Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Formula E recently revealed their calendar for the upcoming season eleven, a record-breaking 17-race calendar, running for eight months, a record-breaking 17 races in tow. With the upcoming season’s calendar seeing a few tweaks to the schedule, DIVEBOMB assesses some of the takeaways from Formula E’s itinerary for season 11.
Double Headers Galore!
Double headers have long been a part of Formula E folklore, and as many as six of them had been pencilled into the Formula E calendar for season ten. Why, you may wonder.
With double headers encompassing the Saturday and Sunday of a race weekend, it allows Formula E to conduct more races whilst maintaining their goal of being sustainable all round. There’s lesser shuffling around, and with the nature of Formula E weekends, it becomes highly feasible to host more double headers.
Moreover, Formula E can make full use of flyaway weekends by hosting double headers, maximising efficiency and ensuring the series gets maximum exposure into newer markets with a lower freight bill. This explains the reason for double headers at Shanghai and Portland in 2024, a win-win for the fans as well as the series.
The template for season 11 is similar, featuring six double headers (once again). However, these double headers are held at different venues this time around, with Diriyah, Berlin, and London the regulars once again.
Shanghai will once again host a double header, after a successful running of the event in 2024, while Monaco and Tokyo will get a fillip in the form of an extra race each on their respective weekends, a much-deserved reward for hosting the series successfully in season ten, and in Monaco’s case, the past few seasons. We’ll get to that in a bit, though.
Miami-Homestead and another new location hosting races in season eleven
Let’s picture a collage here. We’ll place images of four stateside locations: Long Beach, California; Brooklyn, New York; Portland, Oregon; and Biscayne Bay, downtown Miami, Florida. What do you notice in common?
Yep, these locations have hosted Formula E in the past, with Miami and Long Beach in the inaugural 2014-15 season being the only instance of two stateside venues hosting races in a single season.
As Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds had revealed earlier, this isn’t out of the equation in the future, but this idea has been shelved for season eleven, with Portland’s road course making way for a historic location — the Miami Homestead circuit.
Due to its proximity to the city, the circuit is expected to feature greater attendance, with the road course layout expected to be used for the singular race on April 12th. Also home to NASCAR, an agreement with the owners has allowed for the venue to feature on the calendar, albeit for only one race.
Opened in 1995, the Homestead speedway has played host to CART as well as NASCAR races, serving as a host for the latter since 1999.
It’s imperative for Formula E to venture stateside for at least one race every year, given the vast magnitude of fans in the states, as well as being a home race for Andretti. The United States is also a growing market for electric vehicles, constituting 10% of the global EV sales for 2023, underlining the potential of an electric series to break into a market as big as America.
Another location remains undecided, however, strong inklings hint towards a race in Asia, with Thailand’s Chiang Mai being the frontrunner to host a race. Yet, this is one area to keep an eye on, with further developments expected in the future.
Elsewhere, a more recent regular on the calendar, the Diriyah E Prix is expected to zoom into a brand new venue for season eleven, with final details set to be confirmed later into the year.
Monaco and Tokyo — double the delight, double the action
You would have seen my mention of these two rounds in the earlier section about double-headers. Yes, the celebrated Monaco Street Circuit will finally host two races on the same weekend, the first time the historic streets will host two different races on the same weekend.
It’s no surprise, however, with past trends at the circuit pointing in a positive direction, as the 2023 edition of the event witnessed as many as 116 overtakes, while this year’s Monaco E Prix upped this number by 81, around a configuration where other series find it notoriously difficult to overtake.
There’s no doubt the Monaco success story has been a major talking point when the top bosses and the organisers sat down to outline the calendar for season eleven, and in the words of Chief Championship Officer Alberto Longo, “A dream come true”.
Tokyo is another location offered a second race for 2025, the fans turning up in droves to cheer for their favourite drivers and team, contributing to an extremely successful debut outing for Formula E in Japan, a much-awaited outing, at that.
