Old guard Formula One drivers not hip to electric racing being the future

Two Formula One drivers in a phys.org interview have split opinions on whether the Formula E electric race car series would be a success. One, Sebastian Vettel, said it was going to fail, that it’s not the future, because it doesn’t scream, and you don’t feel the vibration in your bones.

“I don’t like it at all, I think it’s not the future,” Vettel said at the Indian Grand Prix, where victory on Sunday will give him a fourth consecutive drivers title. I think people come here to feel Formula One and there is not much to feel when a car goes by and you don’t even hear anything but the wind. Maybe I am very old-fashioned, but I think Formula One needs to scream, needs to be loud and there needs to be vibration.”

The other, Nico Rosberg, while not quite enthusiastic, at least didn’t bash the Formula E to pieces with what he said: “It’s an interesting thing for sure, something new and I know there is a lot of interest,” Rosberg said. “It’s planned to be in cities (rather than normal circuits), so it’s bringing the race to the people, not the people to the race. It’s a bit of the future, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. We need to wait and see.”

The Formula E series is a FIA blessed electric car racing series consisting of Formula One style racing cars. The races will, as Rosberg said, be held in city centers making it possible for more people to attend.

Vettel is right – electric race vehicles don’t have the same vibrational tone as do gas powered race vehicles.

The question is whether the noise and vibration is a bug or a feature? Is the noise an annoyance, or is it something to be enjoyed? I myself find the noise an annoyance.

Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-10-vettel-formula-future.html

About the Author
Latest Posts

About David Herron

David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.