Fans will now get a chance to vote for their favorite driver live during Formula E races after series officials confirmed that it had approved the plan to revamp its interactive FanBoost concept.
In season one, fans voted for drivers via the Formula E app and website in the lead-up to each ePrix, with the top three receiving two five-second power boosts to be used in each half of the race.
Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag confirmed at June’s London finale that he was looking to improve the interaction by leaving the voting open whilst the race was ongoing.
In a statement issued on Friday, Formula E confirmed that this had been ratified, with the new FanBoost working as follows:
- Fans can still vote for their favorite drivers using the Formula E app and website in the lead-up to each race. However, they will also be able to vote by using a select hashtag on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
- Voting will close after the first six minutes of the race, giving fans the opportunity to watch the start before casting their vote.
- Drivers will now only be able to use FanBoost in the second stint of the race.
- FanBoost can only be used once, and will take the form of a 100kJ increase in energy to be used in a power window of 180kW to 200kW. This allows teams to either use power boost for a smaller increase for a longer period of time, or a big increase over a short spell.
“FanBoost is a uniquely fan engaging element of our series and by being able to vote during the race the level of engagement will increase significantly, creating a real-time relationship between drivers, teams and fans,” Formula E director of media Ali Russell said.
“We are delighted to partner with Telescope, who have a proven track record in this field, and with their expertise we will evolve the FanBoost concept to become a standard bearer for fan interactivity in sport.”
The revamped FanBoost voting will open on October 12, 12 days before the opening Formula E race of the season in Beijing, China.