Hello there, you’ve tuned in to the final episode of Post-F1 Paths, a mini series of seven short shows from Sidepodcast that looks at career options for drivers hanging up their F1 helmets. We’ve covered plenty of on and off track options so far, but today we’re looking at the drivers who decide they want a little bit more responsibility over a race weekend.

Formula One stewarding has often been considered something of a black art. It’s not a role that has much love attached to it, given that any decision is going to be considered wrong by a good proportion of people. Give a driver a penalty, that’s either too harsh or not enough of a sanction. Leave drivers to race and it’s probably because the stewards are biased towards one driver, or maybe they’re doing absolutely the right thing and letting the action unfold unhindered, or maybe they’ve gone to sleep in the Race Control office. It’s a very difficult position to be in.

To help give the stewards some additional insight into races, and to give the stewarding process a bit more credence, new FIA president Jean Todt brought in a fourth steward for the 2010 F1 season – each one a racing driver. The move hasn’t exactly made stewarding any less of a controversial role, but it has, at least, given some additional expertise to those making the crucial decisions.

Many drivers have opted to join the process, including Emerson Fittipaldi, Alan Jones, Derek Warwick, Mika Salo and Mark Blundell. Some are more vocal about their appearances than others. You can often see Derek Warwick prowling the paddock, pit lane and starting grid, overseeing the activities. He’ll even talk to the media about what’s been going down, although all stewards are careful about what they say about decisions made.

Other drivers decide to keep more of a low profile, and are perhaps spotted heading to the stewarding area and then never seen again. It’s not a surprise: some of the decisions made by stewards can have a significant impact on the racing action and results, and they aren’t always the most popular of people. Adding the driver was a good move by the FIA, however, particularly when it comes to dissecting specific two-car crashes.

It’s a fan-favourite topic to analyse an incident where two cars have collided. Who’s to blame? Did they see them? Did they turn in or could they have done more to avoid the incident? Lots of questions and lots of debate. Driver stewards can analyse what’s happening in the car with the added insight of probably having been in a similar situation themselves at one time or another. They can listen to the testimony from drivers if they are called to explain themselves and decide whether it makes sense or not based on their own experience.

Standing in judgement of your fellow driver may not suit everyone, but there are official FIA positions available that don’t require becoming a steward. Emerson Fittipaldi was Preisdent of the FIA Drivers’ Commission until the start of 2016, when he was replaced by endurance racer Tom Kristensen. Emmerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell were pivotal in creating this new commission, which aims to be a liaison between the drivers and the governing body, to understand any issues within each championship and to work with the relevant FIA commission to fix them. Safety is naturally the number one priority, but there’s also talk of the technical direction of the cars, the nature of the circuits and finding the right balance between appealing to fans and still remaining a sporting challenge for drivers.

And FIA roles are not all commissions, although I admit it does sound like it. Many F1 drivers, current and past, are involved in the FIA’s road safety campaign, and plenty of faces from the paddock have taken part in initiatives for the FIA’s Women in Motorsport campaign. It may not be as well-paid as driving a high speed car for 20+ weekends a year, but some of the work the FIA does can be far more rewarding.

That’s all for this episode, and this series of Post-F1 Paths, we’ve reached the end of our seven short shows. If you’ve got any feedback about the show, or about what other activities drivers get up to once they’re done racing, do let me know sidepodcast.com/contact. All that remains to say is thank you for listening and see you next time!

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The official

Hello and welcome to the latest mini series from Sidepodcast – Post-F1 Paths. Here we are assessing the options available to Formula One drivers when they are finally ready to hang up their helmets, or if they have been politely requested to do so by their teams. This is the penultimate show and today we are looking at a gig for a driver who wants to remain close to the sport on race weekends, but perhaps wants a more relaxing time of it.

Many of the official F1 broadcasters have a template when it comes to hiring their on-air talent – traditional anchors and journalists are partnered up with former racers, so there’s a little bit of professional broadcasting talent alongside the expertise and insight of those who have been there and done that. If you take the current set up in the UK, with two TV broadcasters, it’s become a haven for ex-racers.

