Formula E mandates power modes for Season 5

Formula E will introduce two compulsory power modes for the 2018/19 season as it looks to keep a strategic element to its racing.

With a new car set to be introduced, doing away with the need to change cars at part way through, the category’s organisers and the governing body felt the need to introduce an element of strategy back into the competition.

From next season, the new car is capable of running a complete race distance, of approximately 40 minutes, without stopping.

Drivers will be able to choose from the different modes mid-race, with suggestions they could vary by as much as 25kw.

The new car will boast 200kw of power in race trim, down from 250kw in qualifying mode.

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“It will be mandatory for each driver to utilise two different power levels during the race, with the high-power mode resulting in a performance gain of approximately one second per lap while activated,” read a bulletin issued by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

Exact details on how the two power modes will be implemented were not revealed, though detail is expected when the World Motor Sport Council meets next in June.

Other changes include the scrapping of a point for fastest lap, with instead the most efficient driver set to receive the bonus.