Before they set off on their journey to Mexico City for round four of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the two BMW i Andretti Motorsport drivers paid a visit to a rather special place. At the competence centre for electric drivetrains, António Félix da Costa and Alexander Sims met the engineers who developed and assembled the ReD01 drivetrain for the BMW iFE.18. It was time for the two drivers to say thank you.
“I am very pleased that the opportunity arose to fit this visit in before the Mexico City E-Prix,” said Félix da Costa
“The BMW i experts here were by my side when I won on the BMW iFE.18’s debut. These guys are the ones who make us go quick and win races. And it’s great to come here and see where it all happens. We drivers cannot thank them enough for developing such a fantastic drivetrain.” Sims said: “I find the technology behind our drivetrain fascinating and take my hat off to all the employees here for the job done – without them we wouldn’t be able to enjoy such success in Formula E. It feels fantastic to give it my all for them in every race to thank them for their great work with good results.”
Our BMW iFE.18 #ABBFormulaE car has been competitive to date, thanks in part to an excellent drivetrain.
Great to meet the engineers behind it and learn about the flow from FE to #BMWi production vehicles.
It’s this kind of tech transfer that makes FE exciting to be a part of. pic.twitter.com/rzcevxra4i— Alexander Sims (@AlexanderSims) February 12, 2019
The two drivers met their colleagues, who also develop the drivetrains for the BMW i production models, during an autograph session at Taunusstraße in Munich
Nicolai Martin, Head of Development Electric Drivetrains, and BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt had previously welcomed the two drivers. They reviewed the milestones achieved on the Formula E project. Martin said: “It is simply fantastic to see that we are so competitive in Formula E with the BMW i drivetrain for racing use and the car components developed by BMW Motorsport. António’s win at the season-opener inspired everyone in our team. It showed us that we at BMW i can also set the benchmark in an environment geared completely towards performance. That is something we are all very proud of.”
Marquardt added: “The competence centre for electric drivetrains is the beating heart of our technology lab for iNEXT and future generations of BMW i models. After the first few races, one thing is already clear. Our colleagues here have responded brilliantly to the high-performance challenge of motorsport. The knowledge they gain in the Formula E project flows directly into the development of BMW i production drivetrains. It is precisely this kind of technology transfer that makes Formula E so valuable to us.”
The next competitive outing for the BMW iFE.18 is on Saturday in Mexico City. Félix da Costa travels to Mexico in third place in the Drivers’ Championship with 28 points. Sims is currently tenth with 18 points to his name.
What a privilege it was to meet the engineering team who designed our iFE18 drivetrain. Thank you for your hard work and I know everyone is pushing hard to get even better! https://t.co/LEbHAq7fJb
— Alexander Sims (@AlexanderSims) February 12, 2019
