Among the great attributes Formula E has is the software that has been a big part of the latest GEN3 era, described as fundamental by drivers and engineers.
Reigning Champion, Jake Dennis, explains this vital part of Formula E’s DNA. The racer had a shaky start to season 10, finishing ninth in Mexico City.
However, he came back fighting for the following rounds, a double title in Diriyah. During the second round, Dennis was ready to go back to the front and ended up winning the race with an incredible 13.289 s lead over second-placed Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE).
“I think the most important thing between our Formula 1 and Formula E is the software side,” Dennis explained after his weekend in Diriyah. The 28-year-old driver won Friday’s race, but could only finish 12th in Round 3.
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Experience in Both Competitions
In addition to his responsibilities with Andretti in Formula E, Dennis also works with Red Bull Racing in Formula 1 as their simulator driver.
He even had the opportunity to drive the championship-winning RB19 in Abu Dhabi last year and works closely with the reigning constructors’ champions.
“In general, Formula 1 is all about mechanical grip and downforce. If you have that at a good time, all weekend long, then you will be competitive because you have pure grip and pure performance,” Dennis explained.
“Whereas in Formula E, with the software being so advanced (and probably 80% of the performance comes from the software), it’s very easy to fall outside that window if certain situations don’t suit your strengths,” he stressed.
Because Formula E has such a compact schedule, with practice, qualifying and race all in one day, it can be challenging to make changes and turn the car around in such a short period of time, but not impossible.
“There are all sorts of things to do with brake balance, regen or differential. There are a lot of different things you can tweak and every team has different ones,” Dennis said.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but if it’s not in the right session window, which is qualifying, then you’re behind, and then there’s a lot of overtaking you can do when races have limited power,” he pointed out.
