Formula E is implementing a change of procedure for getting cars on track in qualifying in Rome this weekend, but it’s not connected to the pit release controversy seen in Diriyah.
The FIA has decreed that cars can leave their pit garages 30 seconds before the start of qualifying sessions to wait for the pit exit to go green.
The move has been made due to a combination of the new longer Rome track and the ‘U-shaped’ pitlane that has been specially erected between the final turn at Turn 19 and the Turn 1 kink.
Teams further down the pitlane, which is organised in the finishing order of the 2019/20 standings, waste over 30 seconds trying to get out of the pitlane itself as they have to negotiate a tight hairpin within it.
Before the change it was assumed that teams closer to the pit exit would have a distinct advantage because they would have been able to complete out/prep and push laps in the three minute timeframe in each qualifying group while others would have had their track time compromised.
The FIA bulletin said the change was “due to the potential risk of pitlane getting blocked in qualifying by cars trying to reach the pitlane exit as soon as possible”.
But the move is specific to the Rome pitlane design and is not related to recent incidents in which drivers have failed to take the chequered flag in time during qualifying sessions.
That matter is believed to be under discussion at sporting working group meeting level, along with a variety of other topics including the rule that led to Jean-Eric Vergne and Nick Cassidy being penalised for not using their second attack mode in Diriyah after the race was neutralised and then stopped before the requisite 45-minutes and one lap duration was completed.
NEW BRAKE MEASURES AFTER MORTARA CRASH
The FIA has also insisted that teams must check and supply lists of potential failure episodes around their complex braking systems.
This follows Edoardo Mortara’s terrifying brake-related crash at the end of a practice session at the Diriyah season-opener.
A bulletin issued to manufacturers last week from the technical delegate Laurent Arnaud states that “if the driver loses the front brake for any reason (leakage, calliper issue), the system must be able to detect that and activate the rear braking (regen or BBW actuation).
“In the chassis supplier common package, [teams] have the displacement travel sensor from the tandem brake master cylinder. Those sensors must be used to detect any leakage on the brake system.”
The precise cause of the Mortara incident was understood to be purely a sensor issue but the reason why the Venturi Mercedes’ fail-safe mechanical system did not kick in is still thought to be under investigation.
In Formula E the front hydraulic brake circuit is specified and supplied by the chassis supplier, Spark Racing Technologies, while the brake-by-wire system supplier either chosen by the manufacturer or developed in-house.
