DOUBLING DOWN IN DIRIYAH: STARS OF SEASON 10 SET TO SHINE IN SAUDI ARABIA
Photo credit: ABB FIA Formula E World Championship,
2023 Diriyah E-Prix, (DPPI/Grégory Lenormand)
Dramatic desert duel in prospect as world’s fastest street fighters prepare to put on an electrifying show around UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is desert-bound for the next instalment of its 2023/24 campaign this weekend (26/27 January), as the stars of Season 10 get set to steal the spotlight in Saudi Arabia with a dazzling double-header.
The contrast between the ancient UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah and Formula E’s cutting-edge Gen3 single-seaters could scarcely be more striking. Fast and technical in equal measure – and a true test of energy management – the 2.49km, 21-turn Riyadh Street Circuit twists and turns as it snakes around the age-old Middle Eastern town walls.
What’s more, to add to the challenge for drivers and teams and to enhance the excitement for fans, as in recent editions, the races will take place after dark, with the track illuminated by low-power LED technology – firmly in-keeping with the championship’s unparalleled environmental credentials.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein leads the field into the event following his commanding victory in Mexico earlier this month – and the bad news for the German’s 21 competitors is that he similarly dominated in Diriyah last year.
Wehrlein is one of three drivers to have won at the circuit more than once – alongside NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s Sam Bird and series returnee Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing) – and his rivals will all be hoping he does not increase that tally this weekend.
Sébastien Buemi heads to Saudi Arabia sitting second in the standings, albeit ten points adrift of the top of the table. The Swiss star enjoyed a strong season-opener for Envision Racing and qualified on pole position around the Diriyah Street Circuit last year, but has yet to reach the rostrum there in nine starts to-date.
Nick Cassidy is just behind in third after ascending the podium on his debut for Jaguar TCS Racing, and the New Zealander snatched the extra point on offer for fastest lap in race one in Diriyah in 2022. Stablemate Mitch Evans did likewise in 2019, before taking the chequered flag third the following campaign.
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Günther has hitherto failed to score in Saudi Arabia but presently splits the Jaguar pair in in the classification courtesy of an excellent effort in Mexico, while sixth-placed Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) was runner-up in Riyadh in 2018. His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne counts three rostrum appearances, two fastest laps and one pole position to his credit there.
Bird – a winner in Diriyah in 2019 and 2021 and a podium-visitor last year – is flanked at McLaren by countryman Jake Hughes, who turned heads by speeding to the top spot on the grid at the track last season in only his third outing in the all-electric series.
One of the biggest surprises in Mexico, meanwhile, was the comparative lack of pace displayed by fellow Briton Jake Dennis, with the reigning champion able to manage no better than a ninth-place finish. The Andretti Formula E ace will be eager to kick-start his title defence this weekend, around a circuit where last year he secured a brace of runner-up results as he chased Wehrlein home.
Others to have previously shone in Saudi Arabia include Mahindra duo de Vries and Edoardo Mortara – the former victorious in back-to-back campaigns in 2021 and 2022, and the latter following his current team-mate across the line in second place in Season 7 before triumphing himself 11 months later.
Wehrlein’s Porsche partner António Félix da Costa was out of luck in Mexico but won the inaugural Diriyah E-Prix from pole in 2018 and returned to the rostrum there in 2021. Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) and Lucas Di Grassi (ABT CUPRA Formula E Team) similarly suffered difficult weekends at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, but both have bagged silverware in Saudi Arabia in seasons past and will be looking to do so again.
Round two of Formula E’s 2023/24 campaign will get underway at 20:03 local time (18:03 CET) on Friday, 26 January, followed by round three at the same time on Saturday, 27 January.
THE 2024 TRACK
MEDIA CENTRE
Opening Hours of the Media Centre
- Wednesday 24th January: 0900 – 1800
- Thursday 25th January: 0800 – 2000
- Friday 26th January: 1000 – 2400
- Saturday 27th January 1000 – 2400
2024 DIRIYAH E-PRIX TIMETABLE
| Thursday 25 January | |||
| Starts | Ends | Length | Activity |
| 18:00 | 18:30 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 1 |
| Friday 26 January | |||
| Starts | Ends | Length | Activity |
| 13:00 | 13:30 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 2 |
| 15:20 | 15:32 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group A |
| 15:37 | 15:49 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group B |
| 16:05 | 16:20 | 00:15 | QUARTER FINAL |
| 16:24 | 16:34 | 00:10 | SEMI FINAL |
| 16:38 | 16:43 | 00:05 | FINAL |
| ≈20:04 | RACE | ||
| Saturday 27 January | |||
| Starts | Ends | Length | Activity |
| 13:00 | 13:30 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 3 |
| 15:20 | 15:32 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group A |
| 15:37 | 15:49 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group B |
| 16:05 | 16:20 | 00:15 | QUARTER FINAL |
| 16:24 | 16:34 | 00:10 | SEMI FINAL |
| 16:38 | 16:43 | 00:05 | FINAL |
| ≈20:04 | RACE |
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
| Thursday 25 January | |
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Team Representatives FIA Press Conference |
| Sylvain Filippi – Envision Racing | |
| Cyril Blais – Maserati MSG Racing | |
| Roger Griffiths – Andretti Formula E | |
| 14:15 – 14:30 | Drivers FIA Press Conference |
| Nick Cassidy – Jaguar TCS Racing | |
| Jean-Eric Vergne – DS PENSKE | |
|
Jake Hughes – NEOM McLaren Formula E Team |
|
| 14:30 – 14:50 |
Media Pen (All Drivers) |
| Friday 26 January | |
| 21:35 – 21:50 | Press Conference (Top 3) |
| 21:50 – 22:10 | Media Pen (All drivers) |
| Saturday 27 January | |
| 21:35 – 21:50 | Press Conference (Top 3) |
| 21:50 – 22:10 | Media Pen (All drivers) |
2024 DIRIYAH E-PRIX ENTRIES
2023 DIRIYAH E-PRIX RESULTS
RACE 1
| 1.Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team |
| 2 Jake Dennis | Avalanche Andretti Formula E |
| 3. Sam Bird | Jaguar TCS Racing |
RACE 2
| 1.Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team |
| 2. Jake Dennis | Avalanche Andretti Formula E |
| 3. René Rast | NEOM McLaren Formula E Team |
2024 ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
The 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Standings are available here: https://www.fia.com/events/abb-fia-formula-e-world-championship/season-2023-2024/standings