The Gen3 era of Formula E will begin at Mexico City on January 14 2023, after a calendar announcing 13 events and 18 races was ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Geneva today.
The Race reported last month that Mexico was in line to begin the Gen3 era in mid-January before a succession of five flyaway races for the European-based series continues with the first of three confirmed double-headers in Diriyah followed by single races in Hyderabad, possibly Cape Town, Sanya and Sao Paulo.
A first ever visit to India is planned for February 11, although precise details of a deal with the city of Hyderabad are yet to be made public.
The planned Cape Town deal was confirmed earlier this year with a launch close to the Greenpoint Stadium area where the race is planned to take place, but now has some doubt cast upon it as it appears as a ‘to be decided’ fixture.
Organisers had claimed to have a long standing contract and agreement in place with Formula E. One of the event’s promoters Iain Banner stated to The Race earlier this year that they had “signed a 10-year deal. 5+5 years, commencing from the first race in 2023.”
A date of February 25 has been allocated for the Cape Town E-Prix but further scepticism has been cast locally about if it is able to take place as planned next year.
A return to Sanya on the Chinese island of Hainan, in March, is understood to be planned for the next race after Cape Town but ongoing travel and logistic restrictions have, for the time being at least, given the date a tentative nature.
Both Cape Town and Sanya are therefore represented as ‘TBD’ slots on the calendar issued by the FIA.
The Sao Paulo E-Prix will run on March 25 in the same area of the city that hosted IndyCar races, in and around the Anhembi Sambadrome – one of the city’s biggest exhibition centres located in the Casa Verde Baixa area of the city close to the Tiete River.
A two-date European spring leg consisting of Berlin and Monaco will straddle two weeks, as the latter is potentially a flashpoint for a clash with the World Endurance Championship which traditionally hosts the 6 Hours of Spa on the first weekend of May.
The WEC is not expected to confirm its calendar until next month at the earliest and may expand from six to seven races in 2023.
The Monaco date is set in stone for Formula E and cannot be moved due to its agreement with the Automobile Club de Monaco and the principality.
The second event in Seoul in South Korea will shift from an August to May date, before the Jakarta E-Prix which will stay on its first weekend of June slot but becomes a double-header.
A possible night race in Jakarta is being scoped out, with Formula E’s chief championship officer and co-founder Alberto Longo telling The Race that “definitely, we are working to have a night race in Jakarta”.
He added: “But obviously, if we are to do something like this, it has to be fully sustainable and that is where the challenge comes.
“The [2022] show was a big success in Jakarta.
“It will be even better [if it becomes a night race] because it will be prime time for Europe, in terms of media, and also the experience for the people going to the racetrack. 60,000 people that showed up in Jakarta and it will be a blast, a very good thing [if it’s a night race].”
The main structural change of the 2023 calendar is the move away from the traditional April date for the Rome E-Prix, which will now be shifted to mid-July.
New York City precedes Rome but also appears as a ‘TBD’ for now. That status is believed to be because Formula E is still concluding a new contract at the Red Hook site of the race.
The 2023 schedule concludes with the London ExCeL double-header event on the same corresponding weekend to its 2022 allocated date at the very end of July.
2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar
January 14: Mexico City
January 27-28: Diriyah (x2)
February 11: Hyderabad
February 25: TBD (potentially Cape Town)
March 11: TBD (should be Sanya)
March 25: Sao Paulo
April 22: Berlin
May 6: Monaco
May 20-21: Seoul (x2)
June 3-4: Jakarta (x2)
June 24: TBD (possible US race)
July 15-16: Rome (x2)
July 29-30: London (x2)
