Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds has said that a classic Formula 1 circuit is a “great option” for Britain’s race on its calendar once London’s hosting duties come to an end.
The ExCel London circuit’s time in the all-electric championship has been extended to Season 12, the final year of the GEN3 Evo car.
This is when it is largely agreed that the capital city’s time hosting FE will end, due to the circuit no longer being suitable for the faster GEN4 car, debuting in late 2026.
Last year, Silverstone was mooted as a potential future venue, but the idea was largely panned by many fans and drivers, including Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, who described it as “ludicrous.”
Many fans and drivers will find the inevitable removal of the circuit from the calendar hard, as the indoors-outdoors complex provides a unique challenge for them, as well as an entertaining spectacle for fans.
But Dodds, discussing the predicament with Motorsport Week, said the championship is exploring many options and ideas, and suggested that Brands Hatch is strong candidate.
“The UK’s an interesting [one],” he said. “The logical thinking is, if you’re a World Championship, we either want to be on a circuit in London, where it’s big enough to sustain a GEN4 car, or Brands is a great option.
“It’s had Formula 1 historically, it’s had MotoGP, World Superbikes, British Touring Cars, had everything there, and I think the GP circuit there would be really interesting for GEN4.
“I love the fact you can see the entire racetrack laid out in front of you from where you are, and close to London [Brands is 27 miles from central London], and it would be ours, right, it would be a World Championship circuit for us.
“Silverstone’s an incredible facility, it’s a bit further away from London, it’s a vast facility, and Formula 1 are there, so you inevitably bring comparisons.”
Dodds also mooted the idea of other circuits, albeit unlikely ones, such as a Birmingham street track, which held Formula 3000 [now Formula 2] races between 1986 and 1990.
“And there are other tracks around the UK, whether it’s Birmingham, whether Crystal Palace [a former circuit that was location on Crystal Palace Park] reopens, or whatever, there are other tracks around the UK, but I think, logically, it would be another track in London, Brands Hatch or Silverstone.”
Dodds would ‘love to’ keep Formula E in London but admits difficulty
Dodds stressed that keeping FE in London would be his ideal situation, but admitted that finding a location that is able to sustain the speeds of the GEN4 car [which are projected to be close to that of an F2 car] makes it tough to turn into reality.
“I’d love to stay in London,” he said. “But when you’re trying to build a circuit in one of the most populous cities, the most populous city in the UK, with the complexities that goes with that, it’s difficult, right?
“So when you’re trying to get permission to build in, I don’t know, Olympic Park, or Docklands, or places like this, that’s a complicated animal.”
The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit Dodds referred to is 2.4 miles and with nine turns, meaning the circuit would most likely be a suitable match for the GEN4 machines, especially if they are more efficient as well as being faster.
Being an FIA Grade 2 circuit, it is also permitted to host Formula E races, and would give the championship some financial relief as a fixed circuit is less of a budgetary burden.
However, it will open up a debate as to whether the circuit would be suitable in the sense that a permanent facility would be a step further away from the ‘DNA’ of the championship, that of being one that largely races on street circuits.
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