Thinking about how the championship has evolved in just a short amount of time, it leaves the scepticism raised prior to the launch far behind. Was racing in the city streets viable? Was there any interest from manufacturers at all? Would there be any popular drivers competing? People had doubts and these questions have been answered.
Formula E dared to dream and they delivered. After meeting several people who competed in the FIA tender to acquire the promotional rights, it became clear: Alejandro Agag was the guy who could pull it off. The popular drivers are there, the best cities and manufacturers are on board. What else can you desire, you would think?
Fast forward to the end of season two. Everyone wants to race in the city streets of Paris and London, but only Agag and his team managed to do so. It became one of Formula E’s highlights. Strong ties in racing and the industry helped and the best of all: the concept. The cars are electric and as long as you don’t block the streets for too many days, they are in. The cities want to be part of the Formula E as it is today.
Now the sights are already set on season three. Jaguar is coming and they won’t compete for just being part of it. They want to win. As revealed by Motorsport.com earlier, they have attracted several key engineers from Williams and Williams Advanced Engineering, the firm that built the Formula E battery. Strong rumours suggest that another manufacturer will be joining and apart from that, there are several others in the manufacturer board overlooking how things are progressing. They are there, waiting for their opportunity.
While walking along the garages during the Berlin ePrix, everyone agreed: season three will be even more competitive than this season. Everyone is fine-tuning their powertrain and new partnerships are being signed or about to be announced. Take Mahindra. They have announced that Magneti Marelli is their new technical partner and Dilbagh Gill told us that a couple of other deals will be confirmed at the London ePrix. In addition to that, they already have signed sponsorship deals with Indian Oil, Avis and Intercontinental Hotels Group. The Indian team seems to be doing fine and aims to be a strong podium contender next season.
Let us have a look at the calendar. Yes, a couple of early announced venues never came like Rome and Rio de Janeiro. Instead, they managed to do Berlin and London twice, Paris was new this season and Moscow only during the first year. Formula E aims continuation but there are various changes in next season’s calendar likely.
Every race has a title sponsor and along with loyal partners, from the beginning, like Qualcomm, Michelin, DHL, Tag Heuer, BMW and Julius Baer, they make it all happen. But is it enough? Some cities are paying to host the event, but others don’t. Paris, London, Monaco and likely Berlin are not contributing with a large sum of money. And setting-up an event, especially for the first time, isn’t cheap: manufacturing those concrete blocks and fences costs several million euro.
That’s likely one of the reasons that Formula E tends to play it a smart on selected events. Take the track in Mexico City including that brilliant arena; that circuit is already there and one can argue it’s not a street track. But it’s a circuit in the middle of the city, so Formula E is stretching their beliefs. Then there are convenient tracks like Monaco and Long Beach too, where Formula E can use the existing infrastructure as another event takes place a weekend later. A smart move.
Meanwhile hearing about the new possible venues, Motorsport.com revealed the preliminary calendar for season three. It’s likely to start in Hong Kong and not Beijing, that disappeared. Interesting to see is that Marrakesh is next on the calendar, rather than a second venue in Asia. Putrajaya in Malaysia discontinued and also Punta del Este in Uruguay does not longer make part of the calendar. But new is Singapore, where likely the Formula 1 track can be used.
Also new is Brussels. It was already rumoured that the Belgian capital city would likely host a venue, just like Montreal who was eager to get Formula E to town and were very vocal on this matter since the start of the championship. They seem to make it.
Not (yet) listed is London. The troubles at Battersea Park make it difficult for Formula E to organise an event and they reached a settlement with local residents who campaigned against the ePrix. It will be Formula E’s last event in the park. Agag said they will look for an alternative location, but it’s too early to predict if it will be on the schedule next year.
New York might host a double header as season finale
instead, but it’s unsure if that will happen in season three. That it’s listed on the preliminary calendar shows that Formula E is seriously looking into it and who knows? Formula E dares to dream and made things happen. With a more competitive championship including the arrival of new brands and technical partners and new top venues on the calendar for seasons three, you might think; the sky is the limit?!