Ahead of its third season, Extreme E announced it would be doubling its championship round count by hosting doubleheaders at each of the five events it would hold during the 2023 campaign.
We’re now past the halfway point of the new-look championship, the mid-point being marked during the Island X Prix in Sardinia in July. In the first five rounds, the championship matched last year’s high of four winners in five rounds, Veloce Racing being the only repeat winners, while Rosberg X Racing won both the fifth and sixth rounds of the 10-round season to enter the second half of the year with some much-needed momentum after a barren run.
For Veloce, the expanded calendar is something of a saving grace. The British team led the championship for much of the season so far, only slipping behind Acciona Sainz after round five. Had this been any other season, they’d have fallen at the final hurdle, but as things stand, they’re still very much in the championship hunt — not that the potential “lost” championship had even crossed driver Kevin Hansen’s mind.
“I think it’s better than what it’s been because to travel far and only get on track two or three times is not super so this is generally a better format,” he told RACER. “It’s nice to have more races in the year, get more opportunities, and we just look at every race so it didn’t really cross my mind that we ‘lost’ the championship.”
Acciona Sainz’s Laia Sanz, who would’ve been a beneficiary of the events of Sardinia had it remained a five-round schedule, echoed Hansen’s thoughts.
“Can we finish now?” she joked to RACER. “Yeah, I think it’s better to have more chances and a longer championship because, for example last year (in Sardinia) we had the problem with the crash and then it was hard because we could have been leading after that race but instead we were at the back with not many races. This year you have more things that can happen but it’s longer so it’s better.”
Her teammate Mattias Ekstrom agreed, adding: “I think it’s great we have doubleheaders. For me, the format we have, one race per day, is the way to go. I think we have a great championship — there are a lot of fast drivers.
“It’s always nice to lead anything but I know all the others are going to try hard to win as well. If there’s something I’ve learned in my career, it’s that there’s nothing to celebrate at halfway of anything. It’s always nicer to be at the front than the back, of course, but it’s like halfway through a race or halfway through a championship, you have to reach the end to celebrate.”
As well as looking at the championship as a whole, the doubleheader format gives teams a chance of quick redemption — something the Andretti Altawkilat knows all about, having scored better results in the second round of the weekend on two out of three occasions so far this year.
“Overall, it’s brilliant to have more races. It really makes the championship a bigger event, to have 10 rounds rather than just five, and it opens it up to a lot more teams,” Andretti’s Catie Munnings told RACER.
“I think it’s brilliant to have another chance, especially when you have an unlucky day and to have a bit more of a chance of redemption.”
But while the doubling up of championship rounds has been met with widespread praise from drivers, the format itself is one that many would still like to see tweaked. Qualifying, which comprises two rounds of heat races, but the lineups for the first being decided by a lottery, proved to be a particular sticking point, along with the “Gridplay” fan vote which influences the grid order in the final.
“It’s just way too random with the draw and the Gridplay,” said Kevin Hansen. “We only have two races to set everything up and that’s all based on a draw. If you get unlucky, you’re unlucky again.”
Ekstrom suggested a return to single-car timed qualifying, saying, “I still think the format in general needs to improve. For me it would make sense to have qualifying in a classic way, but as it’s so difficult to keep the conditions alive, I still think they need to start with qualifying, no practice — a bit like rally raid-style where you have to drive on what you have seen after a track walk — because when the track condition makes more influence than drivers skills, I think it’s not worth qualifying in these conditions.
Munnings agreed in principle, but put forward the idea of a sector time from practice deciding the qualifying order.
“I think now with the luck and the lottery that you have from a Q1 draw when the lines are uneven — I mean, look at X44 and the luck they had off the back of that — it really is down to luck where it really counts in the first corner. I’d like to see a timed sector from free practice or something like that be the decider for the grid.”
Her teammate Timmy Hansen added: “I think it’s great to have more racing. They put in such an effort to build these tracks, put on these events, that the more racing, the better. I just wish there was less of a lottery for Q1. I’m not a big fan of the Gridplay either. I think it should be more sporting than that, and pole in the final should be based on qualifying and not some kind of vote system.”
Munnings also called for the winner of the “Redemption Race” — effectively a B Final — to be given a spot in the main event, but acknowledged the technical limitations preventing such a thing for the time being, with the tight turnaround between the Redemption Race and the Final not allowing for adequate charging and cooling time.
“I guess the only thing I miss from last year is the ‘Crazy Race,’ to have that shot at the final,” she said. “If you don’t get into the final, it was kind of a more exciting format last year; but I get the reasons behind it, and it’s a tighter schedule now.
“That would be a cool thing as technology evolves though, because I think the ‘Crazy Race’ often was the most exciting race of the weekend because everything was on the line to get there.”
These reservations aside, though, the consensus remains that Extreme E is on the right path.
“The racing’s great. I think we all enjoy racing hard against each other,” said Andretti’s Timmy Hansen. “I think we all enjoy racing hard against each other, it’s always good racing here actually, the championship’s really growing.”