Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has written off Formula E as a marketing exercise which does not interest the energy drinks whose brand is synonymous with extreme and dangerous sports.
The organisation's involvement in motorsport is not limited to Formula 1 with their two teams - Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - as their portfolio also includes substantial partnerships in MotoGP, WRC and Dakar while backing several young drivers and riders in the junior categories.
Marko told Motorsport Network, "As good as we are in marketing, Formula E is for us only a marketing excuse from the automotive industry to distract from the diesel scandal. The bottom line is that diesel is by far the most efficient engine."
"In the beginning, the costs [of Formula E] were $8-million. Now it's well over 20-million. If the really big ones like Porsche and Mercedes come, it will go up again."
"The Formula E cars are like a Formula 3 car with a 400kg battery. It is not about being the fastest driver as it involves a lot more energy management than in Formula 1 or in any other racing series."
"They are so slow. It only looks attractive on these tight and twisty city circuits. The huge advantage is that the Formula E is a super marketing gag, in the middle of cities. Ask your girlfriend if she wants to go to Spa or rather to New York! That's the basic concept of Formula E, to go to the people."
"But there is hardly any public image generated through TV. Only one can win. And when the budgets then go towards 40, 50 million, at least one [manufacturer] will only be fifth or sixth. I believe that the euphoria will be gone quickly," added Marko.
Formula E media office were approached for comment and said they had nothing to add but did refer to comments made by Antonio Felix da Costa in the original piece here>>>
Note: Diesel emissions scandals - AKA dieselgate - related to higher than reported emissions from diesel engines, began in 2014 when the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reported discrepancies between European and US models of vehicles.
Beginning with the Volkswagen scandal, vehicles built by a wide range of carmakers were found to emit higher levels of pollution under real-world driving conditions.
Independent tests carried out by the German car club ADAC proved that, under normal driving conditions, diesel vehicles including the Volvo S60, Renault's Espace Energy and the Jeep Renegade, exceeded legal European emission limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) by more than 10 times.
ICCT and ADAC showed the biggest deviations from Volvo, Renault, Jeep, Hyundai, Citroën and Fiat. Source: Wikipedia
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