Goodbye Formula One, hello Formula E …
As Lewis Hamilton and co. head off for a well-earned break, F1’s electric cousins are gearing up for another action-packed eight months of all-electric racing.
Formula E’s fourth season kicks off with two races in Hong Kong this weekend (Dec 2/3) where arch rivals Sebastien Buemi and reigning champion Lucas di Grassi will lock horns once again.
Last year’s championship went down to the wire, with di Grassi prevailing at a drama-fueled final race weekend in Montreal in July.
Formula E is one of the fastest-growing sport series on the planet and has gained a reputation for staging street races with an electric atmosphere, mixing crashes, wheel-to-wheel action with driver spats on and off the track.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Mahindra Racing driver Nick Heidfeld told CNN.
“After a few races you think you might know who’s gonna win, but usually it’s not the case.”
Expect more of the same in season four.
Location, location, location …
They are the sorts of destinations that you’d scribble down at the top of a round-the-world wish list: Paris, New York, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Marrakech, Mexico City and Montreal.
All have featured on the calendar during the first three years of Formula E and this season sees four more bucket-list cities added to the roster.
Chile’s capital Santiago will host its first-ever ePrix in February as Formula E visits one of the world’s countries that is helping fuel the electric car revolution.
Chile is currently the second biggest producer of lithium — the rare earth metal that’s used in car batteries — in the world.
In March, Fomula E is off to the sprawling metropolis of São Paulo — Brazil’s biggest city. The ePrix will be a chance for 2014/15 Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr. and current champion Di Grassi to race in front of their home fans.
From there, the teams fly to Europe for what will be many drivers’ and fans’ highlight of season four — a first trip to Rome.
Formula E will hit the streets of the Eternal City in April racing around the Esposizione Universale Roma district before heading to Zurich in June and a chance for Swiss-born Buemi to race on home turf.
Whatever happens on track the race will be a historic occasion, marking the first time in 63 years that Switzerland has hosted a motorsport event.
The country banned motor racing following the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race tragedy when the Mercedes car of Pierre Levegh plowed into the crowd killing at least 83 spectators.
