Six things we learned from Formula E pre-season testing

The first extensive tests of the Formula E Gen3 car took place this week in Valencia, just a month away from the start of Season 9 in Mexico City. Over three full days, a simulated race and an extra hour-long jaunt on a scheduled media day, some teams rode nearly 600 laps and more than 2,000 kilometers to figure out what the news is all about. cars are capable. The week was not without incident, of course, but Formula E co-founder and championship director Alberto Longo said the sessions had been "very successful".

"Teams and drivers are obviously still learning and integrating the new system," Longo explained. "We know [going] from Gen2 to Gen3 is a lot harder to navigate than from Gen 1 to Gen 2, so it's great to see we're already a lot faster than where we were with Gen2."

After this week's testing in Spain, here are the main things we learned about Formula E's Gen3 debut next month.

Gen3 cars look great on the track

I'll be the first to admit that when Formula E unveiled the Gen3 car in Monaco last April, I was a little skeptical of the bold new look. Once the teams started revealing their final liveries ahead of the Valencia trials, I started to see the potential. All the teams have released clips this week and Formula E has also compiled images, showing that the new cars indeed look great on the track despite their jet fighter design.

The Gen3 car is still not much faster than Gen2

When the Gen3 car was first unveiled, one of the main points raised by Formula E was how quickly the new version would be. This included a top speed of up to 200MPH. Of course, the speed depends on a number of factors, including the circuit, but on paper the new cars should be much faster than the Gen2 EVs. In the first practice session of the week, Maserati MSG Racing's Maximilian Günther set the official best time of 1:26.096, slower than the fastest lap in Valencia testing last year in the Gen2 car of 1:25.763. The fastest lap this week came when Günther clocked 1:25.127 on the final day.

"When developing a new car, it's really important to collect as much data as possible and get a good idea of ​​the car, and I think we've achieved that over the past few days," said Gunther. "Now we just need to refine some aspects of our performance and continue our preparations ahead of the first race of the season in Mexico."

Maserati MSG Racing

With Gen3 cars being lighter and more powerful, an extra 100kW to be exact, you would expect lap times to drop compared to the previous generation. However, with limited testing, particularly of the new tyres, the teams have yet to dial in their setups to take full advantage of the new cars. Hankook told The Racethat some riders experienced the new compound "for the first time in their lives" during the first session in Valencia.

New tires pose a challenge

For the first eight seasons, Formula E used Michelin tyres. Starting with season 9, however, the series moves to Hankook. Specifically, it switched to a more sustainable compound that aligns with Formula E's green initiatives. 30% of new tires are made from more environmentally friendly materials like natural rubber. The challenge for Hankook is not only that the tire must be better for the Earth, it must also perform well in wet and dry conditions since Formula E only uses one compound.

Autosport reports that Hankook tested "maybe even 80 different specs...