Kirkwood and Power like what they see at Miami Formula E

Andretti Global NTT IndyCar Series drivers Will Power and Kyle Kirkwood were in attendance at Formula E’s Miami E-Prix over the weekend, and came away impressed.

Supporting fellow Andretti drivers Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich, it was a chance for them to not only spend time with another element of their racing organization, but get a taste of something that’s very different from their day jobs.

Power, fresh from competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, said he’d been keen to sample a Formula E car after observing them for the first time.

“I like it,” he told RACER. “It's definitely a different driving style and obviously a lot of strategy to play out in the race, the way you save energy and so on. And the cars would be incredibly different having a differential in the front and tuning that. I'd like to drive one just to see, what does it feel like? How does it behave?”

Kirkwood has driven a Formula E car, albeit the previous generation, in a rookie session in Marrakech six years ago, and he was impressed with how much progress the series has made in a relatively short space of time. He too wants to try the latest GEN3 Evo machines, saying the series’ uniqueness and how much thinking is required from the driver would be appealing.

“It's incredible to see how far these cars have come and how far the paddock has come,” he said. “Obviously, in comparison to other series, it's still a fairly new championship, and it just constantly keeps getting better and better.

“We would love to drive one of these cars... it's just something that's so different and requires such a different discipline that gets our minds going. It gets us thinking about things, which is something that you get when you're in junior categories and you're moving up the ranks. You’ve got to learn things really fast.”

Formula E's combination of frenetic action and strategic thinking appeals to Power. Mark Sutton/Getty Images

This is the last season of the current GEN3 Evo machines, with the upcoming GEN4 having a significant bump in peak power from 350kW to 600kW in Attack Mode, along with a high-=downforce aero configuration for qualifying and improved tires. It’s not too different a number from the Indy cars Power and Kirkwood drive, but it’s how that grunt comes in that interests Power.

“They're talking about 800 horsepower, but it's immediate, which would be an incredible feeling of acceleration,” he said. “I've spoken to a couple of drivers about it and it sounds like it'll be a beast."

Of course, the elephant in the room for many traditional motorsport fans is the noise, or assumed lack of it in Formula E. For the two of them though, it’s not remotely a factor.

“When you're a race car driver, you don't care.” Power said. “If it goes fast, it's fun to drive, it doesn't matter. [Lap time is] all that matters, where am I stacked up against everyone else.”

Kirkwood agreed, adding that an interesting aspect of Formula E is its ability to allow manufacturers to showcase their latest tech for consumer vehicles and that it stands somewhat alone in that regard.

“When you're driving a car and you're in a race situation, it's the last thing you're thinking about,” he said. “I think these have their own world. It's something that's in the market now and around the world, and it's incredible what some of these cars are able to do on the streets. For manufacturers to showcase what they have here is something that's pretty incredible.”

For all their intrigue about Formula E, there isn’t much that Power and Kirkwood would like to see translated over to IndyCar’s racing product, although when asked about Attack Mode – where drivers enter an off-line lane to activate an additional 50kW of power and four-wheel drive – Power presented an idea that wouldn’t be too dissimilar to the strategic offsets Attack Mode brings, where drivers not using it are often unable to hold off a passing car effectively.

“I’ve actually been pushing for no reply push-to-pass on some of the shorter tracks where it's hard because you hit it and then they hit it,” he said. “I don't know why they haven't done it. There's a lot of drivers that are against it, but I'm like, man, it'd be very good for our racing, because it wouldn't be like DRS where you just drive by; it's still hard to get there and it’d still be good racing.”

Where they do think IndyCar could learn from Formula E is the off-track experience.

“We [IndyCar] have some of the best brands, I think, in motorsports, and that passion runs deep,” said Kirkwood. “But there's definitely things here that are new and updated, that kind of have that Formula 1 style to it that I think all motorsports could maybe adopt in some way, shape or form.”