Formula E: Schedule Confirmed; Best Calendar Yet?

On Friday the calendar for the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship was confirmed. As is becoming tradition, a number of changes have been made from the draft calendar to the confirmed schedule.

The Hong Kong round has been dropped from the calendar due to the current civil unrest and has been replaced by Marrakesh which was not on the original schedule.

Hong Kong’s absence is planned for one year only and comes after discussions between the series and city officials meant smooth running of the event cannot be guaranteed.

From a racing perspective, the change is very good news. Of course we all hope the situation in Hong Kong can be improved but from a circuit point of view, the Hong Kong track was not great.

The tightness of the circuit meant it was extremely difficult to overtake and the turn one hairpin was a little bit silly. Compared to other Formula E tracks, Hong Kong was pretty poor. Marrakesh on the other hand provided some stunning racing with the current Gen 2 cars.

Marrakesh is more of a ‘proper’ racing circuit which some fans want Formula E to visit more often but it still keeps the classic street track characteristics. WTCR and WTCC have had some dull races there but the Marrakesh layout really works well for Formula E so it’s great to see it remain on the calendar.

New rounds in Seoul, Jakarta and London have been confirmed. The Jakarta round will follow Seoul which has meant Berlin moving back from May 30 to June 21 and New York shifting from June 20 to July 11.

The changes mean that the New York round will clash with DTM’s Norisring races meaning Robin Frijns and Nico Muller will be impacted. Frijns has already stated he will prioritise Formula E by racing with Envision Virgin Racing whilst new Dragon driver, Muller, will race in the DTM that weekend.

Another clash of dates sees the Sanya round on March 21 collide with the Sebring 12 Hours. This will affect a number of drivers since many of Formula E’s driver race in sportscars.

I am sure everything was done to try and avoid this but it is not good to see and will inevitably cause friction and a clash between teams from different series to get their driver racing in either America or China that weekend.

Hopefully, it will not have a major affect on either championship but someone will have to lose out in either Formula E, IMSA or WEC.

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Overall, I like the calendar. New locations are always nice to see and for me, I particularly like the consistency of keeping rounds such as Paris, Berlin, New York, Rome and Mexico City which will hopefully continue to be on the schedule in the upcoming years and decades.

It is sad to see no Swiss round as I loved the Bern circuit and I am not a fan at all of clashes with the WEC or DTM but obviously the FIA could not avoid the clashes.

Yet again, the near two-month gap between the opening double-header in Ad Diriyah and the next event in Santiago is underwhelming. New fans might watch the Saudi Arabia rounds then forget about Formula E and almost have to start again from zero next time they watch due to the big gap between the first and second events.

Formula E might as well start the season in January if they do not have at least two events before Christmas and then an event during the early to mid-part of January.

Interestingly, the Santiago and Mexico City rounds have ‘circuit homologation’ marks meaning that track changes could be made. Alternatively it could be nothing.

I would like to see parts of the Mexico layout changed, particularly the stadium section and the final chicane which I believe is not necessary. Whilst the Santiago track made a good debut last season with the heat playing a huge part in the ePrix.

Watch this space for any track modifications.

Stability is always key for me and the calendar does have that to some extent. Personally I don’t like that the European races are broken up by ‘flyaway’ rounds in season six whereas in season five there was a ‘European leg’.

Therefore, I would not say season six’s schedule is the best calendar yet, nor an improvement because the calendar does feel a little bit messy. If the new ePrix deliver then maybe my opinion would change but I would prefer a calendar which has the Asian rounds one after another followed by the European races.

That said, if season six is anywhere near as exciting as season five, we should be in for another cracking, breathtaking and unpredictable season of Formula E.