Formula E drivers have warned that this weekend’s season-opening Sao Paulo E-Prix could be a 'temperature limited' race, with car batteries set to be put under extreme heat conditions.
Temperatures for the first race of the campaign are expected to be well over 30C and similar to last season’s event, which was held on 16 March 2024.
During the previous outing drivers suffered from de-rating, where energy from the batteries was not delivered at its optimum and dramatically reduced performance, and runner-up Mitch Evans cited it as the reason why he lost victory on the final lap to Sam Bird.
“I think we've all prepared for it [de-rating] up and down the grid,” said Maserati MSG’s Jake Hughes.
“Last year was a surprise to everybody to be honest. From what I've heard I don't think really anybody planned for it last year and it was all about reacting in the moment.
“Now we're obviously very much aware that we can have that this weekend, the temperature looks quite similar.
“I wouldn't go as far as to say we're expecting it, but I think it completely depends on the pace of the race in the first half of the race. If it's a lot faster than it was last year, then I think we could be managing that for sure.”
With Attack Mode set to feature all-wheel-drive for the first time this season due to the new Gen3 Evo car, it is likely to carry greater strategic relevance with teams and drivers possibly deploying it later in proceedings.
Robin Frijns believes that drivers may be forced into using it earlier than planned though, as any benefit from the extra 350kW mode could be negated by high battery temperatures.
“With the tyres it’s hard to say because we’ve really not really been in hot conditions with the tyres yet, but for sure battery limited,” he said. “So if you're in Attack Mode at the end, it doesn't make any difference.”
Envision team-mate Sébastien Buemi also suggested that leaving it too late could cause problems if the full eight minutes, deployed over two Attack Modes, are not completed before the end of Saturday’s race.
“If you leave it quite late and you have a safety car and everyone's bunched up and you still have an attack, it could be a game changer and you could pass a lot of guys,” he said.
“But when you leave it long, if you cannot finish the Attack Mode before the end of the race, you get disqualified so it's again going to be a compromise between how much risk you want to take versus battery temperature.”
