Formula E drivers have to adapt their driving style with all-wheel drive: "The car literally transforms"

Thanks to the activated front motor, the Gen3 Evo cars in Formula E now have much more propulsion when driving in 350 kW mode. In the duel phase of qualifying, at the start of the race and in Attack Mode, the drivers will be able to utilise the significantly better getaway of the cars and accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h in less than two seconds. However, this also requires adjustments to the driving style, as some drivers reveal.

"When you switch to 350 kW, the car literally transforms," describes Sam Bird at e-Formula.news. "In the past, you just had to be careful at the exit of corners. Now you have to leave a bit of space there. But not because of oversteer, but because you get understeer due to the power on the front axle. Accelerating out of corners is completely different with four-wheel drive and traction control. But we've all practised this several times now during testing and I think we'll all get used to it quickly."

"Rear-wheel drive is what I've been used to all my life - four-wheel drive is something I've never had before," says his McLaren team-mate Taylor Barnard at our microphone. "The acceleration out of the corner or at the start is absolutely incredible. I've never experienced acceleration like this in any car before."

Nonetheless, he finds the handling of the Gen3 Evo cars with all-wheel drive somewhat easier to manage. "If you go into a corner a bit too fast, make a small mistake or even struggle a bit with the balance of the car, you can rely on having plenty of traction," Barnard continues. "For example, if you're struggling a bit with oversteer when turning in, with four-wheel drive you can just go into the corner too fast, steer and fully accelerate again much sooner because you've got so much traction."

"Driving more like a V" - Hughes explains alternative cornering

"It's definitely a change," explains Maserati driver Jake Hughes when asked by e-Formula.news. "You can describe a curve shape as a V or a U. With rear-wheel drive, the corner exit is trickier: you try to increase the minimum speed in the corner to gain lap time. With four-wheel drive, you want to have the car straight as early as possible because it is so good at the exit of the corner and gets the maximum out of it."

"We drive more like a V," he continues. "So we brake the car hard, turn in very aggressively and then drive straight out of the corner. Of course, it's not just different for me as a driver: how we set up our systems for two-wheel and four-wheel drive must also be different for the two different driving styles."

Drivers have to adapt their driving style especially in fast bends: "If you touch the throttle now with four-wheel drive, you can feel the front axle pulling. So you get understeer. This is completely different, because normally you balance the car with the throttle in a high-speed corner and therefore always have your foot on the pedal a little."

Hughes considers it unlikely, however, that the drivers will change their car set-up for the all-wheel drive. "We can't do that much about the set-up," he admits. "We will mainly concentrate on ensuring that the car is fast in group qualifying when you only have rear-wheel drive. That way, a start in the top eight is guaranteed. Because of the Parc Ferme, we can't change the set-up once we get into the duel phase."

We will see on Saturday which driver can best adapt their driving style to the four-wheel drive. That's when the eleventh Formula E season kicks off in Sao Paulo.