For a change, this blog won’t be on the topic of Formula 1. However, I’m not straying too far from the sport, this time sharing some thoughts on the inaugural Formula E season.
The grid for the up-coming first campaign, which will take place between September 2014 and June 2015, is starting to take shape with the first two drivers being announced.
The confirmation that Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt will race for the German ABT Sportsline team followed an announcement of eight new racers in the Drivers’ Club. This is simply a collection of 24 top drivers who have expressed an interest in competing in the new FIA singe-seater series in the future.
On Wednesday, the remaining eight drivers were announced – joining an already exciting list.
Former Toro Rosso F1 driver and Pirelli tyre development driver Jamie Alguersuari is the first of the eight to be added; a promising young Spaniard who was dropped by the Red Bull junior team at the end of 2011 despite doing a respectable job.
Next up is Nicolas Minassian, who was previously a Peugeot factory driver and has stood on the Le Mans 24 Hours podium. Alex Brundle, son of former F1 racer and Sky F1 pundit Martin, has also joined the club. The Brit previously raced in single seaters before switching to sportscars.
For F1 fans, the next two drivers may be familiar – Robert Doornbos and Christian Klien. The former had brief stints at Red Bull and Minardi before moving to open-wheel racing in the USA. Klien’s F1 career lasted a little while longer, racing for Jaguar and Red Bull and most recently competed for HRT in three rounds of the 2010 championship.
Moving swiftly on to Conor Daly, an incredibly talented racer who last year competed in GP2, GP3, IndyCar and tested for the Force India F1 Team. The American certainly deserves a seat in any of the three series mentioned above.
Katherine Legge is the only female driver in the Formula E Drivers’ Club and previously raced in DTM and IndyCar. The last of the eight new drivers is Ben Collins, best known as the former ‘Stig’ on Top Gear for over eight years before eventually letting the cat out of the bag.
These eight racers join an already impressive list:
However, we can already remove Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt from the Drivers’ Club as they have already secured drivers for the inaugural season, as mentioned previously.
The Brazilian, who competed in Formula 1 for Virgin Racing (now Marussia) in 2010, used to be one of the test drivers for the series but left the role after it was confirmed that testers would not be eligible to compete in Formula E.
Meanwhile Abt will race in the GP2 series this year as well as competing in Formula E. The announcement of his signing comes as no surprise, as his father Hans-Jürgen Abt is ABT Sportsline’s owner and CEO.
As mentioned in a blog piece that I posted late last year - entitled “Formula E: Flat battery or full charge?” – I’m really looking forward to seeing what the new series has to offer.
It is great to see so many high-profile drivers from Formula 1 and other well-known motorsport categories taking notice of the sport and expressing their interest in potentially competing.
If some of these big names can secure drivers at the remaining nine teams, then it will not only benefit the on-track action but it will also help to promoting Formula E, giving it more exposure and helping the series to gain a fanbase.
I will certainly be keeping a close eye on how Formula E and its grid develops over the next few months, ahead of the first ever round of the all-electric series on the streets of Beijing.
 |
| © FIA Formula E |
The confirmation that Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt will race for the German ABT Sportsline team followed an announcement of eight new racers in the Drivers’ Club. This is simply a collection of 24 top drivers who have expressed an interest in competing in the new FIA singe-seater series in the future.
 |
| © FIA Formula E |
Next up is Nicolas Minassian, who was previously a Peugeot factory driver and has stood on the Le Mans 24 Hours podium. Alex Brundle, son of former F1 racer and Sky F1 pundit Martin, has also joined the club. The Brit previously raced in single seaters before switching to sportscars.
For F1 fans, the next two drivers may be familiar – Robert Doornbos and Christian Klien. The former had brief stints at Red Bull and Minardi before moving to open-wheel racing in the USA. Klien’s F1 career lasted a little while longer, racing for Jaguar and Red Bull and most recently competed for HRT in three rounds of the 2010 championship.
Moving swiftly on to Conor Daly, an incredibly talented racer who last year competed in GP2, GP3, IndyCar and tested for the Force India F1 Team. The American certainly deserves a seat in any of the three series mentioned above.
Katherine Legge is the only female driver in the Formula E Drivers’ Club and previously raced in DTM and IndyCar. The last of the eight new drivers is Ben Collins, best known as the former ‘Stig’ on Top Gear for over eight years before eventually letting the cat out of the bag.
These eight racers join an already impressive list:
- Daniel Abt (GER)
- Christijan Albers (NLD)
- Marco Andretti (USA)
- Sébastien Bourdais (FRA)
- Sebastien Buemi (CHE)
- Karun Chandhok (IND)
- John R. Hildebrand Jr. (USA)
- Ma Qing Hua (CHN)
- Narain Karthikeyan (IND)
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)
- Franck Montagny (FRA)
- Takuma Sato (JPN)
- Bruno Senna (BRA)
- Oriol Servia (ESP)
- Adrien Tambay (FRA)
 |
| © FIA Formula E |
The Brazilian, who competed in Formula 1 for Virgin Racing (now Marussia) in 2010, used to be one of the test drivers for the series but left the role after it was confirmed that testers would not be eligible to compete in Formula E.
Meanwhile Abt will race in the GP2 series this year as well as competing in Formula E. The announcement of his signing comes as no surprise, as his father Hans-Jürgen Abt is ABT Sportsline’s owner and CEO.
As mentioned in a blog piece that I posted late last year - entitled “Formula E: Flat battery or full charge?” – I’m really looking forward to seeing what the new series has to offer.
It is great to see so many high-profile drivers from Formula 1 and other well-known motorsport categories taking notice of the sport and expressing their interest in potentially competing.
If some of these big names can secure drivers at the remaining nine teams, then it will not only benefit the on-track action but it will also help to promoting Formula E, giving it more exposure and helping the series to gain a fanbase.
I will certainly be keeping a close eye on how Formula E and its grid develops over the next few months, ahead of the first ever round of the all-electric series on the streets of Beijing.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.