Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Formula E embarks on a new journey this weekend in São Paulo, with the Brazilian city hosting the opening weekend for Formula E's season 11. With new driver line-ups, locations, and two rebranded teams on the grid, Vyas takes you through all you need to know ahead of the upcoming Formula E season.....
Battle lines drawn. Game on. It's only a matter of time before Formula E goes green in São Paulo to kick off its 11th season. For the first time since the 2019-20 Formula E season, the series will use the double year naming convention.
The São Paulo ePrix will take place on December 7th, followed by a month long Christmas and New Year break before the Mexico City ePrix in mid January.
The grid of 22 drivers and 11 teams will take to the São Paulo ePrix with fresh energy, looking to achieve their dream of winning a Formula E championship. Just five months on from his championship win, TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein will be commencing his title defence.
Porsche will also be looking to snatch the constructors title in season 11, having lost out to eventual winners Jaguar TCS Racing.
While neither Mitch Evans nor Nick Cassidy were able to take the drivers crown off Wehrlein, their combined efforts were enough to deliver Jaguar their first piece of championship silverware in the series.
There's no doubt both drivers will be raring to go for glory in season 11. A veteran of the series, Evans has strung together several consistent campaigns, but never able to seal the championship.
As for his fellow Kiwi teammate, Cassidy will be looking to erase the ghosts of his past two championship challenges, when he set up strong campaigns in seasons nine and ten, only to lose out in the final stages of either year.
Cassidy will certainly be hoping third time's the charm, as he looks to build on a strong first year with the team from Kidlington, while Evans will finally be aiming for the stars after his best finish in the championship in season ten.
Porsche, meanwhile, will be hoping Antonio Felix Da Costa carries over his form from season ten into this year. The Portuguese driver hit a purple patch in the second half of season ten, winning as many as four races in five at one point.
Should he carry over the same form, there's no doubt Porsche and Jaguar would be at the forefront of an exciting championship battle for the season to follow. But the two teams will face stern competition from the rest, with as many as three teams potent enough to mount a proper title battle.
Andretti endured a disappointing season ten, with Jake Dennis unable to replicate his championship-winning form into the following year. Andretti finished only fifth in the standings in 2024, losing out to Nissan in the final standings.
However, Dennis has been joined by a formidable force for the upcoming season in Nico Müller. The Swiss racer is coming off an excellent season 10 with ABT Cupra, scoring 52 points on his way to 12th in the standings.
A wish fulfilled, Müller would look to leverage similar consistency and take the American squad closer to championship contention in season 11. He will look to form a solid line-up for the team, as he becomes the fourth driver to partner Dennis in four seasons.
The Nissan Formula E Team will be looking to build on their best Formula E outing to date, heading into the upcoming season. Oliver Rowland starred for the Japanese marque in 2024, taking two victories on his way to fourth in the standings.
He will be looking to build on his exploits from season ten. He will be joined by another driver returning to Nissan, with Norman Nato moving over from Andretti to bolster the team's stocks ahead of season 11.
The Frenchman certainly has shown podium worthy pace in the past, taking second for the squad at Rome two seasons prior. With a stable head and a consistent points scorer, Nissan will certainly be upbeat heading into season 11.
There's another name you shouldn't rule out of contention for a championship battle. DS Penske will certainly be a potent force to reckon with in a championship battle.
While they haven't been the out-and-out quickest car in a race weekend, Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne's consistency was enough to take the team to third in the standings, despite not taking a single victory all year.
The Stellantis manufacturer have been bolstered by the addition of Max Gunther, who moves in from Maserati MSG to form a strong pairing alongside the two-time champion Vergne.
There's no doubt the Frenchman will be raring to get a championship for DS Penske, evidenced by his open request for the team to improve their powertrain to match those of the Jaguars and the Porsches.
As for Gunther's former employers, Maserati MSG have opted to hit the refresh button on their 2025 line-up. Vandoorne moves the other way from DS Penske, while Jake Hughes moves to the Italian manufacturer from NEOM McLaren.
