Porsche: “It’s going to be one hell of a fight”

Lining up for the first time in the history of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team line up alongside fellow German giants Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. Speaking for the first time at pre-season testing in Valencia, Porsche's Head of Operations, Amiel Lindesay explains why it's going to be "one hell of a fight."

"It's going to be one hell of a fight," says Amiel Lindesay, Head of Operations for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E outfit. "But we need to look at ourselves first. We need to clean ourselves up and do as well as we can - then we can maybe look around a bit."

Since the German powerhouse announced it would be entering into the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in July 2017, the Stuttgart manufacturer has been busy preparing for its debut season in the all-electric series. Lining up alongside fellow German giants Mercedes-Benz EQ, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler and BMW i Andretti Motorsport, Formula E faces its most competitive line up to date.  

"That's the great thing about the Championship - there are so many manufacturers and so much competition, we're looking forward to being part of it. Formula E is such a different formula from what we're used to. It's not straight forward," stressed the operations boss.  

"We're all rookies in the Formula E championship...to be on the podium at the end of the first championship is the aim."

Now in its second day of pre-season testing, the Porsche drivers Neel Jani and Andre Lotterer are yet to top the timesheets, with Envision Virgin Racing setting the pace instead. Close behind, Bavarian rivals BMW prove to be strong again after the team topped the times on all three days of testing last season. 

For former champs Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, the long-standing Formula E team are up for the fight as Team Principal Allan McNish prepares to lead the outfit to its second title. 

"We're all here for the competition," said McNish. "We're all looking forward to that first Qualifying session in Riyadh because that's when the bullsh*t stops."

"If we look at who won the Championship last year, then it was a team that's not at this table. There is definitely a Bundesliga feel about it...but the reality is we have equal competition [outside of the German manufacturers]." 

"There's four of us here but there are also eight others out there that want to be champions."

After failing to retain the title in the 2018/19 season, Audi struggled in the early stages, loosing out on key points before finishing second behind DS Techeetah in New York City, who walked away with both the teams' and the drivers' title.

"You can't make any mistakes now. You could arrive into a race in season one...and there you could get away with having a bad weekend. But I think it was quite clear that looking at last year, that had gone."

"With this level of competition...it creates the requirement to be absolutely spot on," insisted the Audi team boss.