New track, new ambitions: DS-Penske enjoys competing on tracks where Formula E has never raced before, this time the Shanghai International Circuit in China
DS Automobiles and Team DS-Penske have become adept at playing one of their favorite roles in Formula E: surprising rivals with ingenious preparations on a track where the electric racing series has never raced before.
Normally, circuits where an electric formula racing car has never been driven and where the success of the weekend depends on preparation – and therefore experience – are well suited to Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.
The two drivers, who scored the most points on such race weekends in the 2023 season and were also among the front runners in the first races of this type in the current 2024 season, have also clinched a third of the titles that have been contested since the series was founded.
Vergne and Vandoorne are therefore coming to the Shanghai International Circuit in China with strong and justified ambitions. The last time Formula E raced in the ‘Middle Kingdom’ was in the 2018/19 season on the street circuit in Sanya. And it was Vergne who won the race there.
The triumph came in the month of March and it was the first victory of the season for the Frenchman and his car from DS Performance, the competition division of DS Automobiles, on the way to successfully defending the title. With above-average speed and efficiency, Vergne and the DS team had surprised the competition at the time.
Energy management will once again be crucial
The Shanghai International Circuit, on the other hand, presents a new challenge. As it is a permanent race track, albeit one that has been slightly adapted for Formula E – the 3.05-kilometre short circuit (twelve corners) of the Formula 1 layout is used – the same energy consumption calculations do not have to be made as for a city circuit.
The first part of the circuit is particularly interesting: the first corners are snail-shaped and get progressively slower before a long straight that leads into a hairpin bend. The rest of the lap is quite fast, with some long bends. The Formula E layout of the Shanghai circuit comes to an end with a chicane before the entrance to the pit lane.
“Since the start of the season, we have seen that our work in the simulator has had a positive effect on the track,” says Jean-Eric Vergne about the preparations at DS-Penske.
“We are often well placed in both practice and qualifying, and in recent races we have regularly made it past the quarter-finals. We don’t yet know anything about the level of the individual drivers on the track in Shanghai, but I hope that we can fight at the front with the plans we have drawn up,” says Vergne.
The DS team arrived in Shanghai earlier this week after celebrating its 50th podium finish (in 115 starts) in Berlin two weeks ago. If you add that to the victories (16) and titles (four, including two team titles), it is the most successful team in the ten-year history of Formula E.
Will these figures increase even further in Shanghai? We will find out on Saturday evening after the first race of the double-header.
