HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN EVER-CHANGING CHALLENGE

“When a Formula E track is made, each time walls move a little bit – they’re not absolutely identically in the same place compared to the previous year.” These are the words of Envision Virgin Racing FE racer Sam Bird, explaining the challenge teams and drivers face when they arrive at whichever street track – some in city centres, some on industrial estates, some at purpose-built facilities, some on nondescript coastal access roads (looking at you, Sanya) – the electric championship is racing at on a given weekend.

Unlike the dedicated circuits constructed around the globe for almost every other form of motor racing, FE tracks are different every time. In this series, the calendar is constantly fluctuating, there is new city infrastructure to negotiate, surfaces change – sometimes subtly, sometimes massively. As Bird says, even if a layout map is essentially unchanged, an apex-hugging wall can be a