural space for a break between overs, where a 30-second advert could be inserted. But, so far, TalkSport 2 have limited their adverts to every hour or so - as I'm led to believe Sky do with their F1 coverage, which has no adverts at all during the race. It's probably because radio is a much cheaper format than TV, so there's less of a need to draw in the cash from advertisers.

When it comes to Formula E, I will accept any way of watching the race live (or even with a slight time delay as it's easier to avoid spoilers than it is with F1), especially if it's free to air. It matters little who's presenting, and who's commentating, as long as there is some commentary and the commentator doesn't leave 30 seconds of dead air as Heiko Wasser has an annoying habit of doing in F1 qualifying sessions (and I do have RTL with the sound on if Five Live isn't broadcasting the qualifying sessions, as sometimes happens when there are lots of sporting events happening that the BBC considers more important, such as women's football). Genuinely, it could be Ben Edwards, Jack Nicholls or Martin Haven behind the mic, I will care very little. I didn't mind James Allen or Jonathan Legard when they were involved with F1, despite the constant calls for their sacking week in, week out. They could take over the FE commentary and it'd make little difference to me, as long as they could convey their enthusiasm for the sport as well as describe what's happening on screen. Really, the only catastrophe I could think of would be getting in an utterly unsuitable commentator - say, someone who hates motorsport - George Monbiot, maybe.

What I cannot abide is some half-arsed excuse for coverage the way the BBC is doing with The Cricket Social; even on the red button and the internet rather than actual TV, I will expect what they do with FE to be a whole load better than that. Even aiming at ITV4's studio-only coverage of season two shouldn't be a bridge too far.
James Allen, on his favourite F1 engine of all time:
"...the Life W12, I can't describe the noise to you, but imagine filling your dustbin with nuts and bolts, and then throwing it down the stairs, it was something akin to that!"
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by madmark1974 »

The Formula E website has a handy link where you can see all of the ways to follow their coverage for each event :

https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/watch/ways-to-watch

For the UK, you've got : BT Sport, Facebook, YouTube, Eurosport 2, BBC Red button, website and i-Player. There are also highlights on the Quest channel.

All in all, that's a pretty decent selection. I'm fortunate that my Freesat+ box has it's own channels for the BBC red button feeds, so I can still record the race live and watch it later (as I inevitably will have to end up doing).

Also, details of 'Attack Mode' have been released : https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/december/attack-mode-variables-to-be-decided-60-minutes-before-race
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by Barbazza »

madmark1974 wrote:All in all, that's a pretty decent selection. I'm fortunate that my Freesat+ box has it's own channels for the BBC red button feeds, so I can still record the race live and watch it later (as I inevitably will have to end up doing)


I knew there were red button channels but didn't know you could necessarily record stuff. As I discovered today, you certainly can with a Sky Q box at least. Happy to do that, as I very rarely watch them live anyhow.
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Re: The Lucas di Grassi Formula E Thread

Post by dr-baker »

I will be relying on downloading via iPlayer, due to nursing placement commitments.
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