David Beckmann has spoken exclusively to Fastest Formula News ahead of the London E-Prix, reflecting on his debut season in Formula E.
Arriving outside the Cupra Kiro garage, a hive of activity at the best of times, silence greets us. The cars are up on the jacks resting, while team members take a quick break from preparing for the weekend.
Beckmann greets us with a smile, and cuts a relaxed figure ahead of the final race of a gruelling debut campaign.
Asked to summarise his first year in Formula E, the German spoke of his excitement, and his thoughts on his progress throughout the year.
“So, first of all, yeah, it was a very exciting season. I’m very pleased to be, yeah, to actually take part as a full-time Formula E driver as the last two years were kind of always a bit of… Very interesting being reserve driver, development driver, a lot of fun, but always very sad sitting in the garage and watching the other drivers go on track.
“So, this year was very exciting for me and I had a lot of fun. From the, yeah, from the, let’s say, season’s perspective in terms of achievements, it was not such a great season for the team. The development was good, we did good progress, but, yeah, I still had a lot of bad luck also last race in Berlin.
So, we have one more or two more shots here in London, trying to achieve to end the season on a high. But, yeah, obviously the season didn’t go as planned from my side. It wasn’t an easy one, but I enjoyed it a lot and I think we did some really good improvements in the team and the car and we, yeah, we then could fight for a win in the podiums and stuff.
“So, I think we definitely did a really good progress over the season.“
Lessons to take away in a bruising year
Team-mate Dan Ticktum gained momentum throughout the season. The results included taking a memorable maiden victory in Jakarta.
By comparison, David Beckmann struggled for results across Season 11. He entered the final race on no points, one of only two drivers in the field with that unenviable statistic. The German said the biggest lesson he took away from his season was experience.
“Biggest I can take away as experience is, I think, just first of all working with the team, all the engineers. I mean, still a new thing for me, you know.
“I came out of Formula 2, which is already professional, then I got to reserve driver, I watched everything, but this year was the first time to actually work so closely with so many cool and intelligent people.
“And having such a professional team behind me is really a pleasure and it was a high learning curve to, yeah, take everything out of that and improve my, in general, also my driving skills, but also my working experience.
“And on the other hand, I learned a lot in Formula E on driving-wise, like with all the, especially like on peloton races and stuff, like in Miami, we had in Shanghai. So much experience, which I didn’t have before that, was basically always just flat out and defend your position.
“And in Formula E it’s very different, a lot of tactics. So this I learned also too. Now in Formula E it’s never too late to, you know, even come from the very back to the front and stay calm and do your job.“
Would David Beckmann do anything differently?
With such a steep learning curve, David Beckmann admitted that there are plenty of changes of approaches he would make if given the opportunity.
“Yeah, I think just from a natural side, I would change a lot of things probably. So first of all, first races. Obviously, I wasn’t too aggressive, so I lost many positions already in opening laps and this and that.
“Because it’s a bit difficult for me to find the rhythm in the first races and move up or defend very hard. And for me, I can actually defend pretty hard. So I would change this and have a more aggressive approach from the beginning and try to defend my position.
“And yeah, that’s for sure. I think, on the other hand, probably on peloton-style races would be a lot more experience. For example, we had, like I told already, Miami-Chicago was very special, where I realised I burned a bit too much energy this and that, defending and drivers in the back or in the very front, just being very efficient and made the positions up or stayed where they were.
So overall, it’s just an experience thing. I think, from a qualifying, just overall speed, I think I’m pretty good and the team is pretty good. So there, I think I can always improve a little bit.
Better race planning
Beckmann offered a brutally honest assessment of his bigger picture thinking for races. He said he had to improve in this year, indicating he had taken the wrong approach.
“But I think the main improvements would be in the races, just to understand and look through the race a bit more, a bit better, instead of just going in there and see what happens. You have to be already with a mindset to know what will happen, based on your experience the past races or the past seasons.”
Also, if you have driven on these tracks, you know what it will be probably, because it’s a similar car, even cars are still very similar to the Grand Prix Cup.
So these are just natural things which come to your mind and therefore you will always improve and have a better view if you would repeat a season or another season.“
Preparing for London
At this point, we pause to take a quick impromptu break. Trucks pass the start finish straight, cleaning the tarmac. Given the unique indoor and outdoor setting of the London E-Prix, our conversation becomes impossible.
After waiting for the truck to move away, David Beckmann gave insight into how he prepared for the weekend. One point would be scored, preventing him from a point-less campaign.
“London is a very special circuit, because it’s a circuit which your car will never be perfect on, basically. Because we are here in the indoor stage, and the last sector and the first sector is basically just indoor and the tarmac is very aggressive, and therefore it has also a lot of grip, which is good for us drivers.
“But then you come out of the track, so normally here in the indoor section, you have a great car which just turns very well, it’s very stable, good traction.
“So you try to adapt your car, or you would try to adapt your car for this tarmac and balance feedback. But then you come out of the stable section, and you have a very normal street tarmac, and a lot of bumpiness and dirt on the track, and this and that, like a street circuit is. So there it will be again all over the place.
“So the key in London is to find a kind of symphony between the indoor and outdoor balance changes. And as a driver you have to adapt and think about what’s good to sacrifice, maybe in one or two corners, but over the whole length of the track, maybe it’s five, six corners better on braking points, this and that.
“So, for example, if you have a fully flat circuit here, a fully flat track in Turn 1, good braking performance, you can run really low with the car, this and that, then you come out, and for example with a brake to chicane, there are many bumps, and then so you will hit the bump rubber, or you will bottom out, so you still have to race the car.
“But then you will know that the braking here won’t be as good as you maybe had on a simulator, stuff like that.
So it’s really a sacrifice, and you have to manage your sacrifice in that order, that in the end you gain the maximum lap time, and that’s the most thing on driving, and otherwise in the races, probably the most important thing is to maximise the qualifying, because overtaking is generally quite difficult on this track, so this is quite a key point, and you need to defend yourself in the races very hard.
Ambitions for Season 12
To wrap up our time with Beckmann, we asked the German what he wanted to achieve in Season 12. Given he has yet to secure his seat, this was understandably at the top of his priority list. He indicated conversations were ongoing.
“Well, I think for Season 12, obviously I would love to stay in Formula E, I don’t know, there are some negotiations going on, and like meetings, but in the very end we have to decide after London what’s the possibility.“
“Now the past weeks were really busy, so we didn’t have anything fixed yet, but overall I really enjoyed the season, and could be already from the points perspective, and I think achievements are a lot better, but I think if I would drive again in the season, I think the team and myself would start on a lot better level, and go from there, and I think could achieve some really good results.
