Porsche and Mercedes embark on new
era of electric racing
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[November 23, 2019]
By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) - Formula E starts its
sixth season in Saudi Arabia on Friday with debutants Porsche and
Mercedes hoping to carry their respective success in sports cars and
Formula One to a new all-electric battleground.
French driver Jean-Eric Vergne, the first double champion, is aiming
to complete his title hat-trick with the Chinese-owned DS Techeetah
team in a series humming with renewed energy.
The presence of four German giants, with BMW and Audi regulars
already, adds luster to a city-based championship that has grown
steadily since a financially precarious first season in 2014.
Formula E recently reported record revenues and a first ever profit
and, burnishing environmentally-conscious credentials with an
emphasis on sustainability, feels increasingly in tune with the
spirit of the times.
Nissan, Jaguar, Citroen, China's Nio and India's Mahindra are also
involved.
The learning curve will be steep for the newcomers, in a
championship that saw nine different winners in 13 races last season
and where success costs a fraction of Formula One's bloated budgets.
"They will have done their homework. They are not starting from
scratch, they have a lot of resource and clever people behind them,"
says Envision Virgin Racing managing director Sylvain Filippi.
"I hope they do really well, because it makes the competition even
more exciting, but it's not going to be easy."
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For Mercedes, the dominant force in Formula One for the past six
years and the only carmaker involved in both, Formula E opens a new
chapter in their 125-year racing history.
Their drivers are Belgian ex-McLaren F1 racer Stoffel Vandoorne and
2019 F2 champion Nyck de Vries of the Netherlands.
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Porsche, part of the Volkswagen Group that includes Audi, have
German Andre Lotterer and Swiss racer Neel Jani as their lineup.
The series reported revenues of more than 200 million euros ($221.12
million) last September and has grown to 14 races, with a first in
the Indonesian capital Jakarta next June before a London finale.
Former Manchester United commercial director Jamie Reigle has joined
from the NFL's Los Angeles Rams franchise, taking on the chief
executive role vacated by founder Alejandro Agag.
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"I genuinely believe that we have the zeitgeist in terms of one of
the most compelling global sports properties with potential for
income growth," he told reporters.
"I was at Heathrow (airport) the other day and there were two
Formula E ads. We've done a really good job in terms of the business
to business side, brands recognizing that this is the future," he
added.
"I think the task and the challenge now is 'can we get that audience
to grow and be really engaged?'."
Saudi Arabia will host two races on the 22nd and 23rd in Ad Diriyah,
on the outskirts of Riyadh.
The series has Liberty Global and Discovery Communications as major
shareholders.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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