Cause of Formula E battery failure still unknown to FIA and ERT

Sergio Sette Camara was unable to take the start in the Mexico City E-Prix season-opener earlier this month after an issue on the instillation lap meant his car came to a halt following a “very loud noise” and smoke.

His ERT machine was recovered back to the pits with the red warning light activated on top of the chassis – used to inform that the condition of the car is unsafe – after the “battery kind of exploded”.

ERT has confirmed that the incident took place while Sette Camara performed a pre-planned burn out procedure and is still investigating the issue with the FIA and battery supplier WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering).

“We are still working with the FIA and WAE to identify the root cause of the issue,” a team statement said.

“It’s not easy to determine as there is minor damage to a number of components and as such it takes a lot of time to conclude cause and effect.

“It’s a type of failure we haven’t seen before and one we don’t expect to see again.”

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Sergio Sette Camara, ERT Formula E Team, ERT X24

The FIA added: “The FIA is confident that it relates to an isolated incident and that any potential similar occurrence is being closely monitored thanks to the strong safety procedures in place in the Formula E World Championship.”

Prior to any track action in Saudi Arabia earlier this week for the Diriyah E-Prix double-header, Sette Camara had been critical about the lack of communication from the FIA, stating that “only the team a little bit reached out to me”.

But having been updated on the situation prior to the first race on Friday, the Brazilian was reassured that a similar issue would not repeat itself.

“It takes some time, but they came to speak with me, both FIA and WAE, the team and I’m much happier now,” he told Autosport.

“I think in the coming weeks if I need to do any checks [on the investigation], I’ll do it and if I don’t, they will give me their word, so I’m happy with this outcome.”

The 25-year-old put in an impressive qualifying performance to start fourth for the opening Diriyah E-Prix yesterday, and despite slipping back to ninth at the finish was delighted with the result.

“I’m probably happier with ninth than qualifying to be honest because if we had a trophy room, let’s say, we would have a room as a team from last season full of good qualifying but not so many full of good race results,” he said.

“Our conversion rate is not good, so after a good qualifying everyone is hyped up, but we’ve seen that before.

“Will it be one of those days we drop back and everyone is upset or we will score points and fortunately it was the latter.”