"It will only last one season!" They said..
"This will be an A1 GP 2.0!" Some added.
Almost ten years later, and here we are, still talking about this Electric Championship: still getting passionate about its history, its drivers, its dramas.
Formula E is writing its own history in the world of Motorsport: a different kind of path compared to all the other series.
Ambitious, bold, sometimes controversial, Formula E have never been shy in terms of throwing crazy variables into the competition, making it as unique as it gets.
From the pioneeristic Gen 1 and its unforgettable races to the full on touring style racing of Gen 2, arriving to the modern Gen 3: Formula E is costantly changing and evolving.
This season, we'll go into the double digits
Generations of drivers and race cars have come and passed, and now we're ready to finish off this decade of Electric Racing with a historic season.
A season that will see the introduction of a huge strategic element like the Fast Charging, new drivers and revolutionized lineups, new spectacular locations like Toyko...
Are you ready?
This is the ABB Formula E Championship, this is Season 10.
JAKE DENNIS LEADS THE NEW ERA OF GEN 3
Season 9 saw a very good debut for the new generation of Electric Formulas, and, despite the early worries, it was a generally smooth season of racing!
Good, closely fought races, with two very different kind of racing scenarios based on the track layout: while on the more technical tracks the racing was more or less traditional, it was in the faster layouts like Portland or Sao Paulo that the racing went bonkers!
A new kind of racing unique to Gen 3 emerged, the so called "Pack racing", similar to what we see in Moto 3: pack of cars, even 4-5 wide going into the braking zones, using all the slipstream possible and avoiding to take the lead.
This led to spectacular fights, and also some controversies and crashes: not everyone likes this style of racing, but it undoubtly brings the action!
The championship battle was very entertaining and close till the last round: Pascal Wehrlein of Porsche started the season with two victories in a row in Diriyah and a podium finish in Mexico, and looked like the big favourite to take the first Gen 3 title.
However, things changed from India onwards: a big set of opponents emerged in the shape of Jake Dennis (andretti), Mitch Evans (Jaguar), Nick Cassidy (Envision) & Jean Eric Vergne (DS).
These drivers and teams stepped up the game while Wehrlein started to suffer multiple DNF's and difficult races, often affected by Porsche's struggles in qualifying.
Coming into the last few rounds of the season, only four drivers were still in mathematical contention with Jake Dennis leading Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans by over 20 points, all of those drivers with multiple wins, while Wehrlein was only theoretically still in the title fight, but nearly 50 points behind.
The battle of London took place in the ExCel scenery, and it was Jake Dennis of Andretti Porsche who made the most of the season finale: Cassidy tried to fight him in the first race, the two duelled on track before Cassidy took damage while fighting wheel to wheel with teammate Buemi:
It was the end of the Championship Fight for him, and triumph for the englishman Jake Dennis, for the joy of team boss Michael Andretti.
It was the end of the Championship Fight for him, and triumph for the englishman Jake Dennis, for the joy of team boss Michael Andretti.
AND NOW? THE CHALLENGES OF SEASON 10
What can we expect now, going into Season 10?
Well, the baseline of the cars will remain the same as S9, but the teams will now have a full year of experience on the Gen 3 machinery, so they can find new room for improvement and ways to maximize performance.
The pecking order of S10 could be different than S9, every season have its story.
The big, most important change in the racing format compared to S9 is the official introduction of the Fast Charge Pit Stops.
A game changer for Formula E, a technology that's been in the works for years now and was already set to be introduced last season, but the Series and the Teams agreed to postpone its introduction to the start of S10.
But what we'll see with the "Attack Charge" format?
There are still no official answers to that: however the most likely scenario is that we'll see the cars entering pit-lane during the race (there will be a specific window and drivers can't do that during SC or VSC), for a 30 sec pit, where they can recharge the battery till a certain amount to comeback to the track with higher power and speed compared to the competition.
A big strategic element, that could really change the face of the serie!
THE SEASON 10 OFFICIAL LINEUP
The lineup of Season 10 will see a bunch of interesting new stories, new faces and big returnees.
It was one hell of a silly season!
