Analysis after Pit Boost debut with fast-charging pitstops in Formula E: A solid start, but a little too much

There was much speculation about the new fast-charging pit stops in the run-up to the race, and it largely turned out as expected. At Friday's Formula E race in Jeddah, all 22 drivers pitted for their first Pit Boost. The new technology appeared to work without any major problems, although some drivers expressed doubts about that. But for many spectators and even those directly involved, it was difficult to understand what was happening on the track. An analysis.

On lap 14 of the first Jeddah race, Taylor Barnard, Jake Hughes and Antonio Felix da Costa came into the pit lane for the first Pit Boosts in Formula E history. Their cars were recharged with 3.85 kWh (10%) in a minimum stop time of 34 seconds, after which they continued without incident. All three drivers immediately went into Attack Mode to close the gap to the field.

The first pit boost has been taken 🙌

How will it play out at the #JeddahEPrix? pic.twitter.com/DMLn3Z8sIb

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 14, 2025

Over the course of the race, the other drivers also made their mandatory pit stop, which had to be completed with a battery level of between 40 and 60 per cent. This completely shuffled the order in the field. Of course, spectators are be familiar with this from other racing series such as Formula 1 And experience has shown that they are perfectly capable of understanding which drivers were previously fighting for victory and how the new intermediate standings should be interpreted. In other series, however, there is no Attack Mode.

On Friday, this meant that even the teams and drivers found it difficult to understand exactly what was going on. Max Günther, for example, lost numerous positions due to the Pit Boost and confessed his astonishment after the race. He stopped later than the drivers who had initially been behind him, but then drove significantly faster in Attack Mode. In the end, Günther was able to use his energy advantage and late Attack Mode to win the race. But during the race, it was hard to see whether DS Penske's plan would work out.

Rowland: "Honestly have no idea what happened"

"I think it's really cool to have these kinds of different races because the dynamics are very different", Günther praised the Pit Boost to Motorsport.com after the race. "We will see a completely different kind of race (on Saturday)," and that's how it turned out. Günther's conclusion is positive: "It brings another exciting element for the fans, for us in the car, for the engineers and teams in the garage. I really think it's a great addition to the championship."

Oliver Rowland, who finished Friday's race (only) in second place because he had used a little too much energy in Attack Mode after his Pit Boost, admits to The Race: "I honestly have no idea what happened (in that phase)." On the one hand, there are drivers who pit early to protect themselves from a later safety car. On the other hand, others stay out longer because a Full Course Yellow phase is more likely. According to Rowland, this splits the field into two halves.

Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths, however, says: "Obviously we didn't quite have two groups of cars coming in, but also a third and then maybe the rest, so it was a bit difficult to follow because people had different Attack Mode strategies. From my point of view, it was really difficult to know what the actual order was and where we were going to end up. It was only five laps after the pit stop that you could get a better idea of the situation," he explains.

Safety car & Full Course Yellow: "We'll have a few problems"

The chaos was already big during the pit stop window. But it could get worse in the future - after all, there wasn't even an additional factor like a safety car phase in Jeddah that would have further mixed up the field.

"It was a pretty clean race," Rowland told Motorsport.com. "I think we will have a few problems when Full Course Yellows or safety cars come out (during pit stops). I think it will take a bit of time (for Formula E to adapt to the new feature)."

Drivers suspect Pit Boost as the cause of battery faults

Apart from the strategic component of the Pit Boost, the focus was also on the new fast-charging technology itself. According to our information, the charging with 600 kW of power (!) worked well, which deserves a positive mention. No battery burst into flames, no fast charger failed. "This shows the progress of Formula E in terms of technology", says Günther.

Nonetheless, there were some battery failures over the weekend, including Dan Ticktum and - even twice - Jake Dennis. Although the cause of this was not yet clear on Friday evening, the Andretti driver said: "The battery has now undergone two Pit Boosts. Once during the first practice session in Jarama - it exploded. And now we have just done one and it has exploded again. That's not good."

Kiro driver Ticktum also criticised the new technology after a battery error during his pit stop required a complete reset of the car. "It wouldn't charge because there was some kind of problem (...) so I had to reset the car", said the Briton at Motorsport.com.

"The fact that you can charge a battery so quickly without it catching fire is a very important technology for the electric car market. It just has to work more or less every time", Ticktum clarifies. If it doesn"t, and it isn't fully mature, then we have to give it up - it's as simple as that. So I think it's great in itself, but I don't give a f**k if it messes up my races."

Comment from Timo Pape: "Pit Boost gets out of control along with Attack Mode"

We still don't know whether the battery errors were related to the Pit Boost. But regardless of this, occasional defects are part and parcel of such a sophisticated new technology. It is not without reason that motorsport, and Formula E in particular, is repeatedly described as a testing ground for new road transport technologies. It is understandable that Ticktum and Dennis are angry, but the technology seems to be sufficiently mature.

As far as the clarity of the race was concerned, however, I agree with Griffiths and Rowland. It was difficult for us in the editorial team to understand exactly what was happening during the Pit Boost window. You can't expect the casual fan to do that. In my opinion, however, the crux of the matter is not the Pit Boost, but the combination with the Attack Mode. The extra power causes the action on the track to get out of control. The chaos was a bit too much.

An obvious solution could be: one race with Pit Boost, one with Attack Mode - but never both features together. Another possible compromise would be to disallow Attack Mode during the Pit Boost window. In my opinion, Formula E and the FIA should make further adjustments here. Nonetheless, we can look back on a successful Pit Boost debut, which certainly made for an entertaining race.

By the way: A non-representative survey within our e-Formel.de community on Instagram revealed a different mood: Around three quarters of all respondents said that the Pit Boost was "very entertaining and good for the action". Only around 25 per cent responded "It was too chaotic for me".