Today marks 10 years since the first-ever FIA Formula E race, and it can rightly feel proud that its resilience amid criticism and its constant showing of innovation and entertainment has firmly placed itself amongst longer-standing series as one of the most enjoyable motorsport competitions in the world.
On the evening of March 11, 2011, former FIA President Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag were sat in a restaurant together, and as legend goes, by the end of the night, the concept for Formula E was written on a napkin. A concept of single-seater cars powered purely by electricity racing through the streets of some of the most iconic cities in the world.
It wouldn’t catch-on, surely?
Three years of planning later, and the championship was now born, and landing in Beijing for the inaugural E-Prix. In the intervening time, the series had already been written-off by a plethora of naysayers, including legendary F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who commented in 2012: “I think those sort of things are lawnmowers. I am not very supportive of this.”
The race was memorable indeed, still infamous for a last-lap collision between Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld, the German being sent up into the air and air box-first into the tyre wall at the final corner.
The incident sent many at FE into nervous twitches, with Agag’s fellow co-founder Alberto Longo telling the Daily Mirror two years ago:
“It is true that in that last corner of the last lap of the first-ever E-Prix, when I saw the crash, I really thought it was over. I thought that was it.”
“With this new technology, nothing before that existing, I did not even know if that driver was even going to come out of that car. It could have been the end of Formula E.
But with Heidfeld managing to clamber out of his Venturi unscathed, Prost similarly also OK, and the resulting publicity the enormity of the crash garnered, Longo intimated that this was instead the catalyst for its future.
“The fact that it happened and the driver came out perfectly safe, we demonstrated that the cars were safe to drive at those speeds.
“I actually think that without that crash, we might not be here today. It was the news of the world. Every single newspaper, news on TV were talking about the crash. It got us the taking off platform. If you write a book, you couldn’t even think of something that crazy – and it happened to us.”
One theme in Season 1 that has been recurring throughout Formula E that continues today is the high level of competition. Di Grassi was joined by six other race-winners that season, with Nelson Piquet Jr coming out on top as champion, beating Sebastien Buemi by a solitary point.
In fact, it was so good, they had to do it again.
Season 2 kicked-off four months later, with Buemi this time redeeming his last race title loss in Battersea by clinching his first Drivers’ Championship at the same circuit by two points from di Grassi, the pair colliding in dramatic fashion on the opening lap.
The Brazilian, who was the first man to drive a Formula E car at the first test at La Ferté Gaucher circuit in 2013, claimed his first title in Season 3,
Another year and another champion, with Jean-Eric Vergne taking his first title in what would be the last year of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E, with the GEN2 produced for Season 5, with Vergne becoming the first double World Champion.
There was also a growth in races, with the initial 10 rounds becoming 13 for Season 5, and with that, the introduction of new manufacturers, such as BMW, Nissan and DS Automobiles. Formula E was by now a legitimate racing series, introducing itself to a myriad of fans, including Jeremy Clarkson, who commented in 2019: “I’d far rather watch a Formula E race these days than Formula 1. Far rather.”
By this time, the cars weren’t the only thing that were becoming more sophisticated. Circuits were now becoming longer as the cars’ technology improved, with layouts such as the shortened Monaco abandoned in favour of the traditional F1 version.
Formula E felt it might have turned the corners it needed to feel comfortable as an entity, but, along with the whole world, it came shuddering to a halt in early 2020.
The remainder of the championship was cancelled and restarted in August of that year, with the trusty Berlin Tempelhof circuit, one of the originals, hosting six races across nine days on three different layouts. The title was won by António Félix da Costa, with DS Techeetah Teams’ Champions.
GEN2 Evo came along and with that, a Formula 1 crossover of sorts, with Mercedes-EQ, having joined the year before, becoming champions with Nyck de Vries, then Stoffel Vandoorne in Seasons 8 and 9 respectively.
Season 9 brought the GEN3 car and with it, another new champion in Britain’s Jake Dennis, taking the title in-front of his home crowd in London.
The most recent season, the 10th, saw another titanic battle for the championship with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein overhauling the deficit to the Jaguar pair of Evans and Cassidy. As announced by Formula E earlier this week, research and surveys taken across this season has seen fan engagement numbers going up with more people watching on TV as well as a significant spike in social media clicks.
These numbers prove that not only has Formula E grown in terms of personnel from its humble start, but it is showing the world on its own, through the drivers, cars, teams and technology, that it is a legitimate motor-racing category with entertainment that is scarcely matched by any other.
Another sign of its stature in motorsport might also be measured by the drivers that have driven in the series for such a long time, including those who have been there since the start. Di Grassi, Buemi, Vergne and Sam Bird are all men who partook in Season 1 and are still racing today, as well as Penske [then Dragon], Andretti and Mahindra, all still producing cars that line-up on the grid.
And what might be considered another huge achievement? How it has converted many of its original detractors, including Ecclestone, who, whilst visiting the São Paulo E-Prix in April, said:
“It’s the first race I’ve been to and it looks super, super, super… I thought it wouldn’t last. I thought the first race would be the last.
“So I am very pleased to see that technically it has become very good. Technically, it’s Formula 1 level.”
Like its cars that negotiate difficult corners on the circuits upon which they race, Formula E as an entity has turned difficult corners of its own, and is now on a start-finish straight, starting a new lap, knowing it is winning. It’s in fine shape to complete another ten years’ worth and beyond, and as to where it will be in that time? The sky’s the limit.
