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Ahead of Maserati MSG Racing’s return to the racetrack for the official Season 11 pre-season testing, Team Principal, Cyril Blais shares his thoughts and plans for testingand season ahead.
As a team, what are we expecting from testing next week and, how important is this week to our overall Season 11 preparations?
First of all, on behalf of the entire team at Maserati MSG Racing, I would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to everyone affected by the devastating flooding in the Valencia region. Our thoughts are with them during this tragic time.
For various reasons testing in Formula E is really limited so we need to make the absolute most of every opportunity we get to run our cars. Especially when we have a generation change as we do now from GEN3 to GEN3 Evo. Not only has the car changed, but we have a new tyre compound to contend with which should improve grip during races. The circuits we test at aren’t exactly typical of Formula E streetcircuits, we have an updated car, new tyres and an all-new driver line-up to test so there’s still plenty of work for us to do there. We’ve also never tested at Jarama before so that adds in an additional element of challenge and discovery but it’s the same for all the teams..
As Team Principal, my priority is to make sure that each person in the team has the optimal working environment to do the best possible job. In a motorsport team in a rapidly evolving championship, this is always going to be a work in progress. We have done a lot of work in the background between the season finale in London and now and we have also welcomed some exceptional new people to the team so I’m looking forward to seeing everyone working together at the track and to making sure that the chemistry and team dynamic is right.
Performance on track is directly impacted by team culture, in motorsport, you need to make split second decisions and people feel most comfortable and confident to do this when they are working in a calm and trusting environment. Testing plays a huge role in creating this dynamic as we can run lots of different simulations and scenarios to give us an idea of how different situations might pan out during the season.
With an all-new driver line-up with Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes, what are your expectations for the season ahead?
Like every team up and down the pitlane, we want to be in the fight - no one is here to make up the numbers. But winning a Formula E race is no easy challenge, especially with the style of racing that we’ve seen develop over recent seasons. With our milestone victories in Jakarta and Tokyo we demonstrated that we have what’s needed to reach the top spot on the podium but contending championships means more than winning races. You need consistency, you need stamina, strategic skill, team play, and you need more than a little luck.
Our driver line-up is one of the strongest on the grid. Stoffel and Jake have really impressed us in recent years, you don’t win a World Championship title by accident. Jake’s one lap pace has been formidable, now we need to work on our race craft. We are hopeful and we are determined, we just need to put all the pieces together when it comes to qualifying and the races.
We have a ground-breaking all women rookie test in Jarama how important are initiatives like this in your view?
Super important, this rookie test is a pivotal moment for Formula E, providing an important opportunity for all the racing drivers involved to showcase their talent. Frankly speaking though, we shouldn't need initiatives like this, but it's an unfortunate fact that women remain massively under-represented across the board in motorsport– not just in the cockpit but in most areas of our sport.
It’s clear that there is a historical problem with connecting female talent with opportunity, and we're proud to support initiatives like this that address the issue and provide a credible platform for women to demonstrate their talent both on and off the racetrack. At MSG (Monaco Sports Group) we have our own dedicated female engineering internship program, Bright Sparks, which was specifically created to address the gender gap in engineering talent in our team. We still have a very long way to go but so far, it’s been a real success for us with several of the original interns remaining with the team.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers but we aren’t short on talent, experience or enthusiasm and it’s been really heartening to be part of the process to engage and develop more female talent in our sport.
Both Tatiana and Carrie are very strong and experienced drivers, we know that they will make the very most of this opportunity which will hopefully lead on to more for them -we're looking forward to seeing what they can do in the car.
The FIA Formula E Season 11 pre-season testing in Circuito de Jarama takes place from 5th-8th November with the dedicated all-women rookie test session taking place on 8th November. Stay tuned to our official social media channels for updates throughout the week.
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