"The races will change" - Will the wear and tear of the new Formula E tyres become a problem?

One of the major changes for the eleventh Formula E season is the tyres: standard supplier Hankook has significantly revised the iON Race to offer the drivers more performance on dry tracks, especially with all-wheel drive activated. However, this is clearly at the expense of the tyres' longevity. In the paddock, it is expected that this could cause problems, especially in races on tracks with an aggressive surface.

During the pre-season test in Madrid, it was already clear to the naked eye that the Hankook tyres were suffering on the rough asphalt of the Circuito del Jarama. A picture that we will also see more frequently over the coming season - many drivers, technicians and team bosses agree on this.

"The tyre is definitely different," describes Phil Charles from DS Penske in an interview with e-Formula.news. "I don't want to give too much away because all of this guys here we're racing against, but the tyre behaves very differently over its lifetime."

"Up to now, the Formula E tire has been quite placid," he continues. "Both suppliers, Michelin and Hankook, have done a very good job to deliver a tyre that suits every track. It also worked in different conditions and was quite stable. So you could do ten runs and the lap times of the first and tenth run were pretty similar."

Charles: "Degredation curve will have an impact on the races"

"We don't have that any more," he continues. "That will impact the races, because you have a degredation curve. And you have a temperature profile where the tyre is happy and a temperature profile where it's not happy. So the races will change."

"It's quite possible that some drivers will save tyres for the race," he says, looking ahead to the coming season. "Everyone is still learning how exactly. I think in some races we'll have to take account of the weekend profile of the tyre. The curve of the tyre has to fit the weekend."

"The tyres are a big step," Maserati team principal Cyril Blais told e-Formula.news. "Now we're a bit closer to a racing tyre where there is a bit more peak performance when it's new. And it will degradate a bit more in the race. Depending on track conditions and temperature, there will be another element with tyre degradation that the driver will have to deal with during the race."

Hughes: "Tyre has a performance peak of 1 or 2 laps"

"I can see something like that happening that through FP1 that you don't use more than one set of tyres because you need to keep another set for qualifying," explained Taylor Barnard when asked by e-Formula.news. Maserati driver Jake Hughes agrees: "When we have a single-header like in Brazil or Mexico, we only have two sets of tyres. We have to start FP1 with one set. So you have to decide whether you want to take the second set for qualifying or for the race."

"I think it's a possibility to save tyres for the race," Hughes continued. "When it's new, the tyre has a performance peak of one or two laps. There is a big lap time jump, more than half a second. With one lap in qualifying, we know that this can give us an advantage in grid position."

"We still need to understand how this can affect your race distance of 35 or 40 laps if you start with new or used tyres," continues the Briton. "I think you'll see a lot of different ideas in the first few races in terms of when to use (a new set of tyres)."

Could it be conceivable that some drivers will sacrifice qualifying in order to have fresh tyres available for the race instead? McLaren team principal Ian James doesn't think so, as he explains to e-Formula.news: "At the end of the day, it's important that we get a good grid position."

It is not yet possible to say exactly which tyre strategy will be the best. We will find out more on 7 December, when the first race for the Gen3 Evo cars with the new Hankook iON Race takes place in Sao Paulo.