Formula E 'relief' as major request edges ever closer

Maximilian Günther has agreed that it is a 'relief' that Formula E will have a full wet tyre when Gen4 is introduced at the end of 2026. 

Racing in the wet has been a major talking point in the Gen3 era of the championship, with the all-weather tyre designed by Hankook having caused much frustration when the skies have turned grey.

Particularly since Gen3 Evo was introduced this season, almost the entire grid have complained about the performance of the iON compound in the wet. Generating heat has been a problem, whilst grip in general has been at an all-time low.

Jaguar's Mitch Evans was the first to voice his concerns ahead of the season-opening São Paulo E-Prix, having been one of the only drivers to have driven in the wet before the campaign began.

"From my experience, driving with these new tyres in the wet has been a real, I would say, a bit of a shock," Mitch Evans told RacingNews365 in São Paulo. "Yes, the tyre is quicker in the dry, but in the wet it's a huge, huge contrast. 

"I think if it's really like a lot of rain, I doubt we will be able to even race. I've driven this tyre in damp conditions, also very wet. And, yeah, it's definitely more of a dry tyre than a wet tyre, I would say, at the moment."

 Veteran Sam Bird was another to quickly raise concerns back in Brazil, hoping the season would be mostly dry – that has not happened!

"I think with the new tyre that we've got for this year, most of the drivers are hoping that it stays dry," Bird told RacingNews365 ahead of the season.

"The new track, the new tyre compound and structure for this year means that when it rains, it's very, very tricky.

"I mean, it was tricky before, but now, yeah, even more so. So I'm hoping that we get mostly dry weather."

Formula E performance boost

Last month in Monaco, Nyck de Vries described driving in the wet as simply "surviving". Back at the Circuit de Monaco ahead of the second race, all four drivers – including de Vries – competing in the semi-final stage went off the circuit, due to the poor conditions and lack of grip.

"If it's wet, you're not even reaching full throttle. So, it's more like surviving rather than racing in the wet," explained de Vries to RacingNews365 in Monaco last month.

"Obviously, street tracks are always challenging in the wet, and grip levels are low. But, yeah, I think, you saw that in the duels, in the last semi finals, none of us stayed on track.

"All four cars went off, which obviously shows that conditions were tricky and the grip was low."

As the performance of Formula E's cars continues to improve with each generation, many have called for the series to finally introduce a tyre purposefully for the wet. 

That request has been listened to, as the Gen4 render does include two tyre compounds for Bridgestone to develop – a baseline compound for the dry and light rain, and a so-called 'typhoon' tyre for conditions seen in Monaco, Tokyo and Shanghai.

According to Saturday's Shanghai race winner Günther, it is time for the series to introduce an extreme wet tyre to showcase the full potential of the championship's technology.

When asked by RacingNews365 if the introduction of the 'typhoon' compound for Gen4 is a relief, the DS Penske driver answered: "For sure. I think it's the right decision. And it's a natural thing to do, because the car is going to be a massive step in terms of performance in Gen4. 

"To then show the performance with a sort of like pure dry tyre is going to be amazing, and you will really see how much potential and performance there is in electric racing cars with four-wheel drive and in the spec that they're aiming for. 

"And, yeah, for the wet, I think we all want better and we will receive it for Gen4. So that's good. As I said earlier, at the end, it's the same for everyone, and it's a challenge. It's a big challenge at the moment, for sure, to drive with an all-weather tyre when it's so wet. 

"But yeah, it's our job and we, I can just speak about myself, I still very much enjoy it. You have to be very much. yeah, tiptoeing the car around the track. So it's certainly a lot of hard work, but yeah, it's still a great competition. That's how I see it."