The 2019-2020 FIA Formula E Championship has just come to an end after a series of six races on the runways of Berlin's historic Tempelhof Airport. Six E-Prix in just nine days, organised to conclude a season that started in late 2019 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and then moved on to 2020 through Santiago de Chile (Chile), Mexico City (Mexico) and Marrakech (Morocco), before taking a long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This very intense end of the season tested all the teams, who rose to the challenge with flying colours, and finally enabled Antonio Felix Da Costa and his team DS Techeetah, partners of Michelin, to clinch the Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles. For Michelin Motorsport, this ambitious sequence required unprecedented efforts and a technical and logistics center was set up in the German capital at the end of July.
“Given the local rules and the sanitary measures that were put into place for the meeting, we took just six fitters, just as we would have done to an ordinary E-Prix, while we accompanied our partners through six Formula E events and seven in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy! " said Jérôme Mondain, Michelin's Formula E manager. "The women and men of Michelin Motorsport then mounted, balanced, inflated and dismounted 1,300 tires. Over such a short period of time, it was a real challenge brilliantly met by our team, which I would like to congratulate for its commitment and performance. We wanted to document this exceptional work and share it with fans through videos published on Michelin's social networks.”
The last two E-Prix of the season took place around a new 2.505-kilometre circuit which was 150 metres longer than the usual Tempelhof arrangement, with 16 instead of 10 turns. “The additional corners were all slow, so they placed bigger demands on the traction performance of our tyres,” notes Jérôme Mondain. “The decision to lower the minimum authorised tyre pressure from 1.3 to 1.1 bar that we took together with the FIA after the first two Berlin E-Prix proved a positive step not only for the quality of the show but also for the drivers who benefited from even greater consistency during the last two races, despite the repeated hard reacceleration that was required out of the revised layout’s tight turns. There is little doubt that our tyres played a real part in the success of the season’s exceptional finale.”
Michelin’s Formula E tyre is the same whatever the circuit, whatever the weather, whatever the temperature and whatever the humidity level.
It is also the only single-seater racing tyre that is capable of racing in dry and wet conditions alike, as showcased during the fourth Berlin E-Prix which was marked by a mid-race shower in the course of which the lap times were the same as they had been previously in the dry.
On top of that, Michelin’s Formula E tyre is capable of taking extremely hot track temperatures in excess of 60°C in its stride, like those encountered at last season’s Santiago E-Prix in Chile, as well as ground temperatures as low as 5°C, as was the case during the first free practice session for the Marrakech E-Prix in Morocco, a matter of weeks afterwards. The ability of this tyre to be safe and efficient on all types of surface and in all weathers was once again praised this season by all the drivers.
The result of five years of research, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport for Formula E is also a champion of energy efficiency, thanks to its low rolling resistance, in addition to being virtuous thanks to its mass reduced by 9 kg per set of tyres compared with the first version, launched in 2013 and already considered as light.
The penultimate race of the season (on Wednesday, August 12) was won by Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams), ahead of Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing) and René Rast (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler).
The winner of the 2019/2020 campaign’s final clash (Thursday, August 13) was Stoffel Vandoorne who was joined on the podium by his Mercedes-Benz EQ team-mate Nyck de Vries and Sébastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams).
The 2019/2020 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, for which Michelin was the exclusive tyre supplier, was won by New Zealander Simon Evans (Team Asia New Zealand).
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship’s seventh season will kick off in Santiago, Chile, on January 16, 2021.
MICHELIN Pilot Sport for Formula E: the first connected tyre in motor sport
For the first time this season, Michelin has introduced a connected tyre in Formula E, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport equipped with the Michelin Track Connect system. This innovation is in line with the Group's development strategy, which already markets a Michelin Track Connect solution for Track Days enthusiasts. Michelin's goal is to extend the benefits of digital technologies applied to tyres to mass production vehicles, in order to provide the car and its driver with useful information, particularly in terms of safety and energy efficiency.
Michelin Track Connect for Formula E allows tyre pressures to be monitored automatically and reliably – whether hot or cold. This new solution addresses a demand expressed by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), which has incorporated its use into Formula E’s regulations. It also meets a requirement of the teams and the championship’s promoter.
Michelin Track Connect for Formula E uses a Michelin-designed and developed sensor embedded in a specific casing inside the MICHELIN Pilot Sport tyres which feature in the series. The data it collects is transmitted in encrypted form to the FIA and Michelin, who are the only recipients. Not only does this make sure that the information remains confidential, but it also allows the FIA to check minimum tyre pressures are adhered to. In addition to saving time, it is additional reassurance for the teams and helps to streamline the running of race days.