Formula E Vote To Pass

Not a big follower of this stuff but I came across this article: http://voltmagonline.com/formula-e-to-allow-viewers-to-vote-which-drivers-get-50bhp-advantage-through-twitter/

In a press conference held in Monaco today, Formula E has announced a vote-to-pass system which sees viewers voting for who gets to use the 50bhp advantage through Twitter. The push-to-pass system is something that is used in Indycar, and allows drivers to press a button on their steering wheel to gain an extra 50bhp for 10 seconds. However, their drivers get an allocated set of push-to-passes in each race, which they can use at any point during the lap.

Is this a real thing?

No, no, no, NO! This is terrible. I wish this was a joke, and it would make a fine Onion article, but it's not.

I had such high hopes...

Maybe Bernie Ecclestone will go to Formula E and leave F1 alone so it wouldn't be a total loss.

Edit: BTW the official name of this feature is "Fanboost."

This might be the single worst idea ever to occur to anyone.

If ebay were to suddenly greenlight the sale of human organs I would be all like "Hmmm... that's a pretty bad idea but ... Vote to Pass, cmon!".

^I was reminded of Dr. Malcolm's line from Jurassic Park 2, about the "worst idea in the long sad history of bad ideas"

It's easier to make the racing match the video games than make the video games match the racing.

They need to make it so the fans control when the boost happens.

Aaaaaand there goes every iota of interest I had in Formula E. Berk you FIA!

Wow.

Setting the bar for rulemaking thought and setting the bar for limbo just intersected...

So success really would come down to a popularity contest...

EvanB wrote: They need to make it so the fans control when the boost happens.

This, at 1:1 scale.

GameboyRMH wrote: Edit: BTW the official name of this feature is "Fanboost."

The push to pass in indycar is gimmicky at best.
This system is terribly unfair and contrived at best....and I hate to think where it goes from here.

Cars that sound horrible plus this.

I actually think they sound better than the new turbo F1 engines.

GameboyRMH wrote: I actually think they sound better than the new turbo F1 engines.

Doesn't mean that the Formula Es sound good.