Formula E at the Goodwood Festival of Speed: Who's driving, what to expect, and more

Credit: Formula E

Formula E will showcase its wide array of machinery at the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed, the annual event set to take place from Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12 once again around the historic Goodwood Estate facility.

The event will also feature several full-time Formula E drivers taking turns to drive the cars up the hill at Goodwood, including home favourite Dan Ticktum, double world champion Jean-Éric Vergne, former McLaren driver Sam Bird and Gen4 ambassador James Rossiter in tow at the facility this weekend.

Additionally, they will be joined by reserves across teams, with Mahindra set to field ART F2 racer Kush Maini alongside new Test and Development Driver Chloe Chambers for the weekend. Jaguar are set to field AIX Racing's Formula 3 driver Fernando Barrichello to drive the new Gen4 machine on all the days of the Festival of Speed.

But this is just a shadow of what is set to unfold this weekend.

What's on: Formula E at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

A special moment will see the all-electric championship showcase and run all four iterations of the Formula E car side-by-side at the iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thursday's schedule will see recent Shanghai E-Prix winner Lucas di Grassi reunited with the Gen1 machine, a cornerstone of his success in the championship, as he will pilot the car on the day.

He will be joined by Rossiter, who will drive the DS Techeetah Gen2 machine from Season 5 of the championship, while Chambers will pilot the Mahindra Gen3 machine on the day. Joining them will be Ticktum in the Gen4 machine, while Barrichello will take over the wheel of the Jaguar-liveried Gen4 car on the day.

Friday's schedule sees Nissan reserve and TV pundit Bird take over the wheel of the Gen1 car, while Vergne gets reunited with his championship-winning machine from the Gen2 era, fresh off his podium in the Shanghai E-Prix weekend.

The schedule remains the same elsewhere, with Chambers, Barrichello and Ticktum all piloting the other three entries in the festival.

Maini will take over the wheel of the Mahindra Gen3 machine on Saturday and Sunday, while Rossiter returns to the DS Techeetah machine. Jaguar's Gen4 machine does not featuring on the schedule, which remains unchanged for the rest of the weekend, as Bird and Ticktum remain in their respective activities over the weekend.

Why Formula E being at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is massive

For a championship that has rapidly evolved over the years, the Gen4 era is a ground-breaking leap into the future. The new car features upto 600 kW of power in attack mode, with up to 700 kW of regenerative braking, apart from coming through with high and low-downforce aerodynamic modes.

Formula E has been taking several steps in order to boost the image of the upcoming Gen4 era, including a show lap by David Coulthard in the Gen4 machine at Monaco that caught the former F1 racer out too.

Several others on the current grid were in attendance that weekend, including Gabriel Bortoleto, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg, with each one of them reflecting positively on the future of the championship.

The recent announcement of its upcoming calendar for the Gen4 era also generated plenty of hype, with Formula E heading to Zandvoort and the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in 2027, two venues currently hosting F1.

Participating at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is another major way for the championship to boost its coverage of the upcoming season, with show runs demonstrating the power of the car and its sheer abilities, as well as giving an impression of just how much Formula E has evolved over the course of the last decade.

With teams putting up stalls and a turnout of over 150,000 fans across the four days, there's no doubt the Goodwood Festival of Speed presents a prime opportunity for the all-electric championship to market itself, and give motorsport fans a look into the future.

Do stay tuned to find out how Formula E fares at the four-day festival, and its exhibition of growth in performance and its evolution gets tracked and is visible to all the fans visiting the Goodwood Festival of Speed!