Formula E returns to the historic Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, its most permanent fixture on the calendar. Parc Femme joined Jake Dennis, Antonio Felix da Costa and Norman Nato in the media pen to discuss the importance of FP1 in their preparations for a race weekend.

Across both single and double header weekends, Free Practice 1 usually takes place the afternoon before a race. A 40-minute-long session, which, although it is timed, doesn’t influence the running order of qualifying or the race.

But what is the first focus point of a FP1 session for a Formula E driver?

“I think ultimately just to make sure the car has no fundamental issues.” Jake Dennis answered in the Friday media pen. “Just to make sure every paddle works, making sure the brakes are in the correct window where they need to be. The first window is always a bit of a warmup for the driver, as well, you know.”

Last time out in Berlin saw mixed results, DNFing in the first race before finishing second the next day. Dennis went on to say, “We’ve done all the simulator work, we know the track well. First couple of laps, we’ll just be making sure the car switches on. Then we can really focus on the performance side quite quickly.”

Heading into Berlin after a double race win in Jeddah, Antonio Felix da Costa noted that “FP1 is a checklist for us. Every track we arrive with a different setup, to see if the car is in a good place.” He added, “We will always tweak it a bit more, understeer or oversteer. But just understanding that the setup that we chose to arrive is the right one.”

The historic airfield presents a unique track surface. Originally designed for aircraft, the concrete slab-based surface is one of the most unique challenges in Formula E.

Norman Nato told Parc Femme, “You have a really limited amount of push laps you can do. So it’s quite important to do them when tyres are in a correct window. Otherwise, you don’t have a proper read of the tyres and the car balance.”

How much running time do the drivers actually get?

Despite the session being 40-minutes-long, there was a consensus about how much actual running time the drivers get to complete.

Nato noted that “ it’s pretty limited in terms of amount of push laps you can do. Sometimes it’s a five, six, seven maximum, so it’s not a lot. On top of it, you also have to take some information for the race.” 

Felix da Costa also agreed, “We don’t get a lot of laps to do all of this. Understanding the tyres, what tyre pressures, what kind of tyre warm up we’re gonna need. So there’s a lot of things to get done in half an hour.” The Jaguar TCS driver went on to add, “We actually only get like six or seven push laps, so it’s very busy inside the car.”

The Formula E calendar boasts a mixture of single and double-header race weekends. Free Practice 1 remains a constant across both of these.

However, do the drivers have a different plan depending on whether there is one race or two?

“In terms of FP1, it really doesn’t change anything. It’s more like the amount of work you have to do is actually double. Also, like the different races, one with pit boost, one with no pit boost, makes the preparation even more difficult at the workshop.” Norman Nato said in the media pen. “It’s tough physically, mentally, it’s very demanding, but FP1 doesn’t change anything.”

Felix da Costa also noted, “We just try and do as much as we can, even on double headers. You wanna do as well as possible on day 1. The second day, trying to foresee what the track is gonna do to the car with more rubber on the track, anticipate the car balance.”

Ten teams make up the grid for Season 12, with each utilising different race strategies across a race weekend.

How much do the drivers work together as a team, and do they compare data collected in a Practice session?

“Yeah, we’re generally working together throughout the whole session, you know, we generally go into the session with a plan.” Jake Dennis told Parc Femme. “Both cars will either be executing the same plan or slightly differently. You’re fully aware of what Felipe is doing, and it’s then up to the driver and the engineer to kind of go into the finer details of what exactly they wanna work on.”

Norman Nato went on to say, “You just go corner by corner from braking to exit. Also, looking at tyre temperature, trying to compare. Like if on both cars we had something different to try to learn from each other and make the package faster.” He also added, “Sometimes having like two different setups because I felt something better or I felt more comfortable with this setup.”

Do the drivers use last year’s data to help prepare for this weekend?

Last year’s edition of the Berlin e-Prix saw a calendar clash with the World Endurance Championship. Norman Nato was one of those drivers affected, meaning he missed out on the Berlin e-Prix in Season 11. Slightly disadvantaged compared to others on the grid, we asked if he looks back at last year’s data to help prepare.

“First of all, with the layout it’s slightly different than what I drove two years ago. Otherwise, no, I’m not the kind of guy that’s really looking at the data, I’m more looking at onboard videos in general.” He went on to add, “I kind of like to go into FP1, really nothing in my head, so I want to judge the grip and the car balance by myself.”