Formula E on slick tyres? Why the Gen4 appearance at Goodwood has sparked a debate

Formula E presented its Gen4 car to fans in the United Kingdom for the first time last weekend. Cupra Kiro driver Dan Ticktum completed several performance runs in the Gen4 development car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex. The car had previously been driven by David Coulthard as part of the Monaco E-Prix in May. The Gen4 was extremely fast at Goodwood - helped by the use of slick tyres.

Bridgestone, which will become Formula E’s exclusive tyre supplier next season, provided bespoke treadless slick tyres for the Gen4 development car’s appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. They were intended to allow Ticktum to exploit the car’s full potential on the 1.86-kilometre hillclimb course.  In the end, Ticktum finished second in the shoot-out, just behind the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E driven by Romain Dumas. However, conventional slick tyres are not currently planned for regular race use. Instead, a grooved standard tyre and a dedicated wet-weather tyre are being developed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Nevertheless, the Goodwood appearance raises the question of whether treadless tyres would make sense for Formula E, particularly as several drivers have previously called for slicks. With permanent four-wheel drive, the Gen4 car produces up to 600 kW, can recuperate at up to 700 kW and is expected to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in around 1.8 seconds. Its tyres therefore have to transmit significantly greater forces than those of the current Gen3 Evo.

Dodds: "There is definitely a tyre evolution plan"

"There is definitely a tyre evolution plan," Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told FE Notebook. "While flying an aeroplane around the world full of tyres is not particularly on our wish list, as a fully sustainable championship, you should expect to see, over the life of Gen4, not just one, but probably multiple evolutions of the tyre. And it’s fair to say that those evolutions will be going more towards slicks than further away from them."

James Rossiter, who has played a major role in developing the Gen4 car as its official test and development driver, has serious doubts that slick tyres would be the right path for Formula E. The former Techeetah test and reserve driver, who also spent Season 9 as Team Principal of Maserati MSG Racing, additionally serves as a sporting advisor to the championship. Rossiter believes that treadless tyres providing too much grip could become a blind alley for Formula E.

Rossiter: "We’d be consuming more power and reducing the opportunities for regen"

"Slicks would allow these cars to brake later, corner faster and accelerate more quickly to their top speeds," Rossiter explains in FE Notebook. "So we’d be consuming more power and reducing the opportunities for regen."

The Briton is therefore clearly sceptical about some drivers’ calls for slicks. "This isn’t necessarily going to be viable," he adds. “I might have to have a chat with a couple of the drivers who are saying we should be on slicks.”

How closely Formula E’s tyres will ultimately move towards conventional slicks over the course of the Gen4 era therefore remains unclear. Although Dodds has indicated that they will gradually evolve in that direction, Rossiter’s concerns highlight the inherent conflict: more mechanical grip would make the Gen4 faster, but it could also compromise the energy management that is central to Formula E and potentially affect the quality of the racing. For the time being, the special tyres used at Goodwood are therefore likely to remain primarily a means of demonstrating the new car’s maximum performance potential.