Maserati slid down to eighth in the standings in 2024, and will believe in their combination of youth and experience to reap dividends.
As for Hughes former team, NEOM McLaren have opted to bring another rookie in from Formula 2 to shore up their line-up. Taylor Barnard steps up to a full-time seat at the Woking outfit, having filled in as a super-sub for his new teammate Sam Bird last season.
McLaren will be banking on this master and apprentice line-up to drive their campaign forward, as Barnard learns the ropes alongside his fellow Briton, and reaps the benefits of his learnings towards the end of the season.
Another team looking for rejuvenation after a difficult campaign is Envision Racing. The team in green entered season ten as the reigning champions, but were unable to build on their successful campaign.
The duo of Robin Frijns and Sebastian Buemi scored sporadic podiums across the year, but weren't able to grab a victory all season. Their poor showing was attributable to difficulty in understanding the pack racing, being unable to get on top of the handling of the tyres, as well as manufacturers holding control over information over the Jaguar power units.
The duo will be looking to find form once again into season eleven, and return to winning ways, as they reposed faith in the line-up of Frijns and Buemi for yet another season.
Two of the three teams who finished at the rear of the field have been rebranded going into 2025. Lola Yamaha ABT has witnessed two big names make it into Formula E.
Lola Cars return to modern racing in a new avatar, while bike manufacturer Yamaha make their first foray into the all-electric racing series, forming a technical troika with ABT and Lola.
The team have opted for youth in their line-up, replacing Andretti-bound Müller with Formula 2 racer Zane Maloney.
The boy from Barbados, as he is famously known, joins veteran Lucas Di Grassi, a racer he once admired watching from the sidelines. While the Brazilian veteran endured a difficult campaign in 2024, there's no doubt "Mr Formula E" has the tools in the bag to come firing hard in 2025.
The other rebranded outfit on the grid is Cupra Kiro. Owned by Los Angeles-based investment firm Forest Road now, the team in lime green is easily distinguishable on a Formula E grid, thanks to their striking livery. A recent deal with Cupra meant the team would go into the new season named 'Cupra Kiro'.
The last to announce their season 11 line-up, the American outfit continued with Dan Ticktum, signing former Andretti reserve David Beckmann on their line-up. Their package has been made even more potent by a Porsche powertrain at the rear of the Kiro.
The team will be hoping to progress up the order with a new powerplant at the rear, and under a new rebrand. Kiro certainly displayed a strong upturn of pace during pre-season testing, with Ticktum and Beckmann finding themselves towards the front, with the latter even topping one session of testing on Wednesday.
Finally, the only team on the grid to remain unchanged ever since they joined the series, Mahindra Racing head into their 11th Formula E campaign on the back of high hopes. Nyck de Vries topped the times in the fifth test session in pre-season testing at Jarama.
His teammate Edoardo Mortara put in several strong performances across 2024, most notably finishing fourth in Portland, and fifth in the final weekend at London, and taking pole at Berlin earlier in the year. Mahindra continued to find breakthroughs after a torrid past two seasons.
With a steady head in Fred Bertrand at the helm, can Mahindra finally hit the high notes they have been manifesting all through the existence of the series? Only time will tell.
The Calendar
Formula E unveiled a 17-race calendar, shortened to 16 races when the race weekend scheduled to take place in March was cancelled and not replaced. This leaves a yawning two-month gap between the Jeddah ePrix in February and Miami in April.
Even still, the calendar for season 11 wears a vastly different look, with double headers aplenty and a familiar venue returning to the fold.
After Formula E's Brazilian samba in December, the next race is only after New Year, with the paddock set to head to the familiar avenues of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on January 11th.
The caravan then shifts to the Middle East in February, with a shortened Jeddah Corniche Circuit hosting the annual Saudi Arabian double header in mid-February.
After a two-month break, the series heads for its annual stateside jaunt on April 12th, this time to its fifth venue in the country, the Homestead-Miami circuit, also famous for hosting the annual NASCAR race weekend too.
