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Did anybody else watch this?

Other than the Wacky Races first lap traffic jam in round 1, I really enjoyed these 2 races. Great win for Bird in round 1 and some really exciting racing. And round 2 seemed to be filled with a lot of drivers having good comebacks through the pack. Be it from a mistake in the race, in quali or in Bird's case getting a 10 place grid penalty. I think the highlight for me through was JEV getting pole whilst crossing the line sideways/backwards!

And for UK viewers, as much as I don't really like Vernon Kay, it's looking more like we'll get better coverage this year from them. Although I do find it odd that I could view the races on demand through the Xbox app, but they're still not available on demand through their web site.

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I watched. There was some good racing at the front in the first race and back in the pack in the second.

Rosenquist made a meal out of the first corner in the second race and I don't know how he recovered to get back on the podium in the end. I was gutted for Mortaro at the end of the that race too.

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Where was it available in the UK? I watched highlights on YouTube as I couldn’t find it anywhere, although given it was in China I probably couldn’t have watched live anyway.

On the highlights the cars looked faster to me than I remember, have they upped the in race power this season?

It was shown on channel 5 after Milkshake each morning. As I said, I couldn't see it on 5's catch up website, but you have an Xbox (or I'm guessing PlayStation too) download the 'demand 5' app as I watched it through there. Got to be honest, I watched the YouTube highlights before finding the full race coverage and was actually shocked by how much time elapsed between the traffic jam and the restart!

If memory serves, they've increased the race power by 10kw/h to 180 this year.

Just remembered too, I'm very happy to hear that next season they expect batteries to last full race distance. That didn't take too long to develop after all, I was expecting another few years of either car changes or mid race battery changes.

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There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.

Available power is up 10kW this season from 170kW to 180kW. They're allowed up to 200kW in qualifying I'm not sure how much they're allowed with Fan Boost which I think should be done away with any way.

I think this adds more to strategy than speed at this point though since the races aren't shorter and I believe the energy store (battery) is still spec. If you run at the higher output then you need either more regen which results in more lift and coast or better regen which leads to development which they get more of with each passing season.

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I don't really like Kay but I actually found him tolerable presenting FE at the weekend. Maybe it's just because he's not presenting some cheesy game show, he's a lot less irritating.

Anyway, I enjoyed both the races and was pleased to see Jaguar get their first podium, albeit in rather disappointing circumstances with Abt and another winner DSQ. Was very disappointed with Kobayashi's performance though. Maybe he just hasn't adapted well to this form of racing or perhaps has car had some issues which DAC didn't. Seemed to finish race 1 with an awful lot of spare energy and hadn't used his fanboost. Perhaps it was something to do with the radio and telemetry issues.

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I remember when this website was all fields.

Enjoyed both races.

Bird and Rosenqvist had incredible pace on "their" days, respectively. Both made a (more or less) stupid mistake - and still won in the end after great charges and overtakings, and both not undeservedly in the end.

Strong showing by Mortara in race 2 until the mistake.

Yep I watched. Found both races highly entertaining. I was looking forward to seeing how the new guys got on, particularly the ones that appear to have been parachuted in by their employers. Overall not great. On one end of the scale you've got Mortara who was brilliant; on the other end Lotterer was absolutely atrocious. Embarrassing even. Kobayashi did nothing of note either

A couple of things jumped out this weekend - eDAMS were very much on the back foot. Abt made a show of di Grassi. Dragon were absolutely woeful. Jaguar have gotten their act together somewhat. The Andretti in the hands of da Costa looked like they made a step forward

If this weekend was an indication of the rest of the season I think I would very much enjoy a Bird/Rosenqvist/Mortara/Vergne tussle for the title or something along those lines

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FA#14

I watched both races. It had all the good things about Formula E, and unfortunately all the bad things as well. The races were exciting and unpredictable, but there was also a disturbing amount of amateurish driving on display, and they really need to fix the turning radius of these cars if they're going to keep racing on street circuits.

Additionally, someone should have considered that the pit lane is so short that a drive-through is less than 10 seconds and issued a stronger penalty.

On the subject of new (to the formula) drivers, I was expecting a lot more from Lotterer, and I'm quite surprised at how far off the pace he appears to be. I expect him to adapt over the course of the season, but it will be interesting to see. I would have expected a WEC veteran to have an easier time, since almost all the leading FE racers have endurance car experience.

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

I really enjoyed both races but they have to get better with the penalties. Bird got penalised twice for something that quite frankly shouldn't have been penalised once. He made a mistake that effected absolutely nobody and gave him no advantage. Why penalise? They also either need to make the rules easier or really drum them into the teams because we have seen wins taken off people far to often. It's really frustrating to see Abt finally take his win and then it be taken away from him. We see it far to regularly in FE.

I still really enjoy the series and appreciate that the calendar is slightly denser this year as well. I think we are in for a great season.

