Formula E News
It’s here! Formula E is back this weekend for its eighth season. The all-electric series kicks off in January for the very first time with rejigged lineups, new host cities and a rejuvenated qualifying format. Here’s all you need to know about the upcoming season and the curtain raiser event in Diriyah.
The season begins in Saudi Arabia, the sport’s regular season-opening venue since 2018, and will have a total of 16 races, the last of which takes place in mid-August.
The series will traverse through ten countries over the course of 198 days, making it the second-shortest season in terms of days but the longest in terms of races. It will also be the second Formula E season to be completely held within one calendar year after 2021.
Oliver Rowland (GBR), Nissan e.Dams, Nissan IMO1 (Motorsport Images)
Three new venues will welcome Formula E to their shores in 2022 - Jakarta, Seoul and Vancouver (although Canada has hosted previous e-Prix events at Montreal). The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit also makes a return to the calendar with the Mexican race being held at Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla last year.
The 2020-2021 championship was the most hectic one with 15 races being held in 170 days, including seven double-headers. This season will feature six double-headers, one less than the previous year. The longest gap between races will be the two-month break between races 3 (in February) and 4 (in April).
This will be the final season for the Gen2 cars that were introduced back in 2018, as they’ll make way for the more advanced and powerful Gen3 cars in 2023. Bidding goodbye along with the Gen2 cars will be defending champions, Mercedes-EQ, as they gear up for their final year in Formula E. Audi and BMW have already stepped away from the championship but remain active in the sport as powertrain suppliers to Envision Racing and Andretti Autosport respectively. With the Andretti outfit continuing despite BMW’s exit, it brings down the total number of teams to eleven for 2022.
Qualifying sees a makeover with the initial groups being trimmed down from four to two this year and will feature knockout duels after the group stage until the pole-sitter is decided. Races will also see an increase in power with 220 kW now available during the race (20 kW more than 2021) and 250 kW during Attack Mode (15 kW more than 2021).
Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA), Dragon | Penske Autosport track walk (Motorsport Images)
Three rookies will take their first steps in Formula E in 2022. Former Formula 1 driver, Antonio Giovinazzi switches over to the electric series becoming the first Italian to drive in the sport since Luca Filippi in 2018. Oliver Askew joins forces with Andretti Autosport becoming the first American to race full-time in Formula E. Former Formula 2 driver Dan Ticktum will also make his debut driving for the NIO 333 FE team.
The grid of 22 consists of 14 race winners and five champions. Jean-Éric Vergne remains the only driver to date to successfully defend his title, a rare feat Nyck de Vries will be aiming to match this year. A defending champion has never taken pole position in the first race of the season, while Sebastian Buemi remains the only driver to win the opening round of a season (in 2016) after winning the title the earlier season. British driver Sam Bird holds the unique distinction of being the only driver to win a race in every Formula E season.
Race winner Nyck de Vries (NLD) Mercedes Benz EQ celebrates in Parc Ferme (Motorsport Images)
The venue for the opening round is the Riyadh Street Circuit, which also hosted the first-ever Formula E night race in 2021. The undulating track has 21 corners and is 2.495 km in length. Four different drivers have taken pole and an equivalent number have won the race at Diriyah. Alexander Sims has two poles to his name in Saudi Arabia while Sam Bird is the only one to win twice here. Twelve different drivers have taken a podium at Diriyah, eleven of which are still in the series. The safety car has made an appearance in every race in Saudi Arabia so far, so definitely expect the sparks to fly under the night sky this weekend.
By Sundaram Ramaswami
Twitter/Instagram - @f1statsguru
