Formula 1 is arguably the most popular motorsport in the world and this season has seen a highly dramatic competition between Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton for the championship title.
From this weekend however, and with the full backing of the FIA, a fully-electronic form of Formula 1 – known as Formula E – will commence this weekend in Beijing, China and end in June 2015 in London.
First conceptualised in 2011 by FIA President Jean Todt and brought to fruition mainly by the efforts of motorsport businessman Alejandro Agag, who contributed to the £60m raised to kickstart the project, Formula E will debut with 10 teams racing in 10 cities around the world.
Among the competing teams is Virgin Racing owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Monaco-based Venturi which is co-owned by Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio and the e.dams-Renault team led by former Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost.
Each team will race with two drivers; like in Formula 1, in Chinese capital Beijing, London, Malaysia, Uruguay, Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, Long Beach in California as well as in yet to be confirmed street circuits in Miami, Berlin and Monte-Carlo while a city will be confirmed soon to replace Brazil’s Rio de Janiero.
While admitting the new sport is a big risk, Agag also stated ”It’s a pioneering effort. Nobody has done this before. We are at the beginning of this type of technology – the beginning of a concept.”
The 43-year old former chairman of Premier League club Queens Park Rangers added that ”It will take 10, 20, maybe 30 years to end with combustion. Every pioneering effort is risky, but it’s part of the challenge.”
Agag also stressed that Formula E will not be a competition to the Formula 1, stating ”We aren’t competing with Formula 1. This is different technology, we have our own niche. F1 is big, massive and the pinnacle of technology. In a way, our technology is a child of F1. There is no competing, we are complementary. We have a good chance to make it.”
The debut season of Formula E will see each team given the same Spark-Renault SRT 01E car, before being made into an ‘open’ championship from the second season, which will allow teams to develop their own cars within FIA guidelines.