Formula E: is the GEN4 a missile or an empty spectacle?

Formula E's story on the line: electric missile or empty spectacle

A race car that accelerates like a missile yet carries a fruta for being boring. That is the paradox hanging over Formula E's pre-season testing, with the Porsche 975 RSE running at Monza and a GEN4 car promising staggering numbers. The problem isn't the physics: it's the narrative. While some see the electric series as the future of motorsport, others dismiss it as a circus with vacuum cleaners.

The discussion starts with an image of the Porsche single-seater at the Italian circuit and a phrase that sums it all up: it's a missile. From there, the exchange drifts into the usual territory: energy, noise and the legitimacy of the spectacle.

Where does the electricity powering Formula E come from?

The first battleground is energy. Someone points out that it would take an enormous diesel generator to charge the batteries, and the answer comes quickly: every circuit uses the same system that powers the venue's lights. Another message adds that a large truck charges all the cars using glycerine, at 10 euros per litre. The figure isn't verified in the exchange, but it feeds the suspicion that the only green thing is the paint job.

Add to that the memory of the early seasons, when the battery would run out mid-race and drivers had to swap cars. A detail that sounds prehistoric today, but is wielded as proof that the series was born lame.

Noise as an argument: nostalgia for the combustion engine

The second battleground is sound. Some argue that Formula 1 owed part of its appeal to the adrenaline of the roar of hearing the engines approach, and that without that thunder the competition loses its soul. The jab doesn't stop there: the electric series is compared to a decaffeinated version of the sport, a judgement that says more about the person making it than about the thing itself.

The defence rests on the Doppler effect, which in an electric car is ridiculous, and on the idea that a true fan doesn't need decibels to enjoy the racing. At its core, the debate is generational: who gets to control the story of the automobile.

The drivers' purgatory and the health of the championship

The most pointed accusation is that Formula E has become the purgatory for drivers who no longer fit anywhere else. The rebuttal is swift: the championship is in good health, the grandstands fill up, and today's fan trinc WEC, GT3, DTM, IMSA, MotoGP and WSBK all at once. A fragmented audience, they say, isn't weakness: it's the norm.

Also woven into the conversation is the memory of Verstappen at Portimao, a three-hour race in which the Dutchman didn't rotate drivers, and the comparison with the 24 Hours, where the FIA had to make an exception for him. A detail that serves as a reminder that talent doesn't care about plugs.

The question left open

In the end, the argument isn't about cars. It's about who has the right to decide what is excitement and what is boredom. If the GEN4 is so fast it brushes the limits of grip, as claimed, the spectacle is guaranteed. If the fan only measures the roar, there will never be a race. Can anyone fall in love with a sport that sounds like a vacuum cleaner?