NIO 333 sets out clear path to return to competitive form.

PHOTO CREDIT: ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Author: Junaid Samodien

NIO 333 team boss Alex Hui says he wants the team to be in the position to fight at the front of the field, as they work to address the team's lack of competitiveness. 

NIO’s last victory came in 2015 at Moscow E-Prix, but under the name: NEXTEV TCR, but ever since then the team underwent a number of changes, including a new team name (NIO) and managerial changes. 

The team's last podium came from Oliver Turvey in 2018, when he claimed a second-place finish at the Mexico City E-Prix, but ever since the team has endured a challenging time lingering at the tail end of the constructors championship. 

Having lingered at the tail end of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship teams’ championship for four seasons, the new Gen3 era, poses a new opportunity to gain ground and find improvements necessary to be competitive again. 

And, with five rounds complete in the 2022-23 season, Nio333 have thus far scored 19 points (on par with their 2020-21 seasons total tally), but team principal Alex Hui admits that the team are targeting Gen3.5 to make the necessary steps forward. 

PHOTO CREDIT: ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

“Our goal is to bring the team back to fighting at the front towards the second cycle of Gen 3, which is 3.5, because we know that we still have time to fix everything, we still lack resources and procedures in some areas, and we are trying to do as much as we can for this year,” Alex Hui, Team Principal of NIO 333 Racing Formula E Team, said. 

“The package is more or less frozen from this season to next. So, the big manufacturers will be able to do more development with the current package, which we will try to, but I think the rate of development for us as a smaller team will be more limited, and we are already looking at season eleven on how to make a big step forward with the new package.”

Hui added that he feels the team have made an improvement compared to the 2021-22 season, but feels there are areas where the team can do better to extract more performance.

“We have improved our package, but it’s not enough. Although there are some differences with the package, we will keep trying to extract more performance. We’ve also seen that there are some differences in performance between customer teams and manufacturers. So, there are a lot of things that the team can do better to extract performance, which we will try to polish for this season and next season,” he said.

He also admitted to the fact their results weren't good enough in previous seasons, and that is why they aren't able to attract star drivers, however, he makes it clear that Sergio Sette Camara and Dan Ticktum have been driving very well this season, and added that there feedback was relatively similar, which helps drive the team forward.