Record-breaking speeds, lap times, overtakes and race leaders in Formula E’s most competitive season yet accelerated growth of the sport’s global fanbase and live race audiences to new highs in Season 9.
Formula E’s international fanbase increased 17% year on year to 344m*, taking it past NASCAR to become the fourth-largest motorsport. Germany and the USA were the fastest-growing markets by fanbase, up 45% and 30% respectively.
More than 225m viewers watched Formula E races live during Season 9, up 4% on the previous season. China and the USA, plus new race markets of Brazil, India and South Africa all saw significant increases in live race views.
The 16-race season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship began in Mexico City in January with the debut of the GEN3 – the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race car ever built – and concluded with a double-header in London at the end of July.
New fans tuned in to Formula E as competition for the Drivers’ and Teams’ world titles intensified. Sporting action on the track saw performance records tumble as the 22 drivers from 11 teams in the Championship pushed the GEN3 to the limit.
New records were set for the fastest average lap time and the highest speed. There were more race leaders and more overtakes in the Championship than ever before, with most races featuring triple-digit passes.**
Andretti Formula E team driver, Jake Dennis, won the first race of the GEN3 era in Mexico City before going on to earn his first World Championship title in the penultimate race of the season with three other drivers still in contention going into the final double-header weekend.
The Teams’ World Championship was decided in the final race when Nick Cassidy won for Envision Racing, ahead of Mitch Evans for Jaguar TCS Racing who finished second in the Teams’ title chase. Cassidy will race alongside Evans for Jaguar TCS Racing in Season 10.
Jeff Dodds, CEO, Formula E, said: “We are well on the way to establishing Formula E as the most exciting and innovative motorsport for fans, alongside being the world’s most sustainable sport. Our teams and drivers exceeded all expectations from a year ago to take the GEN3 car and push it beyond what we all thought was possible. As a result, the entertainment value of Formula E racing is off the scale, which is attracting more fans and TV viewers than ever before. We are committed to building on that momentum and developing new ways of presenting our race events to grow the fanbase and audiences even faster.”
Seven different drivers from six different teams won races during Season 9 which featured races in the centre of Mexico City, Diriyah, Hyderabad, Cape Town, São Paulo, Berlin, Monaco, Jakarta, Portland, Rome and London. Eighteen different drivers led for at least one lap through the season and every team led a race for at least one lap.
Season 9 also featured the return of Maserati to single-seater World Championship motorsport for the first time in more than 60 years, while McLaren joined the Formula E grid.
Formula E concluded Season 9 by breaking another record, this time gaining an official GUINNESS WORLD RECORD™ title, when NEOM McLaren Formula E team driver, Jake Hughes, set a new top speed achieved by a vehicle indoors.
Hughes smashed the previous world record by more than 50km/h to reach 218.71km/h on the track inside ExCeL London, where the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season concluded a few days later.
The world record was set in the revolutionary GENBETA project car, developed by Formula E and the FIA with partners ABB, SABIC and Hankook, which effectively ‘unlocked’ technological features of the GEN3 race car.
Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Champion begins in Mexico City on Saturday, 13 January 2024. Teams begins pre-season testing in Valencia, Spain, from 23 October.
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Formula E and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have today revealed the next generation of race car, the new all-electric GEN3 Evo, capable of 0-60mph in 1.82s.
Leveraging a roster of innovative technical upgrades, the GEN3 Evo unveiled at H.S.H Prince Albert II’s Private Car Collection will debut in Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers and drivers race wheel-to-wheel in iconic locations around the globe.
Developed by specialists from Formula E and the FIA, the latest GEN3 Evo edition marks a significant leap in electric racing technology, with acceleration 0-60mph 30% faster than a current F1 car, and 36% faster than the GEN3 car.
Capable of accelerating nearly a full second faster than its predecessor – the GEN3 – that was the world’s first race car designed for street racing, it sets an even higher standard in performance, sustainability, and efficiency. The GEN3 Evo serves as a formidable ambassador for the future of motorsport, embodying cutting-edge advancements and a commitment to environmental responsibility.
On Saturday, April 27th, Abu Dhabi will host a groundbreaking event, welcoming 10,000 spectators to witness the inaugural ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit. This brand-new autonomous racing competition marks a significant milestone in motorsport history, billed as the largest league of its kind globally.
Eight teams will compete: Code19 Racing (one of the first independent autonomous racing entity from the USA), Constructor University (based in Germany and Switzerland), Fly Eagle (representing Beijing Institute of Technology from China and Khalifa University from the UAE), HUMDA Lab (a member of the Széchenyi István University Group from Hungary), KINETIZ (a collaboration between Singapore Nanyang Technological University and Kintsugi based in the UAE), PoliMOVE (representing Politecnico di Milano from Italy), UNIMORE (also from Italy - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Technical University of Munich - TUM (from Germany), vying for a substantial prize purse of US$ 2.25 million.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
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