RIYADH: Season 8 of Formula E is nearing its finish line, with only two race weekends left. As 11 teams descend on London for rounds 13 and 14 on Saturday and Sunday, there is a case for making the current campaign the most exciting since the all-electric, single-seater series launched in 2014.
For Formula E co-founder and chief championship officer Alberto Longo, season one has been winning over the past two years following the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.
He told Arab News: “I think it’s been fantastic that we’ve got fans back in Formula E. I would say that’s the highlight, I think motorsport without fans is not motorsport. To the people in Diriyah It was exciting to see, the people in Mexico, a lot of people came to see our race, which is fantastic.”
Longo believes that the new sporting formats introduced in Formula E have resulted in dramatic title races for drivers and teams.
“I think we have another very competitive season in which we have four or five drivers who can really win the championship.
“The sporting format and the qualifying format in particular has demonstrated that we have made the right choice. We had so many choices which way to go, I think we made the right decision there.
“It’s so amusing from when they leave the garage,” he said.
With two race events remaining of the season – London, on 30 and 31 July, and Seoul, on August 13 to 14 – Mercedes-EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne leads the drivers’ championship with 155 points, followed by ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara. place comes. 144. Mitch Evans of Jaguar Racing is third with 139 points and Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Techita is fourth with 128 points.
Mercedes-EQ leads the team standings on 228 points with both ROKiT Venturi and DS Techitah on 228.
With both titles hanging in the balance, the focus is already on what is promising to be a historic Season 9, which will see Saudi Arabia host the opener in Mexico City after four years (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022). Diriyah E-Prix.
Longo noted that putting together a race calendar was akin to solving a puzzle.
“The decision behind (the opening in Mexico) was basically because we are introducing a Gen 3 car for the first time. The preparations for the Gen3 didn’t let us start in December. We had to reshuffle the whole calendar and squeeze that into seven months. Had to keep
“Basically, we are running in the biggest cities in the world. There are only a few weekends we can use those cities,” he said.
Pre-season testing will take place from December 11 to 14, and Mexico City’s opening race will take place on January 14. Saudi Arabia’s double-header of the night race will continue to be a fixture of the season, taking place on January 27 and 28. ,
Longo said: “Of course the Saudis wanted the weekend they were running. And that was my priority for me. I always call my friends from Saudi first and they wanted that date.
“I continue to shape the calendar based on basically two or three races that are always fixed in it. And one of them is obviously Saudi. The other is Monaco; it has to be on a specific day.
“I think it’s good to go to Mexico in the first round because we will start with a lot of people watching the race, there will be a crowd of 50,000 people. And then we go to the great venue of Diriyah with two night races. Me. Looks like it’s a very strong start to the season.”
Following the debut of the Jakarta E-Prix in Indonesia this year, Season 9 will see another new venue in Asia: the Indian city of Hyderabad.
“We’re a global championship, so we intend to be on every single continent. And we’ve done that for almost a year at the championship, and it’s something we’re very proud of. As you can imagine Asia is a key market for us,” Longo said.
However, the introduction of China, which has been on the cards for some time, will have to wait.
“Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we are still not very confident that we can actually race there. There are still a lot of travel restrictions in place for China. Unfortunately, there is no major incident happening there at this point of time,” he said.
The Gen3 car was unveiled ahead of the Monaco E-Prix in late April and Longo is excited about what it will bring to the championship.
He added: “You can expect a faster car, a more racing car, obviously faster. Technology has allowed us to make a lighter car. Mixed together, all that made a beast, I just Love that car. It’s going to be a lot faster, and it’s going to allow more overtaking.
“It is a car that is capable of producing or producing 40 percent of the total energy used during the race. It is a unique piece of technology.”
Formula E’s popularity continues to grow year after year, and Longo pointed out that this was just the beginning.
“I just give one statistic: 13 million live viewers in Indonesia. There aren’t many sporting events in the world that can do that. Only one country, we managed 13 million people watching Formula E. It’s excellent. For me as the co-founder of the championship, I feel very proud.
“There’s a lot more to do, don’t get me wrong. I think we’re just like 5 percent there. We still have to grow by 95 percent, and there’s a lot of work to do. But apparently that did.” You’ve got to be very proud of that,” Longo said.
An indication of Formula E’s annual progress since 2014 can be seen in the addition of manufacturers, now including the likes of Maserati and McLaren, along with new cities introduced to the calendar.
Above all, for Longo, are those who sit behind the wheel.
He added: “Drivers are important to us; I think the level of drivers we have in Formula E is better than any other motorsport championship. I see other championships with Megastars, and we would love to have those stars as well. But I feel the quality of Formula E 22 drivers I don’t see anywhere else.
“You can feel it in the race, that almost anyone can win. We have created a championship in which we value the driver. I think we are humanizing motorsport, because before that, who has the most. Had a good car, he used to win. In Formula E, that doesn’t happen. It’s the driver who makes the difference,” he said.