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Wolff: "Formula E is a serious motorsport player"

Published on 15 Aug 2017 16:55
15
By: Sam Gale

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said that Formula E has the potential to become a serious motorsport player in the future. This comes after Mercedes' announcement that they are pulling out of DTM at the the end of the 2018 season to focus their efforts on coming into Formula E.

The move from Mercedes mirrors a number of different constructors who are either already in Formula E such as citroen and Renault, with BMW and Porsche to join in the coming years. It is becoming increasingly important for major car manufacturers to be interested in electric technology for their cars, with the ban of petrol and diesel in 2040 in France and the UK, and Formula E is a perfect way for them to test electric power.

Toto Wolff has maintained that Mercedes' decision to join the series was an opportunity that they could not ignore. He said on the matter: "Electrification is happening as we speak, the technology [in Formula E] is very immature and the racing series is very immature. But they have a very charismatic energised entrepreneur who runs the series, who has against all odds been able to attract all major German premium car manufacturers into the series.

"I would not be surprised if in three, four, five years Formula E is something totally different, and all of us might be sitting in a room like this and talking about the Formula E race. I think it's important to have that mindset that things are changing and probably we can't anticipate in which way things are changing. I also like the ten-cylinder [petrol] engine, but I'm not sure that in five years anybody else is going to like it apart from us."

He went on to say how the series could mirror the Tesla brands' growth in recent years saying: "Five years ago a Tesla was a Lotus Elise with a big battery in the boot. Today it is a serious automotive player. So Formula E for us is an exciting start-up.

"It has event character, it's urban. It attracts totally different audiences to what traditional motorsports do, and in our strategy, we cover the global platform that is Formula One and we cover the start-up that Formula E is today, in order to learn about it, how it develops and maybe that Lotus Elise is going to become a serious motorsport player in five years."

Sam Gale

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332

Its a very compelling series for everyone, except for the viewers and Motor race fans.

1
Aug 15 2017 - 17:03

FE News Susie Wolff Lotus F1 Mercedes Renault BMW

Replies (15)

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
Its a very compelling series for everyone, except for the viewers and Motor race fans.
- + 1
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:03
talktohenry

Posts: 362
What a load of utter bull, without the noise and an engine, it will never be real Motorsport, it may be the future for cars, but it's crap for racing cars............
- + 1
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:33
talktohenry

Posts: 362
What a load of rubbish, it may be the future for cars on the road, but for Motorsport, it's never going the be the real thing and attract petrol heads!
- + 1
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:35
talktohenry

Posts: 362
fdf
- + 0
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:35
talktohenry

Posts: 362
What a load of bull, it may be the future for cars on the road, but for Motorsport, it's never going the be the real thing and attract petrol heads!
- + 0
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:35
talktohenry

Posts: 362
What a load of hot air, it may be the future for cars on the road, but for Motorsport, it's never going the be the real thing and attract petrol heads!
- + 0
- Aug 15 2017 - 17:36
talktohenry

Posts: 362
bull
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- Aug 15 2017 - 17:36
mbmwe36

Posts: 533
No, it's not, actually. It is, however, a great branding opportunity - theoretically, anyway. Because I'm not so sure treehuggers care about motorsport one way or the other.
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- Aug 15 2017 - 19:28
StigsSon

Posts: 35
Toto Wolff just lost ALL credibility.
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- Aug 15 2017 - 19:35
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
Tell us what you really think T2H! Petrol heads and ICEs are going the way of the dinosaurs. Old fans are the ones who care about the noise and they will eventually fade away, and new younger fans of motor racing or cities hosting races don't really care about or want loud cars in the streets. My main gripes with FE is that they have to change cars and the street circuits they race on don't allow any overtaking so we can see some real racing. That will all change as the series evolves and hopefully we'll see them on traditional F1 tracks soon. Like it or not, there are already more manufacturers in FE than in F1 so it will be the future of motor racing.
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- Aug 15 2017 - 21:40
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
Tell us what you really think T2H! Petrol heads and ICEs are going the way of the dinosaurs. Old fans are the ones who care about the noise and they will eventually fade away, and new younger fans of motor racing or cities hosting races don't really care about or want loud cars in the streets. My main gripes with FE is that they have to change cars and the street circuits they race on don't allow any overtaking so we can see some real racing. That will all change as the series evolves and hopefully we'll see them on traditional F1 tracks soon. Like it or not, there are already more manufacturers in FE than in F1 so it will be the future of motor racing.
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- Aug 15 2017 - 21:40
- StigsSon
  
  Posts: 35
  Motor racing is and always has been, using a combustion engine. When that ends, it will be the death of motor racing. So no, it wont be the future of motor racing as it wont be motor racing.
  + 1
  
  Aug 16 2017 - 01:13
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  Take a screenshot of that comment. It will be proven wrong so massively that it will be amusing to read it in the future. We all love Formula 1. Formula E is still not we're it needs to be. But it will be. Furthermore, they do a vastly better job at reaching out to the fans. Races are well attended. The show is good and getting better. It's stupid to think that it's fanatical old school stupid petrol heads that keep Formula 1 alive. That's actually the past. The future is elsewhere
  + 1
  
  Aug 16 2017 - 01:53
JoeGreen84

Posts: 30
Christ i didnt think i would see such a bunch of narrow minded, old fashioned comments. What Toto is saying is bang on the money. Everything is changing and with emission regulations and environmental concerns the ONLY way to go is EV whether you like it or not. Yes it may be a few years off so you still get your ever so precious Loud (because thats all anyone seems to care about) F1 for a while yet. EV's will overtake ICE vehicles. There is no question of that. And at that point we will see who the true motor racing fans are. I being a massive F1 fan who has been to formula E event am thoroughly looking forward to it. I just wish more people would embrace such a ground breaking series instead of just bashing it all the time
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- Aug 16 2017 - 08:58
Freguz

Posts: 160
Or he might even be totally wrong, electricity is not all that good!

I think fuel cell cars willl be the next thing, Formula H (hydrogen) :-D
- + 0
- Aug 16 2017 - 12:30
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Fuel cell cars is such a disappointing thing. It appears to have it all, efficiency, decent power, and all that the cars let out is water. Yet only 2 manufacturers produce such cars, and they can only be used in some areas, since hydrogen isnt very readily available. No idea how costly or enviromentally friendly it is to extract hydrogen though.
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  Aug 16 2017 - 18:40