Channel 4 have roped in Mark Webber alongside David Coulthard and test driver Susie Wolff, with the occasional addition of former team owner Eddie Jordan. Bruno Senna makes an appearance sometimes too. Coulthard provides commentary duties alongside his on-screen presenting, describing what’s going through driver’s minds as they navigate each tricky race weekend.

Sky have managed to get more of a cross-section of experience, with Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill providing opinions from racers who have been long retired. Anthony Davidson and Paul di Resta provide insight from those who are more recent racers – often combining their role with a racing seat in another series.

And there is, of course, Martin Brundle, teamed with David Croft, to provide commentary for the race. Brundle has been commentating on F1 since 1997, moving across many broadcasters and making his voice one of the most recognisable as the voice of the sport – although no one can beat a certain Murray Walker for that.

Brundle raced in F1 for twelve seasons, spanning the 1980s and the 1990s, scoring 9 podium finishes and just missing out on 100 career points. He drove for Tyrrell, Williams, Brabham and McLaren, giving him a great wealth of experience across a mixture of competitive and not-so-competitive teams. He also endured a handful of terrifying crashes, and so his insight is truly trusted when it comes to considering what the drivers on the ground are thinking, feeling and why they are reacting the way they are.

And that’s the key for a driver to make a broadcasting career for themselves after they’ve finished racing – being able to eloquently describe the feelings, to translate what happens out on track to the armchair fan. I have no idea what it’s like to drive a car at 200mph, except I can imagine it’s exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. Listening to a driver describe the experience brings me one step closer to the action.

It’s not something everyone will be able to do, but there are options across the globe – not just in the UK. Many drivers tend to gravitate back to their home country to share their knowledge with the home crowds. Alexander Wurz has been on screen in Austria, Luciano Burti in Brazil, Franck Montagny in France, Tiago Monteiro in Portugal and Mika Salo in Finland.

More and more, the current crop of Formula One drivers get a good feeling of whether they could turn their career towards broadcasting later on, as there are many media duties placed upon them. Interviews for the TV crews quite often turn into skits, sketches, games and more, as well as some of the more experimental advertisers getting drivers to do all kinds of fun things on camera to promote the brand. It’s a good sign of whether they are comfortable on screen, whether they can communicate successfully and most importantly of all, whether the audience engages with them and likes them. Jenson Button has often been discussed as a name that would make a good broadcaster, Kimi Räikkönen, not so much.

That’s all for this episode of Post-F1 Paths, the mini series from Sidepodcast that takes a look at options available to drivers who have raced their last Formula One event. Thank you for listening this far, we have just one episode remaining this series, so please do let me know your thoughts at sidepodcast.com/contact and join me again tomorrow for our final episode.

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The broadcaster

Hello one and all, welcome to Post-F1 Paths, a mini series brought to you by Sidepodcast. This is the fifth episode of seven short shows in which we are travelling through the opportunities available to drivers once they have decided to give up Formula One in favour of something else. We’ve covered a handful of sporting achievements that drivers can aim for after F1, but this time we’re talking about using their fitness for other athletic purposes.

Drivers opting to try their hand at athletics after a successful career in Formula One has never been more relevant than it is this year, with Jenson Button’s triathlete endeavours. The F1 champion was clearly ready for a break from the grind of travelling the world and racing fast cars, so for the 2017 season (barring a one-off Monaco return) he retired from the sport. Instead, Button has been focusing on becoming a triathlete champion.

Now, the athletic competition of running, cycling and swimming isn’t new to Button. He’s participated in many events over the past few years and even holds his own annual charity event open to any and all who want to participate. He’s gradually improved his own skills, and with the added high standards of fitness required to be an F1 driver these days, has never been in a better position to do well in his new career.

Unfortunately, Button was disqualified from his World Ironman efforts despite finishing third in his age category. The impressive performance was diminished when it emerged he had been speeding through a slow zone during the bike phase – something that was a gleeful moment for headline writers, but must have been a disappointment for Button. Still, with reserve driver duties out the way, he can get back to the running, swimming and biking that is now inspiring him.

