Formula E is considering awarding bonus points for leading randomly chosen laps in a scheme dubbed the ‘Golden Lap’.
The surprise initiative is expected to be part of new sporting regulations to be issued later this month and may be implemented in some races in the coming campaign, which begins in Sao Paulo in December.
The plans were articulated to teams last month and are said by several sources to have got a lukewarm reception.
This was largely due to the fact that no consultation on the idea took place prior to it being offered as part of new sporting regulations for the 2024-25 world championship.
The Race understands that the outline of the idea is that two race laps would be chosen at random each weekend as the ‘golden laps’ - when a bonus point is awarded for the leader. The lap numbers would be communicated prior to the race weekend within the race information document, which confirms the race distance and usable energy allocation.
A championship point will then be awarded to the leader of the relevant lap, meaning that a maximum of 31, rather than 29 points, could be available for races that feature the 'golden lap' format.
What remains unclear at present is if the plans will be mandated instead of, or as well as, the fast-charging pitstop-based Attack Charge initiative, which Formula E is keen to introduce this season if reliability of the charging equipment is proven during testing.
Formula E declined to comment on the golden lap proposal when contacted about it by The Race.
The presumption is that this plan would be a fallback idea for a format tweak should the long-awaited Attack Charge not be deemed ready for in-race use, rather than being used in addition to the new pitstops.
An extra ‘clown show’ element FE doesn’t need
Formula E has lots of challenges to promote its unique brand of racing. But adding or playing with the race format shouldn’t be one of them at this point.
Generally, it's best to be agnostic about new innovations in Formula E, as the largely successful Attack Mode that was implemented in 2018 proved.
But held up against the context of Formula E’s situation and profile as a whole, messing around with the sporting format shouldn’t be a matter of urgency right now.
That’s for several reasons. Not least of which is that the races, approximately 45 minutes in length, are complex and entertaining enough as is. Add in another random factor such as the golden lap idea, and there’s a big risk of over-complicating and further adding more chaotic jeopardy to the already-messy Gen3 racing.
The flailing bodywork and cascading carbon showers that have peppered some of the so-called ‘peloton style’ races in many Gen3-era events have often looked tawdry and cheap. With prestige manufacturers investing around £30million per season, that spectacle caused some concern amid those big companies and teams, as well as some drivers.
The other factor is that other priorities should come before ideas such as the golden lap, not least of which is the expansion of Formula E’s visibility through better media deals, including streaming and terrestrial broadcast agreements.
Particularly in the UK, Formula E has had a dearth of viewers last season after terrestrial showing of the races (apart from the London E-Prix round) ceased. The viewing figures for the TNT coverage have never been publicly disclosed, and for good reason - because they are believed to be very modest indeed.
Expanding the series’ popularity through better broadcast deals has to be a priority improvement for the new season and, if the talking up of this subject by its engagingly-positive CEO Jeff Dodds is anything to go by, it should come soon.
Yet the golden lap idea shows the element of Formula E existing in its own self-absorbed bubble appears to be ongoing, except this time it risks cheapening itself more with potential gimmicks that it absolutely doesn’t need right now.
The Race has heard from several drivers about the 'golden lap' idea. All requested anonymity but their comments ranged from “we’re in a clown show even without this thing anyway” to suggesting the type of racing that would ensue as drivers jostled to lead those laps in a peloton race would be “like switching off air-traffic control at an airport”.
