Formulation E will shut out its season this weekend with its first go to to Seoul, South Korea. It is not simply the top of season eight and the final race for the Gen2 electrical race automobiles but in addition marks the collection’ a hundredth race. The game has come a good distance since its first ePrix in Beijing in 2014, with extra highly effective automobiles, greater batteries, and a capability to placed on an thrilling race at Monaco, one thing that Formulation 1 hasn’t been capable of say for a number of many years.

Lucas di Grassi was the winner of that first ePrix and has raced in each ePrix since. He is nonetheless visiting victory lane, most lately in final Sunday’s London ePrix, and this weekend might rating his 1,000th profession level within the collection. With a background in Formulation 1 after which Audi’s mighty R18 e-tron Le Mans program, di Grassi is aware of his manner round a race automotive. So he is normally a superb particular person to speak to concerning the future route of the game.

Subsequent season the game will get a brand new automotive, one which’s rather more highly effective—and lighter, too. However it’s not fairly as daring, technology-wise, because the idea di Grassi lobbied for. Though that automotive has but to even race in anger, the varied minds that contribute to Formulation E’s R&D street map are already occupied with Gen4. Since we had the possibility to talk with the motive force forward of this week’s Seoul ePrix, I needed to know his ideas on the place the game ought to go subsequent. As I hoped, he had loads of them.

You’ve been fairly outspoken previously about the place you assume the technical route of the game ought to go, significantly as street automotive EVs function tech that has gone past what Formulation E permits. The place do you assume Gen4 ought to go?

“That is an ideal query. For me, it’s totally clear from the start the place the expertise street map goes, not solely Formulation E, however all of the FIA [the organizing body for global motorsport], of every thing—for me, they should be rather more segmented when it comes to which options are higher for various collection. Like, endurance racing ought to be specializing in car-relevant applied sciences. Formulation 1 ought to have essentially the most excessive power-to-weight ratio drivetrains. Then method E—essentially the most environment friendly engines ever. So for me, I’d section it rather more and be sure that the producers they wish to develop and make investments, do,” he instructed me.

“[The FIA] have a championship that may develop, and it could actually use a few of that experience to crossover to completely different collection, however they do not overlap. And for the time being, there’s a whole lot of overlaps between endurance racing, Formulation 1, Formulation E. It is that the rules aren’t very clear. And I do not assume there’s someone giving actually, actually clear instructions that that is the way in which these championships are going to evolve, and that is the expertise that really creates worth for the producer and for the followers and for the world in the long run. I feel for the time being it isn’t a simple factor to do. And for the time being, I do not consider the job is being executed in the best manner,” di Grassi mentioned.