And if inspiration is what you’re after, then we must look no further than Alex Zanardi. The Italian driver was more well known for his CART efforts in the US, but also participated in over 40 F1 races. A terrible crash saw Zanardi lose both his legs but the accident barely slowed him down. Zanardi was soon behind the wheel again in modified racing cars, but he also took up handcycling.

He started participating, and winning, handcycling marathons. He won a gold medal in the 2012 Paralympics, and followed it up in 2016 with two golds and one silver. He also completed the Ironman World Championship, coming 19th in his age group. Absolutely incredible.

Competing in the Olympics isn’t a new thing for racing drivers, either. One of Formula One’s very few female drivers started out as an Olympian. Divina Galica, who started three F1 races in the 1970s, came fresh from a stint as captain of the British Women’s Olympic Ski Team securing some solid finishes in both the winter Olympics and world championship events. After the Formula One career didn’t work out, Galica returned to the ice and snow, participating in the 1972 Winter Olympics as well.

The challenge of representing your country and competing for a tangible and well-recognised gold medal is understandably appealing to drivers but it’s not all about the Olympics. Other sports are just as fascinating but also come with health warnings. We all remember Mark Webber’s unfortunate cycling accident – sustained whilst participating in an off-season bike race for his foundation in Tasmania – that left him with a broken leg. The one thing that came out of this was a greater insight into the training and rehabilitation that drivers can undergo, as Webber was very open about his progress in healing the leg and training as best as possible to be ready for the upcoming 2009 F1 season.

Webber also, quite notably, cracked his shoulder in a second cycling accident that forced him to drive the final four races of the 2010 season in some discomfort. We know that Webber has bad luck, but it’s also more and more obvious why drivers should perhaps wait until after they’ve finished their racing career before they go all out on another athletic sport.

That’s all for this episode of Post-F1 Paths, thank you, as always, for listening. Do you know of any other drivers who have taken up another sport after their career, or do you think any more of the current batch might try? Let me know at sidepodcast.com/contact, and please do join me again tomorrow for the penultimate episode of Post-F1 Paths.

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The athlete

Hello and welcome to episode four of Post-F1 Paths, the latest mini series from Sidepodcast that investigates what options are available to F1 drivers once they have decided to step out of the car. So far we’ve covered a few options for those wanting a clean break from F1 but now it’s time to go back to the paddock with a new challenge – being the boss.

We haven’t seen it so much recently, but one of the options awaiting a driver when they decide it’s time to hang up those racing gloves is to become the boss. A wealth of experience of driving, managing race weekends, understanding what it takes to win and living the crazy jet set lifestyle that comes with Formula One is a good grounding for taking over a team. Or is it?

There are plenty of examples of drivers making the step up to team owner, F1 history is littered with them. Some, such as John Surtees, opt to own the team and continue to drive at the same time, which must make post-race debriefing sessions odd – the boss telling himself off. Others, such as Alain Prost, wait until after they’ve retired to grab the reigns.

Prost bought the ex-Ligier team in 1997 and remodelled it as Prost Grand Prix. They had a handful of podiums in the early days but things went downhill after that and the team went bankrupt in 2002. Super Aguri was a team managed by Aguri Suzuki, and they become quite famous for being a backmarker squad, eventually running out of money part way through a season.

It’s not always bad news though. Jack Brabham had considerable success with his Brabham outfit, they scored both constructor and driver titles before the team was eventually sold to Bernie Ecclestone, you might have heard of him. And the most famous and long-lasting of all, of course, is the team founded by one Bruce McLaren. Still running to this day with lots of great results behind them, a huge heritage and plenty of respect throughout the paddock – even if the current McLaren era isn’t exactly going to plan.

As I mentioned at the start, the driver-turned-owner dynamic isn’t something we’ve seen more recently, perhaps because the costs of getting into F1 and the barriers to entry are so high. What we do see more of these days is the driver turned ambassador – someone willing to associate their name with a brand, lend their expertise to a team that needs it, basically give them some gravitas in the paddock.

