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DUVAL: "brand new technology makes it easy to make big steps"

PHOTO: theedrive.com

F  RMULA

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Formula E, DTM & Endurance racer, Loic Duval, shares his views where Formula E could go, and how he sees its development road 

21/9/2018

How do you look at the development of Formula E cars so far?
- From season one until now, the cars are more-less the same. They changed the batteries and, for sure, there is more power, and you can do more laps and distance by using similar energy, which was a big step. There is a massive step coming with one car, more power, and you will be able to run for a much longer period of time. 
 

Development is good, a I think that from now on it should be a bit quicker, you don't need to wait for three years to have a new generation, especially because it's a brand new technology, so it's quite easy to make big steps at the beginning. The impact on the generation will be bigger and the car will be quicker and for a long period of time.
 

More, and more factory teams are joining Formula E. Is that a good thing?
- Formula E has everything going for it at the moment. All the politics and cities are pushing for the all-electric, and that's why you see all the constructors involved, because in terms of marketing and communication, it's a good platform, but let's see how much the 'electric' will take over the rest of the energy in the future in cars in general. 
 

That is something that we have to look at. At the moment it has the momentum, and I think it's good to have manufacturers involved. I believe that Formula E is something parallel. In my point of view, it's not 100% of the future, because I don't think it will be fully electric everywhere, but it will work, and it works already, and it is important for the cities and their centers to have electric cars.
 

If I was a manufacturer, I wouldn't put everything I got into Formula E, because I believe it won't be everything. It will be a part of it, there are hybrids, and hydrogen and we will have something else.
 

How do you think that the years you spent in Formula E made you change your driving style or the way you approach racing?
- I had a mix already with Endurance racing, about saving energy and it was not such a massive change. It was the first edition of the car, so the brakes were not ideal, we had an improvement on that, the braking is better now, and I think that the main difference is the braking efficiency, and also the tires. Michelin have made some tires that can last for a long period of time, in dry and wet conditions, and they were different to everything I raced with before. 
 

We are all used to race in city tracks, which is great - having the walls as a reference is always cool, and the racing itself, when coming from Endurance, knowing how to save energy it was not like night and day, but still different.

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