Damn, what happened to Abt? I only saw it as far as the win -why was it taken away from him?
Pleased to see Bird pick up a win, even if it was courtesy of a not-much-of-a-drive-thru.
Some good racing and some amateur racing too! Looking forward to the next races.

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I disagree completely - in fact, I have the polar opposite view. I love the fact that FE enforces the rules rigidly and with no stupid exceptions. They'll disqualify a race winner without a second thought, or end someone's title bid if they're a few ounces under the minimum weight. This sort of consistent, objective rule enforcement is precisely what F1 needs, where it doesn't matter who is getting the penalty or under what circumstances: if they break the rules, they get a penalty. Simple as that, and it's one of the best things about FE.

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

I'm not saying they should bend the rules I'm saying that obviously the teams are having a hard time sticking to them. So they should either make the rules easier to stick too or help the teams to stick to them in some way.

I watched the first race, and even after if finally got going (following a 30 minute stop because a car got stuck) I wasn’t too enthralled - there seemed to be little in terms of visible speed or excitement, the track was awe full with virtually no overtaking opportunities.

I get that this is a test bed for the future of F1, but it goes to show that F1 in its current form will be around for a good few years yet.

I don't think it is. They've distanced themselves from F1 from the very start

Personally my ideal scenario is F1 dropping the "green" facade and FE being the proving ground for the manufacturers' electric technology

As regards the entertainment value of the Hong Kong ePrix - both races kicked the living poop out of the most recent F1 race

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FA#14

Apparently I am creating a little habit for myself to watch the opening round of each season - I watched this one and... well, not terribly impressed again. Sure, a lot happened during the races, but whether that's a good or a bad thing? It's astonishing how bad the driving standards are in a field that is comprised of actually really good drivers. Sometimes you get the idea that the drivers think they're driving bumper cars. So much contact, spins without reason, crashes (Lotterer looked embarassing).
The in-car views from drivers taking the hairpin looked incredibly clumsy. Why do they have such a big wheel travel? Can't remember F1 drivers ever releasing their steering wheel because a corner is too tight to take without releasing and resetting their hands?

Also, what's up with that downright cringeworthy starting sequence, which has clearly been prerecorded as it was the exact same that played out right before the start of both races?

On the plus side: sure looks like this year will be very competitive at the front. Think Rosenqvist looked properly fast in both races, he could take it this year.

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A bit of pit stop magic... Before the stops he was 6th or 7th, but he emerged in 3rd. I suppose multiple teams/drivers didn't manage to achieve the minimum pit stop time and Rosenqvist did?

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The pre-start sequence is just plain embarrassing, they didn't use to do that and I hope they cut it out.

As for the driving, I think it's more the tyres they're using on a dusty street circuit. There looks to be hardly any grip, you only have to look at a shot of a car accelerating out of a slow bend to see the wheel spin.

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I remember when this website was all fields.

They failed to correctly declare some parts they used on the car's technical passport (i.e. barcodes not matching between car and passport).

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Go Vandoorne - Verstappen - Vettel!

I watched both races, and I honestly have no idea what you're talking about in terms of the starting sequence. The way they pull forward into their grid spots instead of doing a formation lap is just a little odd, but I don't see how it could be prerecorded (and it clearly isn't, since the lights only had a malfunction in one of the two races). What part of the starting sequence do you mean?

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

No, it's before that. There's a few sequenced shots (e.g. one of a race director type of guy pushing some buttons and saying something IIRC) that should probably give the impression that they're broadcasting live "behind the scenes" right before we go back to the cars and the actual starting sequence.

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Go Vandoorne - Verstappen - Vettel!

Ah - don't remember it, so it clearly didn't make an impression on me. But I don't see why it couldn't be done live, so I agree that sounds a little tacky.

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

Maybe... FE isn't easy

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I don't rely entirely on God

I rely on Prost



FA#14

It's possible, but still. We see F1 drivers steer >950HP cars around Monaco and the amount of crashes/spins/contact is a fraction of what we saw in this past F-E race.

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Go Vandoorne - Verstappen - Vettel!

Apparently, the force of the brakes changes unpredictably in F E at times, due to the technology. That causes many of the "errors".

It could be the harder compound, grooved, all weather tyres. The lack of downforce on the aero of the formula. The amount of regen under braking. The quality of of the road surface they're on.

It could be any number of reasons. All of which are different to other formula. Put simply, it is a completely different formula to f1 and cannot in a anyway be compared to it.

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Yeah but you would expect quality drivers to cope with and get a feel for the amound of grip available from the road surface, tyres and what not. And that aside, it's not only the spins from loss of traction, it's also the huge number of coming togethers which aren't related to grip. Or another example: have you noticed the way Rosenqvist bumped his way back into the field after his spin? That was just bad.

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Go Vandoorne - Verstappen - Vettel!

Well, I thought it was good and entertaining racing. Aggressive, but not even quite Verstappen-style - and absolutely fine.