Problematic Fanboost System Voted Out For Formula E 2023
Since the start of Formula E in 2014, the Fanboost system has been dividing opinions. However, the teams and promoters have now all come to the same agreement that the system needs to be dropped.
The ever-changing sport had a successful change to the qualifying format last year which led to an improved racing ethic. Before the changes were made, qualifying tended to end in complete chaos. So similarly to the qualifying change, losing the Fanboost system should make for a more "true" form of racing.
Porsche Formula E Press Image
The system has given fans the opportunity to vote for their favourite drivers, the drivers would then be given additional power in accordance with how many points they received.
The way the system has worked has changed slightly over the years. In 2014/15, fans could vote from twelve days before the race up until one hour before it started. The drivers could then have an extra 30kW, with the standard 150kW race power boosted to 180kW for five seconds.
This then changed in 2015/16 so that fans only had the first six minutes of every E-Prix to put their votes in, drivers would then be able to use their boosts in the latter parts of the race when they were in their second Gen1 cars. The top five Fanboost voted drivers would get 100Kj extra energy, limited to 200kW. They could also choose what the extra energy could be used for, so either as a boost or to extend their energy across the 190-200kW power range.
Jaguar Racing Press Image - Formula E
Drivers were also encouraged to promote the system on their social media platforms in 2016 as Fanboost started including votes via hashtag. This is when complaints from drivers really started to increase as many felt the votes were being manipulated.
According to Tesla Reporter, Daniel Abt, who drove for Audi at the time, explained that “there are some drivers who manage to cheat a bit”. He said:
“I’m not saying it because I’m a sore loser, I’m saying it because I know it – somebody told me about it. Definitely there’s something wrong,”
Abt touched on the rumours that went round, but were not verified, that some drivers were using 'bots' to increase their votes. He explained:
“Strangely, all the votes are from 12 cities in China, so they must have an awesome fanbase there,”
“Formula E knows about it, but they can’t do anything because they cannot prove it properly.
“This is a catastrophe. I was getting really upset about it.”
Audi Formula E Press Image
Alejandro Agag, Formula E chairman, made a statement to say the system was "“constantly monitored and reviewed to ensure user verification and credible results”:
“We’ve continued to improve the system since it was implemented in the first-ever season of Formula E, adding further layers of authentication to the voting process following suggestions from the teams,"
The disgruntled drivers will be pleased to know that it has now been voted by the teams and promoters to drop the Fanboost system and this is likely to happen at some point during 2023. It is thought that the FIA will be announcing the new Gen3 format at this weeks world motorsport council meeting.