The most obvious example of this at the moment is Niki Lauda, who has become a stalwart of the Mercedes garages, stalking through the paddock ready to give his opinion at the mere hint of a microphone. There’s a vast amount of talent and experience within that team already, but having someone with Lauda’s CV on board should be a help when things get tricky.

One of the things I assumed having an F1 driver as part of the executive team would help with would be driver management. Someone like Niki Lauda knows what it is to disagree with your teammate, to be caught up in the heat of the battle, to want to win at all costs, regardless of what it does to relationships… and yet still have to make those relationships work. That’s why the fight between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg was even more fascinating over the past few seasons – they must have had plenty of advice from all angles to help them through but still the atmosphere just got worse and worse.

It can’t be easy being on the sidelines once an F1 star has decided to give up the day job, and I imagine you have to have a certain attitude to be able to watch the action in the garages or from the pit wall without wanting to elbow people out the way and jump in the car yourself. But for those that can make it work, it must also be a very rewarding experience – using everything you’ve learned in your driving career to turn around and make a new set of drivers, and perhaps even your own team, ultimately have their own success.

That’s all for this episode of Post-F1 Paths, thank you for joining me along our path this series. I’d love to hear what you think about the success or failure of drivers that have turned team boss, manager or ambassador – is it a good idea or are they better suited behind the helmet? Let me know sidepodcast.com/contact. I will be back tomorrow with another episode, please join me then.

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The boss

Hello there, welcome to Post-F1 Paths from Sidepodcast, a mini series of seven short shows looking at what options are available to drivers who hang up their F1 helmets and look for a career outside of the paddock. This is the third episode and today we’re talking about drivers who still need that thrill of the race, and so look to other motorsport series’.

Formula One is considered the pinnacle of motorsport, just about, and particularly in recent years, drivers have to be at the peak of physical fitness to get the best out of the car. They restrict their diets, they train every day, they do everything they can to control their bodies so as to save time on track. It’s no surprise that a driver retiring from F1 may still decide they want to race, but just look for the thrill in a series where they can relax, just a little. Maybe have a cake, on occasion, you know?

The two other series with the highest profile that attract drivers are the IndyCar series and the World Endurance championship. As we’ve seen with Fernando Alonso in 2017, the dream of completing the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans hat trick continues to live large in driver’s minds, and so those two series must seem very attractive for a recently retired F1 star.

IndyCar has similarities to F1, the cars look somewhat familiar and the road courses have right and left turns just as all F1 circuits do. The ovals are something different though, top speeds are higher, cornering speeds are crazy, and it all seems somewhat terrifying to me but to a driver no doubt looks an incredible challenge. Juan Pablo Montoya and Takuma Sato are recent IndyCar converts with vastly different degrees of success. Indy 500 winners include Jacques Villeneuve, Emerson Fittipaldi and Graham Hill.

Over in the endurance series, recent converts include Mark Webber and Anthony Davidson, who adjusted to life in the closed cockpits very well. Whilst the cars are very different in the WEC, I imagine it’s the format of the races that is more of an adjustment for fresh F1 faces. Far longer races than the two hour limit of a grand prix, and sharing the car with other drivers – jumping in and out midrace, perhaps even catnapping to reserve energy for that final dash to the end. It’s a different discipline and one that takes some getting used to, unless you’re Nico Hülkenberg, of course. The current Renault driver took time out of his F1 season last year (not missing any races, though) to take part in and WIN the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Porsche.

But if you’re not interested in taking that triple crown of motorsport, there are plenty of other options out there for you. Kimi Räikkönen took an F1 sabbatical that saw him turn his hand to rallying – another discipline that shares few similarities with Formula One. Closed cockpits, rally cars, a passenger, single time trials rather than wheel to wheel combat, it’s definitely something different. Kimi seemed to enjoy it at first, but soon came back to F1. Robert Kubica also participated in rallying alongside his F1 career before the accident that postponed his open wheel ambitions.