The Monaco ePrix weekend takes place on the first weekend of May, now running as a double header for the first time. The Formula E paddock then heads to Asia, with two further double headers in Tokyo and Shanghai in May.
Jakarta returns to the Formula E calendar after a year off due to presidential elections, featuring in its usual mid-June slot.
The championship then returns to European soil in July, with a Formula E staple in Berlin headlining the penultimate weekend of the year, before the season finale at London's ExCel Arena at the end of the month.
All in all, it's set to be an exciting season for everyone involved, with plenty of action across the board. You do not want to miss this season.
Major changes ahead of season 11
The biggest change heading into season 11 sees the grid use the new Gen3 Evo Formula E car for the next two seasons. The FIA has claimed it will be the FIA’s fastest accelerating single-seater, going from 0-60 mph in 1.82 seconds, far ahead of next-best Formula One car at around 2.4 seconds.
The new car will also feature all-wheel drive (AWD), apart from revised Hankook tyres, which will alter the handling dynamics for the car altogether on the racetrack.
The Gen3 Evo will also feature an active front powertrain that can be used in qualifying, the race start, and in attack mode.
Another provision in the Gen3 Evo car is an ultra-fast charging capability. Simply put, drivers will be expected to make a mandatory pit stop during the race, with 30 seconds of recharging through a 600-Watt fast charger.
Contemplated all through the Gen3 era, and trialled during pre-season testing at Jarama, this fast charging concept, dubbed the "Pit Boost" feature, will come into effect at select events across the season.
The Pit Boost feature will only be available in double headers, to make for varying strategies across the weekend. First set to be used in Jeddah, Pit Boost will also feature in the Monaco, Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin and London.
This element will certainly add a greater element of strategy into races, with teams trying 'overcut' and 'undercut' strategies with energy management in Formula E this year.
Another important change on the broadcasting front has seen Formula E return to being free-to-air in the United Kingdom, debuting on ITV4 and ITVX.
Nicki Shields too returns to the series as lead presenter, alongside well known faces such as Catie Munnings, former racer Billy Monger, and experts such as David Coulthard and Karun Chandhok too expected to feature on air.
Looking ahead to the São Paulo ePrix weekend
Formula E's Season 11 kicks off this weekend at the iconic Anhembi Sambadrome in São Paulo, with Brazil also debuting as the Formula E season opener.
Known for its long straights, heavy braking zones and challenging mix of corners, the 11-turn, 2.93 km street circuit has a reputation for producing thrilling wheel-to-wheel action and plenty of overtakes.
Featuring 11 turns, this circuit has witnessed plenty of overtaking in the past. Earlier in March, NEOM McLaren's Sam Bird took the team's maiden Formula E victory at this venue, after a stunning last-lap, last-sector pass on Mitch Evans to win the race.
Turn one serves as an overtaking spot, while the bulk of the overtakes often occur into the turns four/five section. Other overtaking spots on the circuit include turn seven, while turns 10 and 11 allowed Bird and Oliver Rowland to take places on the final lap earlier this year.
Do keep an eye for the peloton racing to feature at this circuit, with drivers looking to stay away from the lead in a bid to conserve energy. If we are to go by what happened earlier this year in the São Paulo ePrix, then we are in for a treat this weekend.
Timings for the weekend
Friday, 6th December, 2024
Free Practice 1: 17:00 - 17:40 local time (20:00 - 20:40 GMT)
Saturday, 7th December, 2024
Free Practice 2 - 07:30 - 08:10 local time (10:30 - 11:10 GMT)
Qualifying - 09:40 - 11:13 local time (12:40 - 14:13 GMT)
Race (31 laps) - 14:05 - 15:00 local time (17:05 - 18:00 GMT)
How to watch Formula E in your location
You can watch Formula E in your country, find out your broadcaster details below.
Win predictviz
It's the first round of the season, so a difficult one to predict for all. However, I would go with Jaguar TCS Racing's Nick Cassidy to win the first race of the year in São Paulo.
Do make sure you tune in to the live Formula E action this weekend, as the five red lights will go out on December 7th, to mark the dawn of a new season of Formula E racing.
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