Formula E Tyres

Formula E is more tyre dependent than you might think

Formula E is headed into its latest broadcast venture for Season 8, at least in the UK, as Channel 4 was recently announced as having secured full live broadcasting rights to the series.

Races will be shown live free-to-air on Channel 4 or its associated YouTube channel - the first rounds in Diriyah will be exclusively on their YouTube channel owing to the session start times.

Image: Formula E

Therefore the series is once again opening itself up to a brand new range of fans, who’ll have to acclimate themselves to one of the key factors of Formula E’s raceability element which sets it so far apart from its bigger brother, Formula 1 - Michelin’s all-weather tyres.

The exact magnitude of the contrast when compared to F1’s multi-compound Pirelli P-Zero slick tyres of the last few years has been glaringly apparent on many an occasion, as a plethora of former F1 drivers took to the streets in Formula E machinery and often struggled to adjust.

Utilising Michelin’s third-generation Pilot Sport EV rubber, Formula E was the only single-seater world championship to race on 18-inch tyres until Formula 2 and subsequently Formula 1 in 2022 made the move to the larger rims.

It is the only ‘hybrid’ tyre engineered to perform at its optimum in both dry and wet conditions on as many road surface types as possible.

The tyre is also pivotal to the championship’s sustainability push, by challenging the motorsport status quo of tyres being an extremely disposable item - easily the most disposable part of a racing car given they can usually only be used for a small amount of time before being rendered unsafe to go any further.

Image: Michelin Motorsport

Season 8 will be Michelin’s last season in the series as the switch to the Gen3 cars also brings with it the arrival of Hankook. But expect a similar philosophy behind the next generation of tyres fitted to the championship’s quickest ever cars.

Since Formula E’s first season back in 2014–15, Michelin have managed to shave around 20% off of the weight of the tyre, crucially without any loss in grip or wear credentials.

As an additional side effect, the depletion in the total weight of the cars due to this tyre development increases the car’s range and reduces the energy it requires to complete a set distance.

Sustainability is also a focus of the sporting regulations too, whereby race weekend tyre allocations have been slashed over the seasons. Double header rounds in Season 7 were said to require almost 50% fewer sets than previous seasons, mandated at two sets per car for both races.

The used Pilot Sport’s are reportedly recycled as a component in sustainable fuel or as a material in tarmac laying for road-building projects in harsh environments.

Michelin also uses their race tyres as a testbed for road car tyre technology development, with improving the consumer’s experience a vital part of increasing the uptake of environmentally friendly forms of transport.

Image: Formula E

In the case of an electric road car, improving the car’s overall range through reducing the weight, rolling resistance and road noise elements of a tyre is hugely valuable environmentally and consumeristically.

It was hugely important to the series organisers though that the tyres weren’t just road relevant, but a worthy tyre to race with which ensured positive feedback from drivers.

Former Toro Rosso F1 driver, Formula E Season 2 champion and current Nissan e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi spoke to Formula E on the unique characteristics of the Michelin tyres, and how drivers respond to these traits.

“We have a little bit less grip which means that the speed in the corners is not as good as if you would have some slick tyres. It definitely makes racing more difficult and closer just because the cars are sliding more so you need to look after the tyres, but at the same time you need to be pushing close to the walls and the slightest mistake [will] make you hit the wall or lose a lot of lap time.”

Buemi is one of the most successful drivers in Formula E history, gaining vast experience in other major motorsport categories including the World Endurance Championship, F3 Euro series, GP2 and Formula 1.

“Clearly the driver has a bigger impact than in maybe some other categories… As a driver, of course, I want to go faster, and I’d love to have slick tyres but this is a particularity of Formula E and I like it because it makes racing exciting.”

Author: Danny Herbert