Mexico City is set to kick off the new Gen3 era of Formula E in January 2023, replacing Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, as the customary start location.
According to reports, the first race under the new ruleset would most likely be held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which has hosted an E-Prix for only two of the eight Formula E seasons so far.
The first three months of the 2023 calendar will be filled with races away from Europe with a preliminary schedule set to be submitted to the FIA World Motor Sport Council next month.
Last weekend, Alberto Longo, the chief championship officer and co-founder of Formula E, told The Race in Berlin that the “current plan for the FIA does not include Saudi Arabia as the opening race of the season.”
The reasoning for this dates back to the decision to postpone the start of the next season when it was revealed earlier this year that the Gen3 car will require additional time for development testing and subsequent homologation for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. According to Longo, this had a significant impact on the championship’s logistics as well as the start.
“So originally, it was planned to be the first race, as we needed to delay everything because of the test and the Gen3 etc, then, we were forced to move things around,” he said.
“That puzzle meant Saudi couldn’t be there for the first race, so we did what we could with the calendar.”
“Obviously the interests of the different cities around the world and when can they actually host Formula E events and also taking into consideration many other things like weather or and all the challenges that we always face forming the calendar meant that unfortunately, Saudi is not going to be the first race.”
Longo would not remark on the first races of the new season, but a working draught would see Diriyah, a possible new event in Hyderabad which is expected to be confirmed soon with Cape Town, and Sao Paulo following the Mexico City opener, which is expected to be held in mid-January.
“We are in internal discussions on whether there is going to be an expansion on the number of cities that we visit,” confirmed Longo.
“That’s a fact. So, this year, we are going to go to 10. Next year, it’s going to be 12 or 13 events minimum, it could even go up to 14.
“We’ll still have internal discussions whether we go that aggressive, or we keep it a little bit more contained, let’s put it this way.”
“So, we will grow again in the following season for season 10 [2024], which is a big year as well for us.”
Formula E is also considering a small calendar expansion for next season, with up to 14 races possible. There are ten events on the current calendar, including six double-headers (Diriyah, Rome, Berlin, New York, London, and Seoul), totaling 16 races.