We’ve mentioned Montoya already in regards to IndyCar but the Colombian racer also had a respectable career in NASCAR: winning races, securing pole positions and generally making a good showing of things. And Paul di Resta came from the German racing series DTM before he joined F1. Many wondered whether he could make the adjustment, as it’s a different path to the sport than the normal karting to feeder series to F1 paddock journey. He adapted well, if not spectacularly, but I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone when he returned to the DTM series, combining it with simulator duties for the Mercedes squad.

As is often said, you can’t teach someone how to be fast, there’s a talent that has to be there to be successful. But if the evidence we’ve looked at shows us anything, it’s that you can learn how to adapt your skills to different environments, with varying degrees of success. Just because a driver’s career in F1 may have come to an end, it doesn’t mean they have to hang up their helmet for good.

That’s all for this episode of Post-F1 Paths, thank you for listening. Do let me know what you think about drivers participating in other racing disciplines, just head to sidepodcast.com/contact to share your thoughts. And do join me again tomorrow when we’ll look at something else a driver can do outside of the car.

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The cross-discipline

Hello friends and welcome to Post-F1 Paths, a mini series brought to you by Sidepodcast that tracks some of the options available to drivers once their career in Formula One is over – either by choice or not. Yesterday we talked about drivers who find it hard to cut ties with the sport, but today it’s a group that have turned their attentions to other endeavours – this is the entrepreneur.

F1 drivers live life somewhat in a bubble. They work hard, train hard, drive hard, but spend almost all of their time focused on finding speed – whether it is from improving their own body and skills, or spending time with the team and engineers on patching up the car. The amount of time and effort that goes into a Formula One career cannot be understated, but it can be lacking in the bigger picture, having a view of life outside the paddock. You learn a lot from a career in F1, but it can be hard to translate that to outside interests.

Some do succeed, however, and have managed to put motorsport behind them to focus on building a business in a totally separate walk of life. There are three business options that have appeared to be the most popular amongst former F1 drivers, the first being to open up an airline.

Spending so much time jetsetting around the world must give drivers something of an idea how the airline industry works, and what customers actually want from a trip across the ocean. Niki Lauda quite famously created Lauda Air which he ran for twenty years before selling up to Austrian Airlines. The brand eventually ceased flying in 2013. Thierry Boutsen, an F1 driver in the 1980s, formed a company, Boutsen Aviation, to buy and sell planes, from corporate jets to smaller private aircraft.

Another outlet for the former-racer-turned-businessman is selling cars. Who has more knowledge about a quality automobile than someone who used to race them for a living? Legendary champion Juan Manuel Fangio owned a Mercedes dealership and became a huge ambassador for the brand, eventually being appointed the President of Mercedes-Benz Argentina. British driver Tony Brooks ran a Ford garage for many years.

It’s not just about selling things that already exist, either. Some have the ability to innovate and create products that were never there before. Nelson Piquet Sr, after a successful stint in Formula One, founded the company Autotrac, which pioneered technology that could aid with satellite mapping and tracking on Brazilian freight trucks.

But, perhaps drivers get fed up with the fast pace of life in F1, with the smoke and dust and petrol fumes. That would explain why moving out to the countryside holds such appeal, with Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann spending his time on a farm, and also embarking on various political endeavours. Jody Schekter’s successful farm produces organic meat for organic burgers that have even been spotted on sale in the Silverstone paddock.

It doesn’t all have to be about business, of course. There’s also the creative side of being an entrepreneur. Many, many drivers write autobiographies about their time in the sport. Most wait until they’ve finished like Mark Webber, but some, including Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, release works whilst they are still driving but have achieved an order of success that would be worth writing about.

Some drivers even turn their talents to more musical pastimes, with Jacques Villeneuve and Jaime Alguersuari releasing albums of a very different nature. Hamilton also dabbles in music as well as books, but has said that his songs are just for his ears only, so perhaps we won’t see an album from the world champion any time soon.

So, although on the surface it doesn’t seem easy to transition out of motorsports to the corporate or creative world, there’s clearly a discipline that allows for F1 drivers to turn their hands to other endeavours. From buying and selling, to farming, to singing, there’s something out there for everyone.

