Formula E: 2019-2020 season preview
The 2019-2020 Formula E season sees the racing series hit London once more, plus Porsche and Mercedes enter as works entries
Formula E’s sixth season gets under way this weekend, with the streets of Ad Diriyah, near the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, once again serving as the venue for the championship opener.
Formula E is also due to visit London for the first time since 2016 this season, with a new circuit in the capital’s Docklands district playing host to a double-header season finale event on 25-26 July 2020.
• New Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy racer driven
On track, the big news at the start of season six is the arrival of Porsche and Mercedes as works entries, joining fellow German brands BMW and Audi on the grid.
Porsche has called on the talents of Le Mans 24 Hours winners André Lotterer and Neel Jani, while Mercedes is fielding former McLaren Formula One man Stoffel Vandoorne and Dutch racer Nyck de Vries, who is himself on the cusp of his F1 debut, having clinched the 2019 Formula 2 title.
However, they’ll face stiff competition from familiar front-runners such as Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird, Audi Sport’s Lucas di Grassi, Nissan e.dams’ Sébastien Buemi and DS Techeetah’s double champion Jean-Eric Vergne.
Other new faces on the grid include James Calado at Jaguar, replacing Nelson Piquet Jr. The Briton last raced single-seaters in 2013 and has spent the intervening years as a factory GT driver for Ferrari, taking the WEC GT-class drivers’ title in 2017 and Le Mans class victory this June.
There’s also a new-look line-up at the GEOX Dragon Racing squad, where F1 and WEC veteran Brendon Hartley is paired with Audi DTM star Nico Müller in what could be a very potent combination. Notable driver moves during the off-season include António Félix da Costa heading from BMW to DS to partner Vergne, and Max Günther filling da Costa’s seat at BMW, having switched from Dragon.
This season once again sees teams make use of the more powerful and longer-range second-generation Formula E car, which was introduced at the start of the 2018-19 campaign last December.
Viewers in the UK can watch the race this Saturday on Eurosport, as well as online on the BBC’s iPlayer. Extensive highlight clips are also posted to the championship’s official YouTube account over the course of a race weekend.
Cars and drivers from Formula E are also set to appear at the Autosport Show at Birmingham’s NEC in January 2020.
2019-2020 Formula E teams
BMW i Andretti
Max Günther makes the switch from Dragon to join Briton Alexander Sims at the BMW works outfit.
Mahindra Racing
Indian squad has retained Jérome D’Ambrôsio and the ex-F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein for another season
TAG Heuer Porsche
Le Mans superstars Neel Jani and André Lotterer lead the charge as Porsche makes Formula E debut in Ad Diriyah
Venturi Racing
Felipe Massa and Edoardo Mortara are back for the new season, with the team now using Mercedes power
Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Ferrari GT driver James Calado makes a return to single-seaters; Kiwi Mitch Evans is his team-mate
Nissan e.dams
Oliver Rowland and the season-two champion Sébastien Buemi get another year together at Nissan
Envision Virgin Racing
Briton Sam Bird is once again joined by Dutchman Robin Frijns; the team uses customer Audi power units
NIO 333 FE Team
Formula E veteran Oliver Turvey gets a new team-mate in the shape of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua
Mercedes-Benz EQ
‘Silver Arrows’ are pairing Formula 2 title winner Nyck de Vries with the ex-McLaren F1 man Stoffel Vandoorne
GEOX Dragon Racing
Ex-WEC and F1 man Brendon Hartley is paired with Audi DTM front-runner Nico Müller at the US squad
Audi Sport ABT
Audi has retained its longstanding driver line-up of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt for another year
DS Techeetah
António Félix da Costa has moved from BMW to join reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne at DS works team
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