The Tokyo E Prix weekend marked the first instance of roads being closed for a large-scale event other than the Tokyo marathon, and a sell-out crowd of 20,000 attended the race on the banks of the Tokyo Bay. The event’s success could have also been attributed to home team Nissan qualifying and leading a significant part of the race.
With Tokyo being a sought-after venue for Formula E ever since the series took flight in 2013, a double header imposes plenty of confidence for the all-electric series in the Land of the Rising Sun, as they look to continue penetrating into the rapidly-evolving Japanese markets.
Jakarta returns, forms part of an Asian leg not featuring India
A fan favourite ever since its arrival on the Formula E scene in 2022, the exclusion of the Jakarta E Prix from the calendar for season ten certainly left fans dismayed, and lost for words.
But they wouldn’t have to fear, as the circuit organisers had stated their intention of returning for season eleven, as the Indonesian capital was unable to host the race weekend in June, due to the impending general elections in the country.
Fast forward to today, and the Jakarta E Prix is indeed back on the calendar, holding its slot in June 2025, forming the third part of an Asian leg featuring the Tokyo and Shanghai double headers in May.
As Longo would also state, the series was eager to return to Jakarta and entertain their huge Indonesian fanbase. An exciting venue for a race weekend, coupled with a sellout crowd cheering the grid on is always an exciting prospect for the series.
While Jakarta returns, Formula E will not be heading to India for a race in 2025, with the political saga and contract breach by the local government in Telangana leading to the last-minute cancellation of the Hyderabad E Prix’s, leaving a sour taste for the subcontinental future of the series.
Despite Dodds revealing interest from “Multiple Indian cities to host a race” and speaking of the significance of the Indian automobile market and the sheer population to market their product, earlier this year, none of these leads have materialised into a race weekend in 2025. However, it remains to be seen if Formula E continues to pursue talks to host a subcontinental race in the future.
No Italian round in Formula E’s reworked calendar for 2024
If you look at the Formula E calendar for 2025, you’ll notice the absence of an Italian round from the calendar. Yes, the traditional Italian Formula E race weekend has been axed for season eleven.
Formula E has been a regular visitor to the nation, racing around the streets of historic Rome between 2018 and 2023. However, with the Gen3 cars outgrowing and becoming too quick for the narrow streets of Rome, and a dangerous incident in the first race of the Rome E Prix prompted a change of venue.
With the speed the Gen3 cars showed, Formula E paid a visit to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in 2024, for a double header along the Adriatic Coast. However, this raised further concerns.
The nearest airport is Rimini Airport, just over eight kilometres from the venue. However, major airports such as Florence, Venice, and Pisa are over 100 km away from the Misano Circuit, which makes commuting from the airport to the venue a concern.
Moreover, while the first race of the weekend witnessed a record 544 overtakes, the nature and intensity of the racing left many drivers exasperated. The accordion effect into the turns eight-nine chicane too caused a safety concern.
Additionally, Formula E is trying to nail down a long-term location in Italy, a la the Rome E Prix, and Misano was just a one-off weekend for the series. Top bosses are said to be exploring various options in Italy, even contemplating the viability of hosting an event at the famous Imola circuit.
Italy’s exclusion from the calendar leaves the European leg limited to four races, two Monaco E Prix in April, and the Berlin E Prix weekend later in July, shifted from its slot in May.
Likewise, another major change sees the Sao Paulo E Prix moved from its slot in March to kick off the Formula E season in December. Yes, for the first time, Formula E will return to the dual-year nomenclature, with races often hosted late in the year to take advantage of the window in winter when most racing series are on their traditional winter break.
The Brazilian metropolis will kick off the next season, at the Anhembi Sambadrome, the circuit moving to a favourable window in December. Yet another spectacle is set to unfold on the streets, with the running of the race earlier in March seeing Sam Bird triumph after a spectacular last-lap overtake on Mitch Evans.
These are some of the talking points on Formula E’s latest calendar for the upcoming season. What are your thoughts on the calendar for season eleven? Do let us know in the comments.
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