Thanks for listening to this, the second episode of Post-F1 Paths. We have completed two potential second careers for drivers, and have five more still to come. Can you guess what any of them might be? Let me know at sidepodcast.com/contact, and please do send me your feedback about the topics covered so far. I’ll be back tomorrow with the third episode.

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The entrepreneur

Hello, welcome to Sidepodcast, this is a brand new mini series called Post-F1 Paths, I bet you can’t guess what it’s about! I’m your host, Christine, and I’ll be guiding you through seven short shows taking a look at what drivers choose to do once they’ve decided, or it is decided for them, that their time in F1 is over. This first episode is based on something we’ve seen happen a lot in 2017. What to do when you retire from F1? Come straight back, of course!

Retiring from Formula One isn’t an easy decision. There are so many elements that go into making a decision of this nature: how long a driver has been in the sport, how well they are currently doing, and what their chances are of doing well in the future, whether they have achieved what they set out to do, whether any team is after their services, and, of course, whether they want to get on with whatever it is they do next.

Sometimes, a driver doesn’t get to make the decision for themselves. In fact, that happens more often than a driver having a long and happy career and deciding when the time is right that they want to hang up their F1 helmet and move on to something else. It’s usually the case that a driver ends up just being squeezed out of the sport. They haven’t impressed enough to earn a contract at a top team, and their current employer is looking for the next generation already. Bye bye F1 driver.

Occasionally, though, a driver does make the decision on their own terms. At the end of the 2016 season, it looked like we had three drivers doing just that. Felipe Massa was ready to retire after a long career in the sport, not quite reaching his championship potential, but becoming a much-loved figure in the paddock nonetheless. Jenson Button seemed more keen to hot-foot it out of the car and get on with the next stage of his career, having achieved one championship and then spending the rest of the time pootling around in an underperforming McLaren. And Nico Rosberg, after fighting tooth and nail to take the title that season, surprised pretty much everyone with his decision to quit the sport.

Of those three, only one of the retirements truly stuck. Rosberg’s decision freed up a space at Mercedes which was filled by Bottas, which freed up a space at Williams, which was filled by Massa. And fed up with pootling around in his own under-performing McLaren meant Fernando Alonso made the decision to try his hand at IndyCar, which forced Jenson Button back behind the wheel one more time. Much like their respective retirements from F1, Massa and Button’s reactions to returning were completely different as well.

Massa was keen to come back, admitting he hadn’t really wanted to leave in the first place. It can be a wrench, quitting a sport you have not only spent decades racing in but also spent the early part of your life fully focused on getting to. You’ve made friends, got routines, earned your stripes and generally been fully indoctrinated into the F1 way of life. For twenty or so weekends a year, you drive as fast as you possibly can and spend the rest of the time working out how to go faster. To go from that to sitting around at home in your pyjamas binge-watching TV must be a baffling experience.

Button, though, put on a good show about coming back but could barely hide the fact that he was already moving on. F1 had been good to him, but the final few years of his time in the sport robbed him of his passion for it. Taking a time out when he did was a good decision, and coming back wasn’t part of the plan. Focused instead on outside activities, it was surely only his reserve driver status in the contract that spurred him back in to the McLaren.

Sometimes a comeback takes a little longer to occur. Michael Schumacher retired and returned a few years later. Kimi Räikkönen thought rallying had more appeal than the more restricted F1, but he also returned after a stint out of the sport. Occasionally a driver realises they’re not quite ready for the big time and take a step down before returning to the pinnacle of motorsport. Nico Hülkenberg made his debut at Williams for one season before ducking out to be Force India’s test driver for a year, and earning his spot in the car full time. Romain Grosjean had a brief stint at Renault in 2009 but then moved back to GP2 to earn his stripes again before returning to F1 in 2012.

Meanwhile, Rosberg has managed to make his retirement stick but spends his weekends at home watching the sport instead. It’s clearly really hard to let F1 go.

That’s all for this first episode of Post-F1 Paths. The drivers discussed within found it hard to cut the ties to their preferred motorsport series, but others that we will discuss in the shows to follow did go on to other adventures. What do you think we might see over the next few episodes? Let me know at sidepodcast.com/contact, and join me tomorrow to find out!

