The Notebook: Diriyah

Get the inside line for Diriyah with insights powered by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Fierce, uncompromising, and unforgiving. The Diriyah E-Prix is Formula E’s toughest challenge and takes drivers on an undulating rollercoaster-like ride through the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

Relentless by nature, only the fearless win on the Riyadh Street Circuit, and this weekend, the venue plays host to the first double-header event of Season 9.

As Maserati MSG Racing’s Racing Director, Jérémy Colançon is a paddock authority, and as a two-time Engineer of the Year Award winner, is a leading technical figure in Formula E.

With insights powered by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the four-time World Championship winner highlights every aspect of performance for the second race weekend of 2023.

Energy Saving: Because there are a lot of high-speed corners which require drivers to lift, the Riyadh Street Circuit is quite light in terms of energy consumption. Although this means that it’s easy for teams to meet saving targets, the reduced need to recover energy means that it can be quite difficult to overtake. This increases the importance of achieving a good result in qualifying in Diriyah.

Overtaking: Despite it being quite difficult to pass in Diriyah, one of the best places to overtake is in Turn 18, which is the site of the majority of action during a race weekend. Attack Mode will play a key role throughout both races of the double-header and deploying the additional power at the right time will be extremely important when trying to make up ground.

Tyre Management: As we saw in Mexico City, tyre management is a key aspect of Formula E’s Gen3 era of racing, and in Diriyah, it will also be a factor. From the moment we first take to the track, it will be important to manage the tyres correctly so we have good, consistent temperatures within the optimal window. Because Diriyah is a night event, we will also need to adapt our approach during the weekend, especially with qualifying and the race taking place in very different conditions. From a tyre management perspective, we must make sure that we are always making the right decisions.

Double-Header: The Diriyah E-Prix is the first double-header event of Season 9, and although we will contest two races, the running order will still be very hard to predict. If a team has a difficult first day, a double-header presents a window to improve performance before the second race but on the contrary, a good performance in Race One requires a team to find further gains ahead of Race Two. To maximise these conditions, we will need to operate with a degree of versatility, adaptability, and work with complete focus. This will help us to improve our knowledge of Gen3.

Strategy and Safety Cars: Because the Riyadh Street Circuit is very fast and extremely technical, we often see drivers make mistakes, and this means that there is a high chance of Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods. Each neutralisation leads to a race extension by a handful of laps and can therefore play a huge role. Amidst this evolution, it is extremely important to have a good energy saving strategy during the race, and with the help of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, we can react rapidly to new information which adds insight and improves our real-time decision making.