Formula E wants to abolish the Fanboost system

Formula E enters the Fanboost system, which has been used in the electric series since 2014, ie from the very first season.

The essence of the system was that the fans had the opportunity to “help” the riders they sympathized with, and at each stage of the championship, five pilots, to whom the public gave the maximum number of votes, were given the right to additional power.

According to The Race, the teams and organizers of the World Electric Car Racing Championship have unanimously decided to forgo the use of Fanboost starting next season, which has always garnered mixed reviews.

This move is seen as logical after the change to the qualifying format last season, which made the pre-start ordering process more streamlined, sporty and less lottery-like.

Now some statistics. Over the course of last season, Stoffel Vandorn won 16 Fanboost rights, António Felix da Costa 15, Jean-Eric Vergne 11, Nick de Vries 9, Mitch Evans, Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara seven each.

This system was considered one of the hallmarks of Formula E, but from time to time it gave rise to all kinds of unpleasant procedures. The scandalous story that happened in 2016 got loudest, when it appeared to several riders that the voices of the fans were being manipulated.

In the Formula E paddock, they started talking about racers and their representatives resorting to bots, and through special software votes are “cheated” – no real facts were revealed to confirm this, however.

“Oddly enough, but all the votes came from 12 cities in China – you have to assume there’s a whole army of fans there,” ironically then Daniel Abt, who played for the Audi team. – In Formula E they know about it, but they can’t do anything because they can’t prove anything right. It’s a disaster and it really upsets me.”

Alejandro Agag, co-founder of the series and then executive director, reacted sharply to Abbot’s criticism. Of course, he championed the Fanboost system and made sure his work is constantly and thoroughly monitored, including user authentication.

However, a new complication has arisen with the fact that in recent seasons a number of riders have been ticketed for incorrect use of Fanboost. One of them was Pascal Wehrlein, who plays for the Porsche works team: in the Mexican phase of the championship, he was fined for using the extra power mode too late, which was seen as a violation of the sporting rules.

The new version of the regulations for next season, when Formula E transitions to third-generation cars, is to be approved at the upcoming meeting of the FIA ​​World Motorsport Council. It is expected that one of the planned changes to the sports rules will be the removal of Fanboost.