JEFF DODDS says Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton would struggle to win races in Formula E right away.
Dodds is the CEO of the radical motor sport series paving the way for the future, with cars all powered by electricity.
This season’s FE cars are now accelerating to 100 kilometres in 1.8 seconds, which is 30 per cent faster than F1 cars
Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds says within five-years FE cars will be beating F1 cars around Monaco
Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen could one day dip his toes in Formula E
Germany’s Maximilian Gunther won in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this season
SunSport’s F1 reporter Isabelle Barker went behind-the-scenes at the double-header in Tokyo this weekend to see what the series is all about.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Dodds says “never say never” to four-time world F1 champion Verstappen one day burning rubber in an electric car.
When asked if Hamilton or Verstappen would have instant success in the series, he said: “I’m almost sure they wouldn’t because driving the cars are different.
“It isn’t a natural translation from driving a petrol car, a combustion car, to driving an electric car.
“We have to regenerate our battery, so we’re braking and slowing to put power back into the battery. They accelerate differently, the gearing is different.”
Dodds is good pals with Red Bull driver Verstappen, who has made it clear that he wants to dip his toes in other areas of motor racing in the future.
The Dutchman recently used a fake name of ‘Franz Hermann’ to shatter the Nurburgring lap record in a Ferrari.
Dodds added: “I know Max, I’m a massive fan of Max. He’s a generational talent.
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“If Max came across and stuck at it for a few years, I think there’s a very good chance he’d be the best Formula E driver ever.
“But he wouldn’t show up and be the best Formula E driver ever instantly.
“There’s too many of the most talented drivers in the world that have been racing these cars for years.
“Max and I have spoken a few times. I had a bet on Max last year, which was pretty well publicised that he would win the title.
“It came through but he and I decided to give the money in equal parts to his charity.
“Max just loves to race, anything with an engine, motor or even sim racing.
“He loves to race, he loves to win, he’s a generational talent. He’s being paid an awful lot of money to race in F1.
“He’s unlikely to give up his chance at becoming an eight time world champion and that money simply to go and try something else.
“The only thing I would say with Max is, never say never because he doesn’t follow the rules.
“If anyone was going to say, ‘hey, screw this, I just want to go and try something else’ it could be Max. He’s very much his own man.”
HORSE-POWER
Ex F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has been heavily critical of FE and once described the cars as “lawnmowers”.
This season’s cars are now accelerating to 100 kilometres in 1.8 seconds, which is 30 per cent faster than F1 cars.
The series obviously has sustainability and location on its side with races held in some of the world’s most breathtaking cities from Mexico City to Tokyo, London, Monaco and more.
For a UK motor sport fan the cost of a FE weekend is enough to lure you in, with a grandstand pass for a double-header weekend in Berlin at just £104, for example.
Or you can bag a one day grandstand ticket with a hotel included from £100 – £124 depending on the Saturday or Sunday race day.
To put that into perspective with F1, a grandstand weekend ticket at Silverstone can cost a whopping £309 to £909.
CAN HEAR A PIN DROP
The elephant in the room though and of the greatest traits that sets F1 apart from other sports is the ear-piercing sounds of V12 and V10 engines.
Which makes the sound, or lack thereof in electric cars a hot topic in FE and something die-hard motor sport fans continue to scoff at.
But the old-school, predominantly male fan-base is not the market which FE is targeting, with half of the fan base being women.
The sound is similar to a high-pitched whirring noise and there are benefits to the quieter atmosphere.
Races are able to take place sometimes smack bang in the middle of the world’s best cities.
You can also hear every crunch and clank when the cars collide, which makes crashes all the more dramatic.
And there have been plenty of crashes at that, just not fiery ones due to the lack of fuel.
Also the prime locations mean for a race like Tokyo you can hop on the subway and travel just a few stops to the Big Sight centre where the race is held.
F1 fans may be haunted with flashbacks to sitting in hours of traffic en route to Silverstone or Spa in the peeing down rain for the Belgian Grand Prix.
NEW AUDIENCE
Dodds said: “We have about 400 million fans around the world. Half of them male, half of them female.
“That’s very unusual for motor sport, and half of them are under the age of 40.
“The reason we attract a slightly different audience is because we don’t bring all of that tradition and history that comes with maybe F1 or Indy car.
“The cars are ridiculously fast. The quality of racing is very high impact, very wheel-to-wheel.
“It’s all thrills, all spills. There’s an enormous amount of activity you can go and do, music concerts.
“It’s family day out but the quality of racing that underpins it is absolutely top class.
“You can hear each other speak. You don’t get drowned out or burst your eardrums.”
GREEN FLAG
One thing that makes you sit up and take note is that the entire FE paddock, including all the teams, for the whole season is less than the emissions for one whole F1 team for a season.
There are typically no pit stops, because the drivers don’t change tyres, for the sake of sustainability.
The tyres are are all-weather for sustainability reasons so need to perform on sizzling hot tracks like Jakarta as well as street tracks and in the rain.
Race teams only bring with them two sets for a single header while F1 teams can take around 12-13 different sets for a weekend.
Dodds added: “Everything we do is zero emission. So not only do you get to watch an amazing race, you get to look in the mirror and feel good about it.”
STAR STUDDED LINE UP
Currently the most well known name in the series is former F1 driver Nyck de Vries who competed for Williams and Alpha Tauri.
But the series has attracted the likes of Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate turned rival Nico Rosberg,
Dodds added: “I’m not sure if Lewis Hamilton retires and then decides he wants to come and do a couple of seasons in Formula E.
“It might bring Lewis Hamilton fans to come and have a look. I don’t think it’s transformative for our sport.”
There is one more season of the current car but next year the series’ new car will be launched which is set to have twice the power.
Dodds added: “I’m very confident that within five years, around Monaco, our cars will be beating F1 cars.
“That might not translate immediately to more popularity because I don’t think you can just rewrite history.
“You can’t erase, and neither should we, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Emerson Fittipaldi.
“You can’t erase McLaren and Mercedes’ history in F1, there’s a legacy that comes with that and so it should, but our technology will surpass it, there’s no question about it.”
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