Formula E’s most competitive campaign yet has resulted in record-high fanbase and performance figures, with the sport’s following having increased by 17% in season nine.
Season nine was a phenomenal period of racing for Formula E, with both championships having gone down to the wire at the season finale in London. Jake Dennis and Envision Racing were ultimately victorious, in what was a successful introduction of Gen3.
The championship introduced all-new cars for the 2022/23 season, which were faster, more powerful, more efficient and lighter than ever before. This resulted in phenomenal racing, where records were shattered throughout the year. A record-breaking 403 overtakes took place during the inaugural Portland E-Prix, obliterating the previous record.
It wasn’t just in the races where records were broken, as the quickest lap in Formula E history was also produced, after season nine rookie Sacha Fenestraz managed an average speed of 154.987km/h (96.3mph) on his way to a maiden pole in Cape Town. Mitch Evans also broke the record for the highest speed ever seen in Formula E, after going 276.6km/h (171.8mph) in Portland.
The record-breaking season was clearly a hit with the fans, as the sport’s global fanbase grew 17% year on year to 344 million. This was discovered following research conducted by Potentia Insight in July, whose sample size consisted of ‘33,000 nationally representative adults across 17 international markets’, according to Formula E’s report.
The huge increase has seen Formula E overtake NASCAR when it comes to the size of its fanbase, making it the fourth-largest motorsport in the world. Germany and the USA were two key nations for Formula E this year, with the pair having grown by 45% and 30% respectively, making the two countries the sport’s fastest-growing markets by fanbase.
Formula E also saw a 4% rise in the number of people watching the races live compared to season eight, with this figure having risen to over 225 million people. The USA and China both saw an increase in the number of people watching the races live, whilst South Africa, India and Brazil also saw more people taking an interest in watching the sport.
The last three shouldn’t come as a shock given that they were new markets to Formula E last season, as they all hosted an inaugural race in their respected nation.
Based on the figures, the start of the Gen3 era appears to have been a massive success, with Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds having praised everyone involved in the sport for exceeding “all expectations”.
“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,” Dodds said.
“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.”