Biggest story of the Silly Season market is for sure Season 7 champion, Nyck De Vries, making a comeback to the serie after his brief F1 stint in Alpha Tauri.
But it won't be a comeback in a top team, on the contrary it will be a return to the serie in the worst team of Season 9, Mahindra Racing
A new challenge for the S7 champ, that will have to re-ignite his Formula E career, alongside another new face for Mahindra, swissman Edoardo Mortara.
Andretti choses frenchman Norman Nato to replace Andrè Lotterer: Nato will be alongside Jake Dennis, S9 champion, forming a very strong pair for the Michael Andretti's squad.
BIG move from S9 runner-up Nick Cassidy: he'll jump into Jaguar, partnering with Mitch Evans in pheraps FE's strongest lineup.
BIG move from S9 runner-up Nick Cassidy: he'll jump into Jaguar, partnering with Mitch Evans in pheraps FE's strongest lineup.
Another big change at Maserati: with Mortara going to Mahindra, the italian squad choses indian Jehan Daruvala to partner with Max Gunther for 2024.
Another big story involved Sam Bird: english veteran of the series and many times runner up in the championship fights.
Bird leaves Jaguar after years of commitment to take a seat in McLaren, alongside the confirmed Jake Hughes.
A very strong pair, can Bird challenge for the title with the Papaya colours?
Other drivers news, Nissan welcomes back Oliver Rowland after a not very convincing stint at Mahindra, while Formula E legend Lucas Di Grassi returns to his origins by signing with ABT, his first ever FE team.
Can he bring ABT back to the title fight, like in the good old days?
How romantic!
Envision-Jaguar: Sébastien Buemi - Robin Frijns
Porsche: Antonio Felix da Costa – Pascal Wehrlein
Jaguar: Mitch Evans – Nick Cassidy
Andretti-Porsche: Jake Dennis – Norman Nato
DS Penske: Stoffel Vandoorne – Jean-Eric Vergne
Maserati: Maximilian Günther – Jehan Daruvala (Rookie)
McLaren-Nissan: Jake Hughes – Sam Bird
Nissan: Sacha Fenestraz – Oliver Rowland
Nio333: Sergio Sette Câmara – Dan Ticktum
Mahindra: Nyck de Vries – Edoardo Mortara
Abt Cupra Mahindra: Nico Müller – Lucas di Grassi
THE SEASON 10 CALENDAR
Season 10 calendar will be made official after the World's Motorsport council of October 19th
However, the latest draft of the calendar includes 17 races, from January to July.
Starting from Mexico City on January 13th, the serie will reach Diriyah for the traditional night double header on January 26 and 27th.
February 10th and 24th are still TBD dates: the latest rumors suggests that one of those two can be a race in India, while Cape Town appears to be unlikely.
In March we'll see the second Sao Paulo e-prix on March 16th, before the debut of Formula E in the streets of Tokyo on March 30th, wich will be the very first FE race in Japan! 
On April there will be the traditional Italian double Header, this season it won't be in Rome but in another location still yet to be decided.
That's before reaching Monaco for the spectacular Montecarlo e-Prix.
That's before reaching Monaco for the spectacular Montecarlo e-Prix.
In May there will be the two classic races at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, before another reaching Shanghai for the Chinese e-Prix, brand new venue on a shortened version of the F1 track.
After the success of last season, Portland will be held on June 26!
The grand finale will be once again in London, at the ExCel Center, on July 20th and 21th.
PRE SEASON TESTING IS AROUND THE CORNER!
Pre-Season testing is almost here!
Less than two weeks to go for the Season 10 to get go in the Ricardo Tormo circuit of Valencia: three days of testing, from October 23 to 27th, with the last day of testing being open to the Fans!
Testing is always an exciting time of the season: first chance to see the new cars in action, speculate on the laptimes and how imagine the pecking order will change compared to the previous season.
Also, the Attack Charge format will be tested during the traditional race simulation, so an extra element of interest this year.
*this is the DS Penske livery for S10, unveiled earlier this week! Looking glorious!
Edited by thegamer23, 21 October 2023 - 09:50.
