Eleven teams and twenty-two drivers will start the 2021-22 season of Formula E. It will be at the Ad-Diriyah ePrix, although they all have a date before. The official Formula E preseason test is held between November 28 and December 2 at the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit, in Valencia. A perfect opportunity to compare performances now that the software and configuration of the ‘Gen 2’ has changed with an increase in power in the different operating modes. To that we must add the new ePrix format, the premiere of a new classification and adjustments in the dynamics of the races.
For this reason, the preseason test in Valencia will be vital when adapting to the new requirements of the electrical category. Drivers and teams will be able to test the new race power modes, qualifying and ‘attack mode’, as well as the protocols derived from the new qualifying format in the World Cup qualifying style or do some kind of race simulation that takes into account the extended duration that ePrix can now have after banishing the idea of removing energy from cars when neutralizations are given due to ‘Full Course Yellow or the presence of the Safety Car.
Nevertheless, the work of the teams will be much more complex. In the first place, because the Valencia test allows you to test things that until now have only been evaluated in simulators or dynamometers. Engineers have the opportunity to test certain things in cars that can open up new avenues of development. In fact, the Valencia test is drawn almost like the only chance to test certain things too expensive to test during ePrix development, where the terms are tighter. Even if the layout is different from the urban circuits of the Formula E, the data extracted is very important.