FE Talk: WEC Clashes and Split European Leg for 2019/20 Calendar

On Friday, the World Motor Sport Council presented the 2019/20 Formula E Calendar for Season Six with double-headers book-ending the start and finish of the season. Our journalists Nigel Chiu and Alex Cormack take us through the major talking points.

As previously announced, London will host two races at the end of the season at the new London Excel circuit on the 25/26th of July with Ad-Diriyah, Saudi Arabia set to host two races on the penultimate weekend of November to kick of season 6.

Other than this, the season 6 calendar does not consist of a major shake-up to proceedings, but the introduction of a race in Seoul will certainly please organizers and fans alike, as two spots remain undecided.

ABB Formula E Season 6 Calendar

[table id=25 /]

Three Races Before New Year

Ad-Diryiah has maintained its position as the first race of the season, but this time will host two events to kick things off. Organisers had been hoping to run the races at night but it would seem as if those plans have fallen through for now. Rounds 1 & 2 will take place on the 22nd / 23rd November 2019.

The double-header to start and end the season are a nice touch and it should stay that way for future seasons, argues Nigel.

Round 3 will take place on the 14th of December and currently hasn’t been announced but it is understood that Marrakesh is one of several cities in discussions about hosting the race. Both Alex and Nigel agree Morocco is the most likely candidate, though Cape Town is also believed to be in the running as the stand-alone African round, hence why we await confirmation.

A familiar string of events then follow as Santiago (Chile), Mexico City (Mexico) and Hong Kong (China) host rounds four (18th January), five (15th February) and six (1st March) respectively.  Santiago had originally been expected to fill the round 3 slot but FE has opted to fill the over 1 month gap with a race as to keep up interest early on in the season.

New Markets in Asia

Round 7 is also yet to be confirmed but is highly expected to be the returning Sanya E-Prix on the 21st of March. This is currently listed as TBC while discussions take place about future FE events in China. It was reported a few months back that conversations had been held regarding a Shanghai E-Prix which could still replace Sanya should negotiations reach a conclusion in the coming weeks.

In future seasons, Shanghai could yet be expected to appear on the Formula E calendar, though options are also open for other cities as Chengdu and Xi’an are all vying for that date too.

Seoul will slot into Round 10 (3rd May) directly after the Rome E-Prix (Round 8 – 4th April) and the Paris E-Prix (Round 9 – 18th April). FE then returns to Europe as Berlin maintains it’s spot on the calendar and will host round 11 on the 30th of May.

A major question will be why the Seoul ePrix in the middle of the ‘European leg’? As always with these things it is down to contractual issues, money, and suitability of when a major city can be stopped for at least a day to accommodate a Formula E race. Nevertheless, it seems odd that it is not taking place when before/after the other Asian rounds occur.

Formula E Returns Home

After this, the series crosses back over the Atlantic to New York for a single race for the first time in the events existence. With the return of London the American city has lost its spot as the season finale. Round 12 will be hosted on the 20 of June.

As mentioned the season finale will take place over two rounds in London. The British Capital has been absent from the calendar since the event was dropped from Battersea Park after noise and disruption complaints from locals.

This welcome return is going to be doubly special (everything’s double next year) due to the new London Excel circuit being the first Formula E race to be held partly indoors, which Alex believes an innovative feature. The circuit layout will run through the large Excel Centre to create a totally unique experience for racers and fans alike, taking place on the 25th and 26th of July 2020.

Over the eight months, the series will travel to four continents (Asia, Europe, Africa and North America) with Ad Diriyah, Santiago, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Rome, Paris, Berlin and New York remaining on the calendar. In that sense, it is very good to see some stability.

New Horizons Mean Cutting your Ties

There is no Swiss round next season so next weekend’s Bern ePrix may be one of the last motorsport events Switzerland hosts (after Formula E made an iconic breakthrough last year when motor racing returned to Switzerland for the first time since 1954). Hopefully a return to Switzerland will happen in a few years time.

You may notice that Monaco is not on the calendar and that is part of the contract of Monaco being an bi-annual event for Formula E. On even numbered years, the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco takes place and on odd numbered years, Formula E takes to the streets of Monaco for an ePrix.

So, Monte-Carlo is not on the season six calendar but should be part of the 2020/21 Formula E schedule. When Formula E next returns, they must use the full circuit as the cars will only get faster and will have outgrown the short Monaco track layout.

The consequence of this selection is the depletion of mainland Europe E-Prix’s, in favour for a first trip over to South Korea. FE is aiming to generate greater interest from Asian audience’s so naturally an extra race on the continent was always likely, though as mentioned earlier the splitting of the European season will further shift the series focus internationally.

Timing is Everything

As referenced earlier, at least eight of the 12 ePrix that have / will take place in the current season, will host a race next season so it is good to see that Formula E are establishing some secure races.

The earlier season start and later finish means a shorter off-season which could be a positive for the fans. The spread out first half remains a major issue though. This makes it harder to gain new fans as people will subconsiously forget about the championship if there is no racing after 3-4 weeks.

For example, the first six venues (seven races) take place over a space of six months which is far too long, They are all around a month apart from each other. The real problem lies during this period, the second half of the season is more compact.

A Third of the Calendar Clashes with WEC

But by far the biggest issue of all is that three of the ePrix clash with World Endurance Championship races. It is not the first time Formula E has had this problem.

In season three, drivers had to miss the New York ePrix in 2017 (which was a double-header as well) because it clashed with the Six Hour of Nurburgring (WEC). Arguably, it cost Sebastien Buemi the championship that year as he missed two races after he was racing at the Nurburgring for Toyota.

This time, the WEC rounds at Bahrain, Sebring and Spa will take place on the same weekend’s at the TBC December round in Africa, the TBC round in China and the Seoul ePrix.

Sam Bird has already stated his discontent with the situation:

“One or both of my bosses will not happy” – Sam Bird

It is unforgivable for Formula E to do this, knowing that many drivers compete in both championships. For example, this year seven drivers (Jose Mario Lopez, Sebastien Buemi, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Tom Dilmann, Andre Lotterer and Sam Bird) are competing in full-time WEC and Formula E programmes.

Plus, the Berlin ePrix will clash with the Le Mans test day too so that’s four potential clashes.

There will of course be reasons why this could not be avoided but you can only blame Formula E for this as the World Endurance Championship published their calendar back 10 months ago in August. FIA President Jean Todt has said that the FIA are looking at making changes before the official calendar is put out in a few months time.

Something must be done, for the drivers sake, for the fans and for both championships.

In terms of number of races Formula E already has more races/events than other FIA world championships such as WEC, World RX and WRC. So it might be time to stop expecting Formula E to captiulate its schedule to these “established” series.

It is only five years old remember, and back in 2014 when the season started, I think many would have laughed if someone told you the championship would have the success it has had so far.