ANALYSIS: Five takeaways from Formula E’s Gen4 calendar
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Formula E unveiled a grand, 21-race calendar on Tuesday morning, the longest in the championship’s history. A total of 13 weekends will play host to the new Gen4 Formula E cars in 2027, with the first race at Jeddah in December 2026, and the season set to conclude in Tokyo in July the following year.
Alongside the 17 circuits from Season 12, Formula E will also be heading to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for a second American race weekend. At the same time, the British round on the calendar will now take place at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit, replacing London’s ExCel Arena.
Additionally, Formula E’s Gen4 cars will make their way into Holland for the first-ever Formula E races in Zandvoort in June 2027, a showpiece event headlining Season 13!
But what are the biggest takeaways from Formula E’s new calendar? DIVEBOMB delves into five major talking points from the championship’s latest calendar.
A near 50-50 split in permanent circuits and street tracks for Formula E's Gen4 era
Formula E has made it no stranger to being ambitious to head to more permanent road courses in the longer term. While the Gen3 era opened up opportunities to head to traditional venues, it could well be Formula E’s Gen4 era that sees it shed the infamous monicker of being a street circuit championship.
While Formula E’s past visits to permanent road courses such as Valencia, when it famously got its energy calculations wrong and saw only nine drivers finish, or the infamous peloton-style races in Misano and Portland weren't unanimously praised, a wave of optimism beckons for the upcoming Gen4 era of Formula E.
The new venues of Austin, Zandvoort and Brands Hatch join the quartet of permanent circuits already on Formula E’s calendar, alongside Mexico City, Shanghai, Jarama and Miami. With Formula E’s new E-Prix Unleashed format featuring shorter 30-minute races on double headers alongside the traditional E-Prix, wider racetracks at these venues could open up more opportunities to overtake, and even allow for faster, flat-out races.
Formula E’s attempt at an even split down the permanent and street courses bodes well for the long term future of the series. Success on permanent venues could open up more opportunities to race at some iconic venues, and for Formula E to become a larger product drawing sizeable audiences to a road course.
Exploring the limits has been a factor that has always been on Formula E’s agenda, and the Gen4 era now serves as the perfect launch pad for Formula E’s ambitions to grow its profile.
“We are delighted to support the expansion of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar into key markets such as the USA, as well as on circuits that we believe will truly showcase the dynamic capabilities of the new GEN4 car,” said Marek Nawarecki, Director, FIA Circuit Sport Department, on the new calendar.
While the permanent circuit could showcase the true speed of Formula E’s shiny new machine, it also remains to be seen how the street circuits suit the qualities of the Gen4 car. While you’d expect the likes of Jeddah, Berlin and Monaco to favour the new generation of car more, a significant number of eyeballs will fall onto narrower circuits such as Sanya, Tokyo and São Paulo, to see how the new Gen4 car suits these types of venues.
An evenly-distributed calendar would have been a far fetched claim for Formula E’s ambitious standards a few years ago. For instance, the calendar in Season 8 featured only one permanent road course in Mexico City, with 10 other venues being street circuits, while the first season of the Gen3 era in 2023 featured two permanent and nine street courses.
Should the Gen4 car pass it’s first test in Season 13, there’s no doubt you could see many more venues staking their claim to host Formula E in seasons to come!
Zandvoort and Austin signal Formula E's ambitions
When the calendar was first announced, there was no doubt several eyes quickly locked onto the two races at the Zandvoort circuit, slated for 18 and 19 June, 2027.
Formula E has always chased opportunities to host a race on the seaside venue, and proposals to host races at the Dutch venue even materialised as early as last year. It almost serves as a perfect transfer of power, with Formula One last hosting the Dutch Grand Prix at the venue later this summer, and Formula E taking over as the premier single-seater series at the venue from 2027.
More notably, though, the Dutch event on Formula E’s Gen4 calendar will be a night event, with the Formula E Unleashed race taking place on Friday, 18th June. It’s hard not to imagine Formula E going all in to maximise their first go at Zandvoort, with the shorter, 30-minute race scheduled to commence at 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT), over four hours later compared to Formula E's traditional race starting times.
A possible motive behind this could be to catch the eyeballs of a working class audience who would complete work, return home and be able to catch a short Formula E race to kick off the weekend. Although, hosting a race weekend on Friday and Saturday also allows a longer window for teams and drivers to make the long, nearly 1800-km journey down to Madrid for the following week's race.
There is no doubt Zandvoort would need to put up the adequate lighting infrastructure to host a night race. Although, Formula E definitely aims to maximise on Zandvoort being hailed as a pioneer in sustainability, and the festival aspect of the seaside town to drive home the feeling of a showpiece, big-ticket event.
Formula E has also opted for a shorter layout, retaining the circuit's major characteristic banked corners along the way, in order to suit the Gen4 car's characteristics.
On the other hand, Austin will also mark the second Formula E event in the USA in 2027, taking place at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on February 6th. It marks the third race weekend of the season, appearing before the Miami weekend on February 20th.
It also marks the first time since the inaugural season in 2014 for the all-electric championship to have two standalone American events, when Miami and Long Beach hosted the championship.
Several venues such as Phoenix, Laguna Seca and Austin were in consideration, before Formula E settled on the latter for its first Gen4 season.
However, this comes with a caveat: The all-electric championship will not use the full Grand Prix layout used by F1; instead using the shorter, NASCAR layout and a shorter version of the long back straight for their championship.
