It’s been a busy off-season since every team maneuvered for erly position at the beginning of the GEN3 eRa. Only one team has retained the same driver line-up as last season.
DS Automobiles have teamed up with PENSKE AUTOSPORT and signed two of the biggest names on the grid to kick off their Season 9 campaign. Reigning Champion Stoffel Vandoorne and formula Eis the only double champion Jean Eric Vergne will drive for that DS PENSKE Team. The pair were very competitive in testing, posting second and third fastest times respectively. Vandoorne will look to build a strong title defense to match Vergne’s unique double title honor.
Two iconic names in world motorsport – McLaren and Maserati – are on the formula E Lattice for the first time this season.
At 20, the former is one of the biggest names in motorsport formula 1 world title, 180 Grand Prix victories and three Indianapolis 500 victories as well as a victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans right away.
Rene Rast, multiple DTM champion and former formula E Racer, will compete in the new’s distinctive papaya NEOM McLaren formula E team Next JakeHugheswho impressed in the test en route to the fourth fastest time of the week.
In partnership with MSG Racing, Maserati returns to single-seater competition for the first time in more than 60 years and is poised to become the first Italian marque to compete formula E. Both Maserati and McLaren have cited formula E as a key to hers EV development programs with the intense sporting lab driving experiences of the championship from track to street models.
Maserati’s rich motorsport heritage is evisible during their return to racing: Launched in the iconic blue colorway on the streets of their Italian hometown of Modena, the Maserati Tipo Folgore pays homage to the Trident’s first race car, the Tipo 26.
Maserati MSG Racing will see the return of EDoardo Mortara who will try to build on his most successful ones formula E Four more wins from six podiums last season alongside a new teammate Maximilian Gunther. It was a strong start for the team in Valencia, where Günther led five of the seven timed sessions and a third official set the benchmark pace in Spain formula E Test.
Jaguar TCS Racing is the only team in the starting field with an unchanged driver line-up. mitch Evans was on the hunt for his firstever formula E World title until the last weekend of last season and finally finished second. Across the garage, teammate Sam Vogel was frustrated with an injury that meant he was unable to compete in the final two races of the season – numbers 99 and 100 formula E History – Lucas di Grassi remains the only rider to achieve this ever-present feat.
Andre Lotterer joins Jake Dennis at the now Porsche-powered Avalanche Andretti formula E teamduring Season 6 Champion Antonio Felix Da Costa becomes partner Pascal Wehrlein at TAG Heuer Porsche formula E Team.
Nick Cassidy stay with Envision Racingwhere he will be joined by a longtime Nissan driver and Season 2 Champion Sebastian Buemi.
Buemi’s departure means Nissan formula E team also has a completely updated line-up with Norman NATO and Sacha Fenestrazstanding in for Antonio Giovinazzi in the final race of Season 8 in Seoul.
Mahindra race welcomes Mr 100 and the Season 3 Champion Luke of Grassi become a partner Oliver Rowland.
NIO 333 race keeps Dan Ticktumwill become with the partner Sergio Sette Câmarawho put in some impressive performances for DRAGON/PENSKE AUTOSPORT last year Robins Frijns and Nico Mueller will run for the new ABBOT CUPRA formula E Team.
GEN3: A HUGE TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP
The 11 teams and 22 drivers of the ABB FIA formula E World Championship had private testing and three days together in Valencia to add mileage and get acquainted with their brand new GEN3 race car.
The GEN3 represents a giant leap in technological development and innovation eEngineers at the FIA and formula E Providing the fastest, lightest, most powerful and eefficient eelectric racing car ever built, goes beyond the limits of EV development.
With a top speed of 200 mph (322 km/h), it’s 53 kg lighter and has a smaller chassis optimized for road racing. An additional front powertrain adds 250 kW to the 350 kW at the rear, more than doubling the regenerative capacity of the current GEN2 car to 600 kW, with more than 40% of the eEnergy expended in the race is regenerated when braking.
SPORTY UPDATES FOR SEASON 9
In addition to the revolutionary technology on the track, formula EThe sporting regulations of have been adapted to the GEN3 eRa. A lap total replaces time when setting a race distance, with additional laps added for safety car and full course yellow breaks in the race.
Hankook Tire becomes the eexclusive technical partner and tire supplier of the ABB FIA formula E World Championship from season 9. Two years of research and development have gone into the production of the Hankook iON Race tyre, which in formula E used in all conditions, wet and dry. Almost 30 percent of the new tire is made from sustainable materials, while Hankook fully recycles every set of tires after use.
RETURN TO MEXICO CITY
This Saturday, formula E makes a seventh visit to a circuit that has been a staple of the calendar since Season 2, apart from a trip to Puebla in Season 7 – Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The 19-turn, 2,630km track is a perfect blend of long, fast straights and a technical infield section that cuts right through the iconic section of Foro Sol Stadium, where tens of thousands of fans sit.
A new chicane has been added to the backstretch this season, while the activation zone for ATTACK MODE is now on the outside of Turn 15 eThe exit from the stadium section presented a greater challenge this time.
Last season TAG Heuer Porsche formula E The team dominated in Mexico City and won its first ABB FIA formula E win a world championship race.
Pascal Wehrlein introduced his home teammate Andre Lotterer to a Porsche one-two with the squad extra lap on the field with just a few seconds left on the clock.
MEXICO CITY FACTS
- Mexico is a mainstay on the formula E Calendar since its first appearance in Season 2 with Mexico City as the host, barring the Covid-hit Season 7 (with Puebla filling the gap). Only Germany (16) and the USA (13) have hosted more races than Mexico (8).
- The 2023 Hankook Mexico City E-Prix will be run on a new track layout, with the addition of a chicane after Turn 8, making the track the longest formula E Configuration around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
- The 19-turn layout will be the fourth different configuration in the seven Mexico City E-prix.
- After eeight years of formula E start of the season in Asia, formula E will begin its GEN3 journey in North America, with Mexico City being the fourth city to host the launch (after Beijing, Hong Kong and Diriyah).
- The opening race is not always a clear indicator of who will win the championship formula E. In just two seasons, the Drivers’ Champion has won the opening race (Sébastien Buemi in Season 2 and Nyck de Vries in Season 6).
- Lucas di Grassi won the Season 3 race in Mexico City from 15th on the grid, the lowest position ever won by a driver E-Price off.
- From the previous six races in Mexico City, Sébastien Buemi was on the podium three times, more than any other driver.
- António Félix da Costa is about to make his first formula E Race with his new team Porsche. Da Costa will be hoping he launches the GEN3 era the same way he started GEN2 which is with a win.
- Sébastien Buemi, Sam Bird and Lucas di Grassi are the only drivers to have started every season opening race (eeach has at least one win in a season opener).
- During the last visit to Mexico City, Pascal Wehrlein made use of his virgin formula E Victory. Seven drivers come to Mexico City in search of their first formula E to win.
- NIO 333 Racing will start Season 9 with the youngest driver pairing (with an average age of just 24 years and 45 days). Mahindra Racing starts the season with the oldest driver pairing (with an average age of 34 years 156 days).
- Julius Baer’s last three pole positions in Mexico City have all been claimed by German drivers. Pole position isn’t always the right spot in Mexico City, however, as three of the six pole sitters didn’t make it to the checkered flag.
- The last start in Mexico City is not always the right one end to a driver’s weekend. In three of the last four Mexico City E-Prixs, the driver who started last scored points (with a ninth place in eeach instance).
