Holding any true city centre street race in the first half of 2021 was always going to be highly demanding for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship given the ongoing pandemic.
But that is what the series is still set to do early next month.
Accomplishing its third Rome E-Prix brings a huge dilemma, though.
The series could be walking a diminishing tightrope by racing amid city centre streets that could be under strict lockdown conditions.
The perceptions around a world championship motor racing event taking place on streets that at the same time could be out of bounds to Rome’s own residents might present an unenviable look.
A lot will depend on whether the Lazio area of the city where the race will take place can make its ‘red zone’ restrictions status a more appealing hue of orange within the next three weeks.
The fact that the championship is forging ahead and attempting to get back to some kind of normality in running its business and bringing racing cheer to TV viewers around the world will undoubtedly become a concentrated narrative.
But the reality is that commercial necessities are the real driving force behind putting this race on.
Formula E simply cannot afford to have a repeat of 2020, when the second half of its calendar was devastated and it took a significant financial hit.
Yes, Rome has hosted sporting events throughout the last year but the vast majority of these have been at contained stadiums such as the Stadio Olympico, with no more than a few hundred working professionals in attendance.
This is not to say that Formula E should be singled out for criticism for actually getting the race on if it is allowed to do so. Quite the opposite in fact.
Managing to get a race organised in a city during a third wave of a pandemic is on many levels is highly impressive from an operational and organisational point of view.
But as well as the commercial angle, there is almost inevitably a political one, too. The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, is one of the Rome E-Prix’s chief proponents and is in the final year of her mayorship with elections expected this autumn.
It is not clear whether she will stand again, and that creates uncertainty around the race’s longer-term prospects. If the 2021 Rome race was lost, Formula E can’t be totally confident there will be another one in 2022 until the political situation is clearer.
The upshot of it all is that the decision to continue with the race effectively renders Formula E’s teams and manufacturers powerless.
This is an unenviable position for them, and also their commercial partners. There is the very real possibility that it will be the teams and drivers who bear the brunt of anyone taking the view – whether rightly or wrongly – that commercial interests are being chosen over the safety and security of a major capital city in the middle of a pandemic that has already claimed the lives of 103,000 people in Italy.
The Race made several attempts to contact Formula E Teams and Manufacturers Association chairman Sylvain Filippi for comment this week but without success.
As already stated, the likelihood is that Formula E and the Rome promoters will attempt to maximise a policy of aiming to boost the morale of the city by hosting a global sporting event on its streets.
Activations, including interaction with local charities, are scheduled to occur and will plainly be used for maximum PR impact.
“We are working with each set of local authorities closely to bring optimism and entertainment and it’s important to stress the benefits Formula E brings when it races in city centres,” says FE’s chief championship officer Alberto Longo.
“At a deeply challenging time for many economically, we are working with 54 local suppliers – something that we wouldn’t do if we were racing at custom-built circuits or not racing at all.”
Formula E states that it is reducing its footprint because it is using only essential staff at the event but is “still booking the equivalent of 4000 nights at hotels, with added revenue coming to the local economy via food and transport services” according to Longo.
“We are looking at the bigger picture of helping cities return to their new normal and together we are ensuring the meaningful impact brought by Formula E is being felt by more than ever before,” he adds.
But it is inevitable that the view of many of Rome’s citizens will be that Formula E is using exemption and privilege to conduct business as (almost) usual, and that it’s all happening while a compromised populace hasn’t even be able to work, or indeed walk, on their own streets.
If this viewpoint grows and persists, what could the damage entail for a championship that prides itself in racing for environmental and social change?
It doesn’t take a professor of social studies to see how a negative legacy could be incubated into future Rome E-Prixs, or indeed other races in ‘A-list’ cities, in a post-pandemic world if such slants gather momentum.
There is also another argument, one which weighs up Formula E’s popularity and media reach and the way society sees the world at large. This is a broad subject but one that may actually diminish any long-lasting damage to the world championship’s reputation.
There are reasons why Formula 1 has not raced on the streets of a major city in the last 12 months. The main reason is that it doesn’t make any financial or operational sense in the current circumstances.
But not far behind that are the inherent sensitivity issues around going racing in areas of high population that are still coming to terms with a once in a generation pandemic.
Formula E is still nascent and still goes under many radars. Witness the Diriyah E-Prix last month. This took place with a high-profile ruler of the country still mired in controversy via alleged involvement in a political assassination, and then an attempted but ultimately thwarted missile strike occurring close to the circuit. It all barely registered a blip to those outside the paddock.
The vast majority of drivers in Formula E have told The Race privately that racing in a tightly restricted major city during a pandemic is justified because it brings joy, hope and enthusiasm to people who are stuck at home or in difficult circumstances.
Apart from being a rather oversimplified, almost supercilious view, it is also one which perfectly encapsulates the current confused state of the live entertainment business as it tries to function amid new parameters.
In many ways Formula E is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t race in the eternal city.
The good news though is that Formula E’s tightrope should get wider and become easier to traverse after Rome, ensuring that this maddening, complex and delicate game of calendar Tetris can eventually be overcome.
