Formula E boss Jeff Dodds reckons his championship is helping Formula 1 to understand its new set of regulations which he thinks have been unfairly criticised.
F1 introduced a radical new ruleset for 2026 with battery management now playing a key role in grands prix due to the power unit almost being 50% electrical alongside a nimbler chassis.
That’s led to F1 teams signing various Formula E drivers such as Nyck de Vries and Nick Cassidy for their test and development work and Dodds claims that’s of mutual benefit.
Speaking at the all-electric championship’s launch of its incoming Gen4 car, the Formula E CEO said: “There is a growing interest from the paddock in understanding what the car is, all Formula 1 drivers love driving anything.
“So there’s an interest in getting to drive the car. I think it’s interesting that there appears to be interest in each other’s series growing for different reasons.
“F1 in FE because it’s helping them to understand about re-gen, battery recharge, how to drive a different style of car and the F1 drivers are also interested in just having a go in a new electric car that has a lot more power.”
Jeff Dodds, CEO Formula E
Photo by: Andreas Beil
The new regulations for F1 have been very contentious though, as some enjoy the ‘yo-yo’ style racing caused by the more electrical engines while others hold a strong dislike.
Max Verstappen certainly belongs to the latter, having previously claimed it’s like “Formula E on steroids”, and after three rounds of the 2026 campaign, changes have already been made.
Super clipping has been increased from 250 to 350kW, the qualifying harvesting limit has been reduced from eight to seven megajoules and there’s also various safety tweaks.
Dodds added: “A well-performing Formula 1 is good for all motorsport. So when Formula 1 is going well and everything’s going to plan, that’s good for all of us because it just brings new fans, new eyeballs, new excitement for motorsport.
“So we want them to keep being incredibly successful. Maybe they haven’t quite got it right and they’ll work on that, but it does mean more people are talking about electric racing, about renewable, recharging batteries and regeneration of battery in the race.
“That has to be good for us. For what it’s worth, we’re going into a new reg cycle and a new car in Gen4 in the same way we did with Gen3 and it does take time to bed in a new car and a new format onto track.
“So I think people have been quite harsh in their early judgement of the F1 season. But I think that the fact they’re responding to it as rapidly as they are is a very strong sign for motorsport.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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