MotorLat’s exclusive Interview with Stoffel Vandoorne – Part 2 | FE new regulations “will be trickier in the race” but “it is great to have some changes.”
MotorLat interviewed in exclusive Mercedes’ F1 test driver, FE driver and also driver for Jota Sport in WEC. We have talked about his successes and goals in the Electric category with Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
The exclusive interview MotorLat had with Stoffel Vandoorne goes on and this time we focus on Formula E.
In case you missed the first part, please click here:
The Belgian driver can definitely be satisfied with his 2021 in Formula E. Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team has been able to win the Constructors Title at its second season in the sport and this achievement was a result of a number of great performances from both the team and its drivers. Stoffel’s adventure on electric cars started back in 2019 and he has been consistent since the beginning. In its exclusive interview with him, MotorLat talked about his successes and impressions on the new regulations.
Formula E is a challenging category, as it has narrow street circuits to regularly race on. We asked Stoffel if he likes narrow streets or if it leads to too much contact between cars:
“I love the street circuits, they are my favourite ones! – he replies immediately – As a driver, you can always make a little bit more of a difference. Sometimes you get your reward when you take a little bit more risk, getting a little bit closer to the wall, push harder. Is true that on some circuits I’ve been through this year there has been too much contact. Some streets produce very good races and some others are more tricky. London was a very tricky one for contact but there are others like Saudi, like Rome, that are very good for racing, it’s possible to have great overtaking and beautiful races among those streets.”
2021 has been quite a season for him, in Rome Vandoorne scored his second win in the category. How special was for Stoffel that weekend?
“I liked the victory in Rome, I got my first podium in FE there in 2019 so it was already one of my favourite circuits, – he reveals to MotorLat – That time I got the pole in the quali but something went wrong in the race but this time I managed to bring that victory home. It was a great day and a great achievement. Hopefully there are many more to come.”
Firing up your week with some @svandoorne content⁰🔥⁰⁰#WeDriveTheCity⁰#drivenbyEQ⁰#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/FX8ndAs4TR
— Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team (@MercedesEQFE) October 25, 2021
Last season, Mercedes won the Constructors’ Championship thanks to his third place in Berlin too. Vandoorne was also one of the contenders for the title after an up and down season for almost everyone. We are curious to know if he does think he could have done something differently to win.
“I think that as a team we need to be very happy to win the Constructors’ Championship at our second year in this category. Everyone did a great job, the drivers too – just like myself – brought home a good number of podiums. We are satisfied with what we achieved and we have to be very proud of that.”
Focusing on the regulations, the eighth season of the Formula E Championship will experiment a change to the qualifying format, an increasing of power in both race mode and attack mode. Does he think it could be a good change, especially for the title contenders in the series?
“I think the new qualifying system will bring new consistency in the championship and hopefully we will see more attack. Every weekend we see always the same faces, the same drivers on the front fighting it out and it is good to have something that increases the competition, – he explains – I think that creating a story for the championship, creating a proper fight between the title contenders will be very good, very consistent. For the increase in power, it will be trickier in the race, in terms of energy management. It will be consuming more energy, tyre management will be more complicated as well as we’re going to wear them out more but overall, I think it is great to have some changes.”
