Neel Jani: "I have to change the driving style".

Two months after the two opening races of the multi-year championship, Formula E will hold its third round in Chile's capital Santiago on Saturday, January 18. The start is at 8 pm Swiss time (TV live on ARD, Eurosport1 and MySportsCH).

While his team-mate André Lotterer immediately finished second on the podium in Saudi Arabia in the new Porsche 99X electric, Neel Jani had to learn the hard way on his FIA Formula E debut.

Neel Jani: "I thought I was well prepared. But what we couldn't practise were the formula e-specific conditions on site. I've never experienced such slippery track conditions before. At the limit, you quickly go off track. I realized that I had to drive differently. That was the most difficult thing."

No longer classic motorsport
What has the 36-year-old from Biel learned from this?

Neel Jani: "You have to use different driving styles depending on the grip level. I only ever used one, which always worked. This is no longer classic motorsport."

What are the other driving difficulties?

Neel Jani: "The cars overbrake brutally. The more the battery discharges, the more energy you have to recover. So you need less rear brake and have to adjust it depending on the charge. If this is done too late, the front or rear locks up. Sometimes even just one wheel, which puts a strain on the tire."

Walls lurk
And what about cornering?

Neel Jani: "You have to learn that. Until now, it was all about carrying the speed. If you do that in Formula E, you end up in the wall straight away. This also requires a completely different driving style than with cars with grip."

Does that mean it involves more steering work than with an LMP1 prototype?

Neel Jani: "It certainly involves mental work. Because the electric car has little grip and the racetracks even less, you have to search for the limit. You don't have much time for that on a single day. That's why Formula E is a series in which rookies struggle at the beginning."

Please don't go any faster!
So after so many successful years, it really is a new challenge...

Neel Jani: "Formula E is more challenging than it has been for a long time. But one thing is clear: we all like to have a car where the body is the limit. That's how we grew up. In Formula E, it's the opposite. For city circuits and track conditions like this, these racing cars feel brutally fast - nobody wants it to be faster."

Is this still fun at all?

Neel Jani (reflecting): "I had a lot of fun during testing. In Saudi Arabia, the focus was on other things. I never got into a rhythm where it was fun. But I'm not worried that that won't happen."

Initial objectives
As an endurance world champion and Le Mans winner, suddenly having to start so far back was certainly special...

Neel Jani: "Most rookies have extreme difficulties. My experience from 2017 with the one race weekend with Dragon didn't help me at all, everything is different today. From testing, I knew where I stood compared to André. But racing is a different story. We work very well together. I was therefore also very happy about his podium. It shows that we are developing in the right direction. When André started, he was also behind at first."

How much time do you give yourself?

Neel Jani: "The aim must be to get into super pole qualifying as soon as possible. That's why I'll be approaching things differently psychologically in Chile. The only problem is that I first have to learn every track anew. For the first time since the beginning of my career, I don't know a single track on the calendar. You don't find that out in one day. That's why the simulator work is so important. But it doesn't replace the on-track experience."

neel-jani.com

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