If Formula 1 decided to race around the biggest and most iconic cities in the world while donning extravagant space-age liveries, Formula E would be the product.
Since its inaugural championship season in 2014-15, the ABB Formula E World Championship is the world’s first all-electric FIA-sanctioned World Championship. It is also the only sport with certified net zero carbon, ensuring the greatest cities on the planet are unaffected by the machines racing around their streets.
Mexico City, Rome, Monaco, Berlin, Jakarta, New York, London and Seoul are some of the venues in a packed calendar, while teams like Porsche, Nissan, Mercedes, and Andretti - owned by Mario Andretti, who is eyeing a move to F1 in the near future - compete for the title. Through the first eight races of the season, Mercedes are currently championship leaders thanks to their total of 176 points.
Mercedes F1 test driver and 2019 F2 champion Nyck de Vries won the last race in Berlin earlier this month, but his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne leads the Drivers’ Championship with 111 points. The ex-McLaren driver joins a number of former F1 stars on the Formula E grid, including Jean-Eric Vergne, Pascal Wehrlein, and Antonio Giovinazzi.
In July, the environmentally-friendly racing series will take to the streets of London, and Formula E celebrated the launch of ticket sales for the 2022 London E-Prix by revealing a unique race car livery designed by street artist Mr Cenz. Formula E also announced DJ and producer Jax Jones will perform at the event.
Known for his surrealist style of graffiti art, Mr Cenz has been producing impressive works in public spaces around east London since the 1990s. He has now applied his creativity to a Formula E race car, unveiling his spectacular all-electric single-seater in Shoreditch.
“Formula E is unique in that we take our race cars to the streets of world cities like New York, Berlin, Rome, Riyadh, Seoul and London,” said Formula E CEO, Jamie Reigle. “Now we’ve taken the streets of east London to our race car.
“Inviting Mr Cenz to create a livery for a Formula E car reflects the importance of engaging with the culture and community of our host cities. Bringing local communities closer to our racing connects people to our mission of accelerating the switch to electric mobility and taking action to fight climate change.”
Mr Cenz added: “It will always be close to my heart, I’ve painted lots of murals in the area over the years, so working with Formula E to celebrate the return of the London E-Prix has been a huge passion project for me.
“Painting a Formula E race car was a new challenge but I’m delighted that we were able to give it that gritty east London vibe to kick off the London E-Prix in July.”
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The London E-Prix will see a double-header of races on Saturday 30 July and Sunday 31 July at ExCeL London, which is set to return to full capacity for the first time since the 2016 race. Six years ago, the race was held in Battersea Park but the 2022 edition will see the circuit overlaid on the streets around - and even inside - the ExCeL London.
The first E-Prix in London was held at Battersea Park in 2015 and returned to the venue in 2016. London next hosted an E-Prix in 2021 at ExCeL London with limited capacity due to Covid restrictions.
London will host Rounds 13 and 14 in Season 8 of the championship’s biggest-ever 16-race calendar across 2022. The London E-Prix is ultimately an all-day family-friendly event, including the Formula E fan festival at the Allianz E-Village plus a Gaming Arena featuring race car driving simulators.
