Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal James Barclay has said that the likelihood of longer races in the Gen4 era of FIA Formula E will shift the emphasis further towards car efficiency and race strategy.
Amid the growing discussion since Formula E released details of the Gen4 car late last year, Barclay told Motorsport Week: “The sporting regulations are still being defined at the moment but the objective for Gen4 is longer racing and another step forward in performance – projections are looking at a car that is going to go significantly faster, which is obviously technically a very rewarding thing to be a part of.
“It’s always been the case in Formula E that we can always go faster but we also want great racing, and that’s really important to us – speed doesn’t equal great racing, and you’ve got to find the balance to create great racing.
“Some of the best categories in racing are the lower formulas where you have a huge amount of overtaking, so what we are aiming for in Formula E is trying to find that balance between great racing and speed, and longer races will bring into effect some things we don’t deal with much at the moment.
“There’ll be more on the tyre side we have to consider, and look at the strategy.
“If it’s a single tyre for the race distance then obviously we have to bear in mind tyre management in the race given the extra time in the race.
“From the point of view of the powertrain, it makes the focus shift more-so onto efficiency – although there will be changes to the pack size we use, there will be definitely be a bigger push on efficiency.
“In Formula 1, you have to lift and coast to manage the tyres, we have to do similar in some degree in regards to energy.
“The manufacturers who are going to be on top of that will be key, and the longer the race, the more strategy opportunity, depending on the regulations, so efficiency, strategy and tyre degradation will be things we have to keep our mind on, but the general step in performance will be a challenge for manufacturers to get hold of as we develop our Gen4 cars which will start soon.”
In the present, Jaguar are currently leading the way in 2024 so far, with both drivers scoring points in every race and Nick Cassidy leading the Drivers’ table. Last year, they came second in the Teams’ Championship behind their powertrain customer, Envision Racing. Is there a rivalry between the two teams given their cars’ shared DNA? “I say it was more to the contrary,” Barclay says, adding: “When we started our relationship with Envision, we fought Mercedes for two seasons prior to that with only two cars – theirs and the Venturis.
“We fought Mercedes with that disadvantage – we now know four cars gives you a lot more ability with set-ups and trying different things, so it’s a real testament we had one hand tied behind our back fighting them as they had two extra cars with that partnership, so from our point of view we were open for that customer-team relationship because we knew it was becoming more of the norm, and we also set the objective with Envision that we should try to come into the final race first and second in the Championship, which is exactly what played-out.
“In that context, it gives you a view of the mindset of the relationship, but of course at the same time we are a team and manufacturer – we want to win the World Championship, although I was proud we came first and second.
“I think even Envision would say that the manufacturer teams had a lot more work to do – contrary to popular belief, we don’t have double the amount of people.
“Whilst we were having to focus on getting the Gen3 working, reliable and performing well, a customer team can focus on just running the car whilst we had to get our heads round code, software and getting the best out of the car.
“It was really hard on the manufacturers last year, carrying the weight and responsibility of that and the workload and in some respects, being a customer team last year had benefits, but I think from our point of view, if it’s a Jaguar car on the top step of the podium, I’m really proud as it’s the same men and women here designing, developing and building that car which has gone on to win.
“They’ve been a great customer team and the relationship is very good, but we also want to win ourselves and we respect mutually amongst each-other.”
