NEW CITIES ADD GLOBAL APPEAL

The start of the 2022 season has an incredible sense of Formula E familiarity, as time-tested circuits flood the first half of the season. Diriyah, Mexico City, Rome, Monaco and Berlin are well-known locales, of which all are capable of delivering unpredictable races. The season’s second half, however, brings the series into new ground. Jakarta hosts Indonesia’s first E-prix in June in the northern Ancol area of the city, while Vancouver and Seoul also get races in July and August respectively.

Vancouver brings Canada back to the calendar for the first time since 2017’s Montreal doubleheader and will use parts of the circuit previously employed by Champ Car (above) prior to its departure from the schedule at the end of 2004.

After two cancellations owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul is pencilled in as the season finale – South Korea’s first international motorsport event since the 2013 Korean Grand Prix. Unlike the F1 race at the much-maligned Yeongam circuit, hosting a race in the middle of Seoul should remove the logistical issues that made the grands prix so sparsely attended. The circuit is expected to make use of Seoul’s Olympic Stadium in the Songpa district.

Following the world’s tentative steps out of the pandemic’s stranglehold, it’s refreshing to have new venues back on the agenda rather than the collection of stopgaps. New York and London also punctuate the end-of-season run of events prior to the Seoul climax, as Formula E continues to host races in the world’s biggest cities.