The final preparations are being made as India gears up to host its very first Formula E race on February 11. Given that it’s an all-new venue, we caught up with Jaguar TCS Racing team principal James Barclay and driver Mitch Evans to understand what will be the key to winning the Hyderabad E-Prix.
- Hyderabad E-Prix on February 11
- Jaguar’s currently fifth in the championship
Hyderabad will likely see Formula E’s highest speeds all season
The new Gen3 cars mark a significant technological leap for the championship, with top speed now up to 320kph and power increasing from 250kW to 350kW. With one of the longest straights on the calendar, Barclay reckons Hyderabad will likely be the fastest track we’ll see all season.
“High-speed corners, low-speed corners, real technical combined sections where drivers have to tread parts of the track really accurately at high speed," Barclay explains. "[It has] probably one of the longest straights we’ll see in Formula E this season, which means it will probably be the highest speed we’ll see all year. It’s got everything and it’s really going to challenge us.”
Drivers will only get their first taste of the track during the practice session on February 10. However, they have spent plenty of time on the simulator, preparing for the new venue. In conversation with Autocar India, Jaguar TCS Racing driver Mitch Evans shared his initial impressions of the circuit as well. “I think we’re going to see very high top speeds. We have a very long straight down to Turn 3, a very technical mid-sector. I think it’s going to be exciting. Normally Formula E races are very unpredictable, very exciting, so I’m expecting the same this weekend,” he says.
Adaptability key to winning Hyderabad E-Prix
Formula E already runs on a tight schedule, with practice, qualifying and the race all held on one day. The fact that Hyderabad is a brand-new venue only further complicates things since teams have little data to fall back on. “We’ve never been here before, so it’s going to be about quickly adapting, getting the car set-up to the circuit, that’s what the trick is going to be this weekend,” says Barclay.
“Those teams and drivers that can get on top of the track quicker than anybody are going to have a distinct advantage come Saturday,” he adds.
Porsche and customer team Andretti have finished 1-2 in all three races held so far this year. But Jaguar did show some strong form in the Diriyah E-Prix, with Sam Bird returning to the podium for the first time since 2021 New York.
“What we’ve seen in the first three races is that Porsche are clearly very strong at the moment. I think other than them, we’re the next best manufacturer in terms of the base performance of the car, both from our point of view and with our customer team Envision. We’ve had more cars in the top 10 than anybody else in the first few races,” Barclay says.
“But it’s incredibly competitive world-class manufacturers like Porsche that we have to try and get ahead of. Sam’s [Bird] performance in Race 3, we were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car, he had energy advantage over everyone and unfortunately, the late Safety Car really didn’t allow us to showcase that. But we shall see; every weekend is new, we can’t underestimate the competition and we take nothing for granted.”
The Hyderabad E-Prix takes place this Saturday, February 11. You can head here for our complete guide to the race.
