Strong strategy pushes the team forward at São Paulo

Silverstone/Shanghai - 16 March 2024

The ERT Formula E Team delivered a fighting performance in the São Paulo E-Prix, the fourth round of the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend, pushing its way forward after a tough qualifying session, with Dan Ticktum finishing the race in 16th position, and local hero Sérgio Sette Câmara running as high as 13th in the final phase of the race.

The weekend started well, with Dan Ticktum fourth fastest at the end of practice on Friday in very warm conditions at the 2.9km street circuit. Sette Câmara was in the top ten in the final practice session on Saturday morning after a competitive run on full power, however qualifying didn’t go as well for the team’s drivers. In Group A, Sette Câmara was just two-tenths of a second from the duels in an ultra-tight session, while in Group B, Ticktum was compromised on his first run before struggling with his tyres on his final flyer, and ended up at the tail end of the time sheet.

For the E-Prix, Sette Câmara made a good start, initially moving up a spot to 19th into Turn 1 before he was quickly re-passed, while Ticktum stayed a safe distance behind in case there was trouble into the problematic first corner.

The team strategically opted to take both Attack Modes early on in the energy saving phase of the race taking full advantage of a clear track behind. Sette Câmara and Ticktum had therefore taken all eight minutes of the boost by lap five, which would work to their favour in case of an early safety car, which there was.

Debris caused a safety car deployment on lap seven, just as Ticktum had been able to pass two cars on track and move up to 17th overall.

Ticktum was then knocked down the order following contact, before then losing more time avoiding an incident.  At the same time Sette Câmara progressed more positively making up three spots on lap 15 as rivals ahead took their Attack Modes, just before a second safety car was called when a car had crashed out on circuit.

After this restart, Sette Câmara, now 15th, made up two more spots to 13th, and was chasing down the possibility of points should there be further trouble ahead in the tightly packed field.

Sette Câmara was still holding on to 13th with four laps to go, before he lost ground in the final few laps as he conserved energy, crossing the line 16th before he was excluded for a marginal 0.33 second energy overuse. Ticktum meanwhile had held back in 20th, before making a valiant charge forward during the final few laps to claim 16th at the finish.

The team finished the race in a positive mindset and with a lot of data gained from the event, and with a strong strategy having played a key part in making up steady ground from challenging grid positions. The team therefore leaves Brazil with some good positives and quickly switching focus on the challenge ahead of a brand new circuit, as the championship visits the Tokyo Bay waterfront in Japan for the first time in two weeks

Russell O'Hagan - Chief Operations Officer / Deputy Team Principal

It was an incredibly intense and very strategic race in which we had to constantly navigate thermal and strategy targets. The race start went to plan, we took both our Attack Modes early, and were able to progress through the field nicely during the Peloton phase of the race.

Unfortunately, Dan was caught in an incident before the second safety car, after which we moved into a more linear phase of the race where overtaking was more difficult stifling further progress.

It was a strong  race for Sérgio, who was running in 13th for  a good period controlling thermal management well over the final phase of the race before an energy issue a few corners from home.

Overall, it was a challenging race, but the drivers and the team managed it professionally  and calmly. We were able to deliver on our pre-race strategy well making good ground  from starting at the back. A lot of a credit goes to Sérgio and Dan, who controlled their pace well, and to the team for managing a complicated set of thermal parameters & strategies.

Sérgio Sette Câmara #3

We never want to be fighting for outside of the top ten positions, but at some weekends that is our reality. I think I took the maximum I could out of the car this weekend. I could have finished P14 but I had a small issue at the end of the race in terms of energy management, but overall I’m happy, to see my family here, my friends, and all the Brazilian fans – and I can’t wait to be back next year, but I what I do want to change is to be fighting for top five or podiums next time here in what we know will be a much more competitive car, and now I’m really looking forward to Tokyo.

Dan Ticktum #33

It was a bit of a difficult weekend. It’s a shame we didn’t have the one-lap pace here and we couldn’t quite get the car in the window. The race was pretty chaotic as expected, I think strategy-wise we did quite a good job, we just got a bit screwed over on the lap just as I started to push, as I was then crashed into and pushed wide and lost a couple of places – and then a McLaren and two Mahindras went off in front, and without that contact I’d have been about five or six places higher up, so the timing just didn’t work out. Of course the race was always going to be difficult, so we’ll be trying to work out how to get things better for Tokyo.