Both the weekends will be followed eagerly by the Formula E fraternity, as well as others looking to bring Formula E to their venues in future seasons!
Jarama gets a double header (and potentially more?)
Away from the novelty factor, the biggest change among existing circuits is the addition of a second race to the Madrid E-Prix weekend, converting the Spanish event into a double header.
It’s no secret that Formula E’s first weekend around the Jarama circuit was a resounding success, with several high-profile dignitaries in attendance (including His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain), and the news of a sell-out crowd breaking through a week before the race weekend got underway.
The country has always been a home to Formula E, hosting pre-season testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia and Jarama, but the arrival of Cupra Kiro’s Pepe Martí was arguably a big moment in drawing more local crowd into the circuit.
This goes without mentioning the circuit in itself, a real test for all the drivers with its sweeping corners, elevation changes and tricky braking zones. A wet qualifying caught out several drivers braking too late into the circuit’s long corners, while the race later on provided scintillating overtaking and a last-lap dash for the podium.
Jarama arguably established the pinnacle of a near-perfect Formula E event, the best way for Formula E to redeem itself after a controversial Valencia E-Prix in 2021. The reward came in the form of hosting pre-season testing for Season 13, this time as a first-choice, along with the status of a double header.
There could also be more action on the weekend, with Jarama having hosted Formula E’s annual Rookie Test in 2026, and may well be in the running to do so again in 2027. However, nothing is official on this topic just yet.
Brands Hatch - The new British home for Formula E
Heading into the Gen4 era, only one aspect of Formula E’s British weekend remained certain: London’s ExCel Arena stood little chance of returning to host a race.
The indoor-outdoor street circuit had its advantages, in terms of unpredictability and the novelty of being one of its kind. However, several sections of the track wouldn’t be suitable for the acceleration and speeds of the Gen4 car, with the section between Turns 3 and 4 emerging as one of those spots of concern.
Formula E has never been to a permanent road course in the UK, with its past visits being to the Battersea Park in London back in Seasons 1 and 2, before the ExCel Arena was pencilled in to host Formula E until the end of the Gen3 era in 2026.
With what is arguably the most lucrative spot on the calendar opening up, Formula E could bank on an array of road courses in the UK to call its new home. However, Silverstone and Brands Hatch emerged front runners, due to proximity from capital city London and the prestige of the venues.
With Silverstone already hosting F1 and its feeder series in the summer, and the World Endurance Championship earlier in the spring, Formula E opted to head towards a venue and maintain the spotlight, closer to the capital city, with Brands Hatch emerging as a prime alternative here.
An old-school track that hosted F1 in the past, it matches Formula E’s desire to head to historical venues and bring a new lease of life to them. Furthermore, Formula E would utilise the full Grand Prix layout, fitting to the traits of the Gen4 car.
The venue in Kent, which currently hosts GB3, GB4, Ginetta Juniors, a round on the GT World Challenge Europe and a whole host of British-spec events will now sport a new look, as sleek electric cars take on the iconic Paddock Hill Bend, Druids corner, and the infield section through the greenery.
Stability on the calendar - but not without complications!
In a major show of confidence, all 17 rounds from the Gen3 Evo’s final season in 2026 return for Season 13.
This also includes the Sanya E-Prix, which will now feature as a standalone flyaway event in April before the gruelling 10-race European leg. The event is a part of Formula E’s desire to invest long-term in China and tap into the booming Chinese electric automobile market.
With Sanya being a holiday destination, it allows Formula E to market itself as a global series racing at a wide variety of venues.
Jeddah moves up to become the first weekend of the season on December 18 and 19. This change comes about as a result of Formula E looking for a prime slot on the motorsport calendar to launch its Gen4 era, and avoiding a clash with Formula One’s season finale weekend.
With São Paulo moving away from early December, and the carnival at the Sambadrome in February 2027, the Brazilian event at the venue shifts into March, having hosted Formula E back in 2023 and 2024.
Formula E will face two intense periods during its European stage, with only a week’s gap between Monaco and Berlin E-Prix in April, as well as Zandvoort and Jarama in June, while the Shanghai and Tokyo E-Prix double headers make up the final rounds of Season 13.
In the event of any change in the regional situation of the Middle East, Jeddah could potentially move to a window in the spring, with Mexico City then opening the Gen4 era in January.
Another curveball for drivers and teams to negotiate is Formula E’s clash with the World Endurance Championship. The Monaco E-Prix weekend in May clashes with the 6 Hours of Imola, while the penultimate weekend in Shanghai overlaps with the 6 Hours of Interlagos in July, potentially forcing drivers with dual programmes to choose between Formula E and the WEC at critical moments of the season.
Formula E Calendar: Season 13
Jeddah E-Prix (x2) - December 18 - 19, 2026
Mexico City E-Prix: January 16, 2027
Austin (COTA): February 6, 2027
Miami: February 20, 2027
São Paulo: March 13, 2027
Sanya: April 17, 2027
Berlin (x2): May 8 - 9, 2027
Monaco (x2): May 15-16, 2027
Brands Hatch (x2): May 29-30, 2027
Zandvoort (x2): June 18 - 19, 2027
Jarama (x2): June 26 - 27, 2027
Shanghai (x2): July 10 - 11, 2027
Tokyo (x2): July 24 - 25, 2027
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