See more on Post-F1 Paths - The comeback

Welcome to It Only Takes E Minute, where Formula E welcomes back a familiar track to the season lineup.

There's been a hole in the Formula E calendar since Brazil unfortunately had to withdraw from hosting duties in March next year, and now the barely kept secret of Uruguay stepping up to fill that gap has been confirmed.

The Punta del Este track will take up hosting duties of the sixth round of the 2017/18 season on 17th March, as agreed by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council today. It's still subject to a couple of sign-offs and the circuit being homologated but for all intents and purposes, it is going ahead.

Formula E chief, Alejandro Agag, admitted they always had Uruguay in reserve as soon as the issues with Brazil arose, and it's merely been a matter of waiting for the FIA to get together and approve it.

The track is a popular one, loved by drivers and fans alike, slicing up and down the Punta del Este harbour and beachfront. The event has been held twice, in the first and second Formula E seasons, but it disappeared off the calendar last year as it was impossible to reach an agreement between organisers and the government.

See more on Punta del Este joins the 2017/18 calendar to replace Brazil

This is It Only Takes E-Minute, where Audi have gone back and read the rule book properly.

Daniel Abt crossed the finish line first for the second race of the Hong Kong double header, but his victory was snatched away from him when the FIA disqualified the driver. The reason for the DQ was an issue with the barcodes on the car not matching with the FIA's technical passport.

Audi originally stated their intention to appeal this decision, hoping to re-instate Abt's victory and keep the trophy that he picked up on the podium. However, the team have now confirmed they won't be going ahead with the appeal letting the results stand instead.

Team principal Allan McNish said: "We gained no advantage as a result of the administrative error and all parts fully complied to homologation and the technical regulations at all times. Still, we accept the decision of the FIA and fully back the technical passport regulations."

With the matter settled, Felix Rosenqvist keeps his race win and Sam Bird keeps hold of the championship lead after the first two races, sitting on 35 points to Jean-Éric Vergne's second place with 33.

See more on Audi Sport drop appeal of Hong Kong disqualification

On this show, we discuss our thoughts from a frantic first weekend of Formula E this season, what the sport can do better against what we absolutely loved, and the surprising findings of a contact sport.

We start off pondering how we managed to skip a couple of seasons of the fast-growing motorsport, placing the blame firmly at one particular door, and then talk about how it's easy to learn something when you're telling other people about it.

Talk moves on to the packed weekend of action, the amazing access fans have to content, but also how the racing itself was bookended with disappointment. We also ponder what happened to the grid kids, and argue for a spot of consideration when it comes to the radio.

Finally, there's time to discuss everyone's favourite mascot, how the simpler strategies can be easier to digest, and our favourite moments from a tiring but rewarding weekend. All that and more in our first ever dedicated Formula E podcast.

Have your say!

As discussed

• City slicker
• A beginner's guide to FanBoost
• It Only Takes E Minute
• Race highlights - Hong Kong Round 2
• Formula E on YouTube
• Formula E radio and podcast
• The new kids on the block
• Jack Nicholls on Grid Kids

See more on Formula E-Brief - Your big puffy friend was there

Welcome to It Only Takes E Minute, where the racing is dominated by spins in the opening and closing laps.

Felix Rosenqvist earned himself pole position for the second race in Hong Kong, but the Mahindra driver spun on the first lap and dropped himself down to 11th place. That was after a safety car start, where the cars trawled around for one lap due to a failure of the starting lights. The action got going, but wasn't as frantic as yesterday's race thanks to the extra laps and fuel saving required.

Rookie driver Edoardo Mortara moved into the lead of the race, and held on to it until just before the end. There, he admitted, he was pushing too hard, going for glory, and spun himself out of a race win. He crossed the line third, with Rosenqvist, who had recovered well, ahead of him. Daniel Abt inherited the win.

But, there was more drama to come as the Audi Sport car was found to have been illegal and Abt was disqualified from the race. The team are appealing the decision, but for now that promotes Rosenqvist back into the winning position, that he had spun himself out on so early on.

See more on Rosenqvist wins second Hong Kong race after Abt disqualification