Attack Mode: Formula E driving fan engagement forward with new season racing and broadcast innovations
As the 11th season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship begins, the electric motorsport is entering a new era that will see both the racing and the broadcast being taken to the next level. SVG Europe sat down with Tim Glass, broadcast and content director at Formula E, to reflect on the unique challenges of keeping up with the sport’s rapid growth – global broadcast figures are soaring – while maintaining its reputation for innovation.
The championship’s growth can be seen in the new audiences it’s attracting; a just announced free-to-air broadcast deal for the UK and Ireland will see all 16 E-Prix and qualifying sessions for Season 11 of the Formula E World Championship shown live on ITV4 and ITVX. A bespoke highlights show follows every race weekend.
As for innovation, the season opener, a race in São Paulo, Brazil on 7 December, showcased the potential of Formula E’s new ‘rocketship’ Gen 3 Evo car. “It’s very exciting,” says Glass. “We already knew it was the fastest accelerating FIA single-seater, that the performance upgrades made it faster, stronger and more agile and that the all-wheel drive and improved grip would add to the spectacle. But to see it all unfold in a thrilling race bodes well for the season and the future of the sport. The Pole lap alone was 4 seconds quicker than round the same track last season. Attack Mode is back to being a big weapon and is going to reshape the strategy of the racing.”
“Over the last couple of years, Attack Mode – which is when drivers go off the racing line to a designated drive through area to unlock additional power – has almost been a bit like damage limitation,” he continues. “You’d get it out of the way early in the race, try and avoid losing too many positions and work your way back. Whereas what we saw in Brazil is that in this new car, with the new tyres, Attack Mode unleashes additional power that you can really maximise. You can attack towards the end of the race. I think that will be a fascinating development over the season, seeing how the different teams apply that strategy to the racing.”
Glass says one lesson from the race in Brazil was how important it is for the viewer – and rights-holding broadcaster commentators – to understand the new strategic element around Attack Mode and how that is going to influence the climax of the race.
“[Drivers] can take Attack Mode at two points over the race, and split the eight minutes in three different ways, either four and four, two and six, or six and two,” says Glass. “So at any different point, you have some drivers already in Attack Mode, some drivers with eight minutes left, while some drivers may not have any left. The big learning for us from Brazil came from deploying our graphics to show who’s still got Attack Mode: how do we not only let the viewers know, but also the commentators all over the world, who don’t necessarily have all the timings? How can we help them tell that story, to build that jeopardy towards the end? So it’s suggesting things like, ‘[Oliver] Rowland might be in this position now, but he’s still got six minutes of Attack Mode left. When’s he going to take it?’ That builds the narrative as it unfolds.”
He continues: “One of the challenges that we have with Formula E is that it can be quite complex tuning in for the first time. We’ve got a new home this year in the UK; we’re back on ITV, which is great, but it’s a new audience. So how do we show the audience what’s going on? We have developed some engaging new graphics for this season which are designed to help the viewer understand and connect with the racing. We have a new pointers system where we can tag multiple cars to help with driver and car identification, enhanced augmented reality to lean more into sporting data and telemetry, as well as our Virtual Race Engineer and team radio text. The exciting thing now is working out how that’s going to fit in to the narrative as it unfolds.”
Capturing all the angles
The car may be the star, but new technology is also being used in the coverage. The Virtual Race Engineer, developed in partnership with Aurora Media Worldwide, Al Kamel and Pace Tech, leverages AI to provide real-time insights for viewers.
“It gives the viewer an independent view on events that can help explain what is happening or what is about to happen,” explains Glass. “We have our expert commentators who have their own interpretation of what’s going on, but the Virtual Race Engineer can use the data to make predictions like ‘driver X’s energy is running low and they cannot finish the race’, or ‘driver X has a 75% chance of winning from this position’. The idea is to try and give the viewer a bit of an insight while also giving the commentators new information to debate and react to. We had it last year and the accuracy of the tool is amazing, but we’ve given it a makeover this year to give it more impact on screen. It has imagery and a new format to make it a little bit more digestible. It’s another way of storytelling, introducing more graphics to help with that.
Existing features are also being enhanced. “Across pretty much all audience research, we are told fans want to hear more from the drivers, and they want to hear more team radio because it’s such a unique part of motorsport. You don’t get to hear from a football player in the middle of the match, but you get this amazing insight into the mind of a driver while he’s flying round a track at 200kph. But when you’re watching the broadcast – of any motorsport – sometimes it can be hard to actually make out what is being said over the team radio. So, the technology team have been developing a system where we can have instant automated transcription. This debuted in Brazil and we’ll use it more in Mexico.”
“Another big project this year is introducing drones rather than using helicopters and or wire cams at every race as we’ve done in the past,” continues Glass. “We introduced them in Monaco last year for the first time and they were spectacular. It’s not just attractive to us from a sustainability perspective – which remains fundamental to all we do at FE – but also because of their cost and effectiveness. There are regulatory and sporting challenges so we can’t do it everywhere. But where we can, we will. The FIA has been really supportive, and that has been huge. We’ll have two in Mexico and that will be a big leap forward. Drones are the future of this coverage.”
Working together
Formula E has a unique collaborative model between its technology department and Aurora Media Worldwide, the championship’s host broadcaster. But there’s also a network of specialised partners working together to enhance the final product, including Gravity Media for facilities, Timeline for RF operations and onboard cameras, Al Kamel for timings and graphics, Tata for networking, and Whisper, which produces the English-language programming including pre- and post-race shows and live race content. “It’s really one big team,” says Glass.
Central to this collaboration is the remote production which takes place at Gravity Media’s Production Centre in The Westworks facility in White City, London. The setup reduces the need for extensive travel, aligning with Formula E’s sustainability goals while providing greater operational flexibility.
“Executive producer Mike Scott oversees the track cut from the on-site gallery,” explains Glass. “Having that track cut team on-site is invaluable – they can walk round the track, check the cameras, liaise directly with the race director, lead the cameras, and ensure the team is operating cohesively.”
The track cut is sent back to Gravity’s Production Centre. “That’s where international director Westbury Gillett curates the overall show, combining the track cut with everything else like onboards, special cams, RFs, team principal cameras and more,” Glass adds. “Adjacent to the International Gallery is the ELP Gallery, where the Whisper team produces the English-language programme. They take the international feed but tailor it for their broadcast which is taken by ITV, TNT, Roku in the US and broadcast partners all over the globe from Canada to Australia. We also have a CBS gallery for when we’re live on CBS. And ITV now has its own gallery too. It’s an incredible facility. Also in terms of sustainability, you see the difference in footprint over a race weekend. You’re not flying all those people and equipment all over the world. Plus, having all those people in this one space means you can do so much more. You’ve got Whisper in one room, Aurora in the next room, Gravity in another, but everyone works together as one big team.”
With broadcasts for ITV coming onstream, Glass notes that “we wanted to build on the progress and growth of the last season,” but had to focus on bringing in a new audience. “That means no assumed knowledge – introducing the cars, drivers, and teams is key to bringing viewers along on the journey – as is having a likeable and knowledgeable team of presenters who are having fun and enjoying the event.”
The centralised production is also efficient, particularly for the English-language programming. “We aimed for one entertaining, engaging and credible live show that works across all partners, like TNT, ROKU, and ITV, with one break structure that works for all,” says Glass. “It can be a logistical challenge, but it avoids the need to reduce the product by making different versions which can spread your resources too thinly. Fortunately, our partners have all bought into the idea and the approach has been a success so far.”