As official technical partner and tyre supplier of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Hankook has enjoyed an extremely positive first season. A well-attended press conference at the season finale, the Hankook London E-Prix, saw Felix Kinzer (Hankook Communications Director), Manfred Sandbichler (Hankook Director Motorsport), Benoît Tréluyer (Development Driver FIA / Formula E), Thomas Baltes (Chief Engineer Motorsport) and Nico Müller (ABT Cupra Formula E Team) look back on Season 9.
Manfred Sandbichler: “Our summary is extremely positive. The Hankook iON Race has arrived in Formula E and has been fully accepted. It has behaved exactly as requested ahead of the season. Of special note is the fact that we did not suffer a single product-related puncture all season.” Thomas Baltes said: “The Hankook iON Race impressed all along the line, and in all kinds of conditions: in a cool 8 degrees in Mexico and with track temperatures of 60 degrees in a hot Rome, in the Berlin rain and the dust of India, and of course on a wide range of different surfaces. The performance was always there.” Felix Kinzer added: “The tyre also helped the drivers with their power management, as the relatively low roll resistance allowed them to save valuable energy.” Development engineer Benoît Tréluyer is also happy: “We had clear guidelines from the FIA and Formula E when developing the tyre. It is nice to see that Hankook has implemented these precisely and delivered exactly the product that was requested.” Current Formula E driver Nico Müller was also full of praise: “At the start of the season, we all first had to learn how to work best with the new tyre. We are now very good at that, and the tyre is absolutely reliable. I am really impressed how well it performs in all conditions.”
