Vandoorne's new electric life: 'FE is like going back to basics'

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In parallel to Formula E, you’ve been hired by the Mercedes AMG F1 Team to do a lot of work in their simulator. Can you explain what do your current responsabilities consist of?

"I'm just doing development for them. So, obviously, these are long days in the simulator and I try to combine those with my FE projects.

"It's nice to be part of the team and to be able to guide them in the development."

Do you think your current partnership with Mercedes could lead to some new opportunities back in the F1 paddock in the future ?

"It is hard to tell. I mean it's definitely not my priority now. I'm trying to do the best job I can for them and really trying to give the best information in the simulator. The main target to develop that route.

Formula E goes to Hong-Kong this weekend. How do you usually prepare a race weekend from a driver’s point of view?

"Like in F1, a lot of the preparation gets done in the simulator which takes a couple of days.

"The energy management is basically the main thing you focus on because that's something you can't really practice much when you're there. It's a one day event which means you have no time to think about a lot of things.

"In the same day you have two Practice sessions, Qualifying and the race. So, between the sessions, there is no time to really analyze what has been going on and you just need to arrive 100% prepared.

"But if one thing hasn't been going a 100% correct, then you know that the result isn’t gonna be there. So everything needs to be going smooth to be able to get the whole day put together."