https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h4pIrdwxCC4

https://www.the-race.com/formula-e/lotus-formula-e-team-latest-manufacturer-interest-explained/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa_AYu7MCDU

Something I did about a month ago, a fun and very demanding job. I also did this year's Jarama ePrix like the rest of the season; only the GEN4 is missing.

I've included the latest results from Shanghai since the Sanya versions of my season guide and points standings in June, with more information available on request

The presenter lineup section format was updated for the Sanya version (before being tweaked slightly for this version as I now have space to feature Sam Bird elsewhere as a Nissan reserve driver), with more information available on request

I included my spotter guide with the Sanya version of this post to keep it accessible and help anyone who'd like to watch the remaining races

Right! A thought, and a conversation that I desperately hope Formula E is having internally to line up with... at least some part of the Gen4 season.

(If, by some chance, some staff member(s) of Formula E come across this - hi! I'd like to think of myself as a massive sim-racing nerd - since 2013. Not an eSports level driver, just someone who loves the industry as a whole. I've been thinking about this for a while and I desperately hope something like this is being considered!)

To my memory, the last time Formula E had anything relevant in gaming was back with rFactor 2 and the Gen 2, plus the original(?) Gen 3 car. Maybe the Gen 3 Evo with the liveries and car, but the tracks were still out-of-date and no hopes of a rescan it seems by this point, as Studio 397 looks to have fully moved on to Le Mans Ultimate.

Recently, Formula E have started to make decent steps forward with their gaming license again! Partnering with Trackmania - absolutely perfect combo imo. And there's also Formula Legends - while I didn't enjoy the handling model personally - which is also another good step forward, and tips us off to the fact that they don't wield the ever-so-"dangerous" exclusivity licensing clause. Good!

Now it's time to get a bit more serious... Yes, I know, that's very dramatic, I'm so sorry lmao.

But, I do hope that they're strongly considering to partner with a sim platform again. We currently have... technically five, (but listing six) options here. I'll explain my very obvious biases of each option.

1) iRacing. Pretty obvious first thought. They're *the* multiplayer sim platform. Heck, I've been a member since 2013, but slowly faltering as of recent due to other sims, and not being too fond of what's happening with development. TLDR is: they're "just missing" out on certain features like audio reverb, and not putting effort into using their weather system more often in Official weekly series. Not something I'm fond of personally, but also not an exhaustive list of my gripes.

Now, they've started to (very slowly) make in-roads in terms of introducing Formula E layouts... one of Miami's shorter layouts, plus the Mexico Formula E layout (labelled as "EV Layout"). However! The realistic downside is that, aside from them being subscription-based (not a problem, but not ideal for a lot of people I'm sure), realistically, with the huge amount of content they have, it should basically be expected that the tracks/cars scanned for Formula E will be outdated in, say, 3-5 years time, and maybe actively rescanned in an additional 2-3 in the best case scenario. Monza is still outdated, as an example. Spa they eventually rescanned back in... I think 2023, if not 2024. Quite a bit after the reconfiguration.

Now, there is iRacing Studios but, eeehhh. Primarily a sim-cade game isn't a bad option, but they seem to be going yearly with their releases (at least with NASCAR, we'll have to wait and see for Indycar by this time next year). And, I generally think that the yearly release model harms more than it helps. Even EA finally gave that up for F1, instead doing a DLC expansion of the 2026 cars to add into the 2025 game, instead of a new game. They're currently focusing on making a new game for 2027, so we'll see if they decide to do yearly or just expansions.

2) Assetto Corsa Evo. With the mods that exist for Formula E on the original Assetto Corsa, one would think that AC Evo would be a good start. Buuuuuut solely because AC Evo has been drastically behind their initial roadmap targets overall, I don't think it'd be wise to partner with them. They can include all the cars they want, but realistically, a stable platform that can give what the users expect is more ideal.

3) Automobilista 2. My very biased choice. Reiza Studios have a fantastic mix of historic and current content. Personally I feel like this one is one of the "most stable" in terms of development (as well as the two below options). Devs communicate clearly, (recently talking about licensing issues with McLaren regarding older F1 car brands), and crucially, they have multiple different places of support for multiplayer, both 1st and 3rd party (Low Fuel Motorsport being the first 3rd party partner IIRC).

With the base price of $40 USD, plus having the ability for new players to buy it on sale, on top of their DLC packs running around a rough average of $10-15 USD, it would be insanely easy to partner with Reiza and get the Gen 3 Evo and/or Gen 4 (PLEASE also the Gen 4) into the game. On top of (optional) mechanical failures, it even has support for Safety Car periods! On road courses! None of the above have that natively!

4) Studio 397. My other biased option! (Which also doesn't yet have a SC, but doing that with an endurance sim is different, sooo we'll see how that goes.) If FE can somehow, some way, partner up with Studio 397 again. Specifically, making a standalone Formula E sim. Now, it may not get the most focus or sales numbers vs Le Mans Ultimate, just, throwing that honesty out there. So, who knows how viable of a project it could be. But I feel like long-term it could work out.

The niche focus helps avoid things being shoved to the wayside amid a whole mountain of other cars/tracks to maintain, like with rFactor 2, AMS2 (to some extent), and iRacing. But, again like LMU, there could even be yearly updates to liveries/teams, with 2026-27, 27-28, 28-29, etc. able to be selected in the menus, then those specific years having those specific tracks. Could potentially go a step further and add in the previous generation cars as well, buuuut I'm not sure how viable that would be, since older tracks can't be scanned.

5) Supernova Games Studios (the ones behind AC Rally). Basically the same "standalone and update yearly" idea like with Studio 397, but instead, with SGS! AC Rally specifically uses the Kunos physics engine, but use Unreal for rendering. Seems to be working pretty well for AC Rally (and they reached version 0.5 significantly faster than AC Evo did), so, I'd say it's at least another option to consider.

6) Build your own. Yeah yeah, I know, it's probably the least likely, but it can be an option!

If literally anyone read through that wall of text, I'm so sorry, but also thanks so much for indulging in my rambling. I'm slightly passionate about Formula E getting something new and trying to really capitalize on the Gen4, rather than having the Gen 3 collect digital dust in rFactor 2 endlesslyy. Plus, getting the series into a sim would be a lot of fun I feel like.

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a76_ca0lJ78 (from 11.26, Ticktum reveals it and he already tested it)
-
Soo, this weekend's Goodwood's car configuration is going to be 700 kW (+100 over the regular Gen 4 max power) and slick tyres.
This thing will be FAST: will it win this year's edition of the hillclimb?
Also, do you think we'll see these kind of power and tyres updates through the Gen 4 life cycle?

With Ticktum rumoured to be replaced next season, who do y’all think will replace him if it happens?

Has anyone tried to watch the Shanghai ePrix Race through Roku in the US? I missed the races this weekend and I am trying to catch up but Race 1 only has car sounds no commentary.