After four months on charge, the FIA Formula E World Championship is back and Motorsport Week has you covered for everything you need to know ahead of the São Paulo E-Prix.
Tag Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein arrives in Brazil with #1 on his car and with every hope of successfully defending his World Championship, won in dramatic style in London in July.
As ever, competition will be fraught and the racing is expected to be as unpredictable and box office worthy, with the Jaguar TCS Racing pair of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans desperate to overcome their last-round disappointment and try and go one better.
Motorsport Week’s FE Driver of the Year, Oliver Rowland, heads-up the Nissan squad and hopes to take the momentum from the Japanese marque’s successful Season 10 and take his first title.
There are new faces and new teams on the grid, with ERT now American-licensed team Kiro Race Co, as well as the famous Lola name making its long-awaited return to top-level motorsport alongside Yamaha and existing FE constructor ABT.
Both teams boast a rookie in David Beckmann and Zane Maloney respectively. Beckmann, Porsche’s reserve driver, will take Sergio Sette Camara’s seat at Kiro alongside Dan Ticktum, with Maloney lining-up alongside FE veteran Lucas di Grassi at Lola. Whilst Beckmann and Ticktum are yet to be officially announced by Kiro, both men appear on the official FIA entry list.
NEOM McLaren’s Season 10 super-sub Taylor Barnard steps into the papaya team full-time alongside Sam Bird, with outgoing driver Jake Hughes lining-up at Maserati MSG Racing alongside Season 8 champion Stoffel Vandoorne, who swaps seats with Maximilian Günther, who joins DS Penske.
Nico Müller supplements his new role as a Porsche Motorsport works driver by joining customer team Andretti, with Norman Nato exiting the American outfit to rejoin Nissan alongside Rowland.
The circuit
The Anhembi Sambadrome hosts the São Paulo E-Prix for the third time. At 1.8 miles, the circuit is comprised on 11 turns, with three long straights. The venue also played host to the São Paulo Indy 300 four times. The majority of the corners are low-speed, with turns nine and 10 the fastest.
In Season 10, Attack Mode was situated at turn three and the race lasted 31 laps with an additional three added.
Last time out
Who could forget the last instalment of this race?
A close and fast-paced peloton style race would be timed to perfection by Bird, who made a stunning last-ditch pass on Evans at turn 10 on the final lap to take his first FE win in nearly two years, and the first in the series for the McLaren team, the finish perhaps one of the most memorable in FE history.
Rowland made a final dash of his own, entering the final corner in fifth, but got enough acceleration on the exit to overtake both Jake Dennis and Wehrlein to take the final podium position.
When and where to watch
FP1 commences at 16: 30 [19:30] on Friday 6th, with FP2 starting at 07:30 [10:30] on Saturday 7th.
Qualifying takes place at 09:40 [12:40], with lights out at 14:05 [17:05].
In the UK, the race will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and, more importantly for the majority of FE fans, free-to-air on ITV4 and ITVX, with coverage beginning at 16:00.
Weather
The weather forecast in São Paulo is looking decidedly wet, with a potential break in the rain around 3pm local time. The severity of the conditions may determine the time the race will start. The temperature will teeter around the 30 degree mark.
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