RIYADH: The provisional calendar for Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, unveiled on Tuesday, confirms a return to Diriyah early next year and reveals the event’s longest season, with the largest number of races and locations to date.
It once again includes a race double-header in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14-15. This will be the seventh time the Kingdom has been part of the Formula E championship and the races will take place on a new track in Diriyah, the precise details of which will be announced later.
The 11th season of the pioneering all-electric racing event will for the first time consist of 17 races at 11 locations. In addition to the new track in Diriyah, the provisional calendar, subject to validation by the FIA World Motorsport Council, reveals a new race location in Miami; a double-header of races in Monaco, marking a first for the principality in any motorsport championship; a double-header in Tokyo; and the return of Jakarta to the calendar.
“For Season 11 we’re taking electric racing to the next level and doing things that have never been done before in motorsport,” said Jeff Dodds, the CEO of Formula E.
“Our world-leading GEN3 EVO will debut in front of hundreds of millions of fans around the globe, while adding two brand new locations and combinations of double-headers to grow our sport further.
“The new and improved calendar offers a perfect blend of circuits for drivers to push their upgraded cars to the limit, while staying true to our street-racing DNA and the on-track action it produces.”
The Season 11 campaign will begin in Sao Paulo on Dec. 7, following preseason testing from Nov. 4-7 in Valencia, as the all-new GEN3 EVO race car — capable of going from 0-60 mph in just 1.82 seconds, 36 percent faster than the current GEN3 vehicles — is put through its paces and tested in public for the first time.
The new circuit in Diriyah will host the first double-header of the season, and on April 12 the championship returns to Miami for the first time since the first season, at the Homestead-Miami Speedway venue, which has hosted NASCAR and IndyCar races for decades.
Monaco will will host back-to-back races on the full Circuit de Monaco for the first time, and following the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix in March this year, for which public roads in the world’s most populous city were closed for an automotive event for the first time, it will host a double header of races on May 17 and 18.
Jakarta returns to the calendar after a one-year hiatus, and the season will conclude with a double-header finale at ExCeL London. One location is yet to be confirmed, as final discussions with a new venue continue ahead of final confirmation of the calendar following the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council Meeting.
“We’re thrilled to offer a calendar with some fresh new highlights while building on our legacy locations,” said Alberto Longo, co-founder and chief championship officer of Formula E.
“Returning to Miami gives us a home in one of the US’s most iconic and sports-mad cities, while securing a double-header in Monaco is a dream come true. We can’t wait to build on the success of Tokyo and deliver a double-header, while returning to Jakarta and entertaining our huge Indonesian fanbase, too.
“With 17 races across the season and our most advanced race car debuting on-track, we’re offering our fans cutting-edge sport we could only have hoped for when founding the championship just over 10 years ago.”
Marek Nawarecki, director of the FIA Circuit Sport Department, said: “The 2024-25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar features a range of circuits that will truly showcase the qualities of the brand new GEN3 EVO car, set to be introduced next season.
“I’m glad that Formula E capitalizes on the success of the Tokyo and Shanghai races while also returning to some of its iconic venues and retaining a good amount of street circuits, which is in its core DNA. I’m also hopeful that this new season will again play host to some fascinating action on track.”
Formula E Season 11 calendar reveals return to Saudi Arabia at new circuit
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Formula E Season 11 calendar reveals return to Saudi Arabia at new circuit
- The electric car event’s longest championship season to date will include 17 races at 11 locations
- The Kingdom will host races in Diriyah for a seventh time on Feb. 14-15 on a new track, details of which are yet to be announced
Lategan leads the Dakar, champion Al-Rajhi withdraws
- Lategan, last year’s overall runner-up, took his fifth career stage win and led Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah by three minutes and 55 seconds
ALULA, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s Dakar Rally champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi declared an end to his title defense and withdrew on Wednesday as South African Henk Lategan dominated the fourth stage for Toyota and took over at the top.
Al-Rajhi had been struggling from the start in his customer entry Toyota Hilux, and was already 19th when he withdrew with technical issues 234km into the 452km part of a two-day marathon stage around AlUla.
“Sadly, our Dakar 2026 journey ends here,” he posted on Facebook. “We’ll come back stronger next year.”
The Saudi explained later that he had lost half an hour with two punctures and, with nearly half the stage remaining until the bivouac and having to go slow with no further spare available, had called it a day.
It ended a difficult year for the Saudi since he won last year, with Al-Rajhi crashing in Jordan last April and breaking two vertebrae. He returned to competition only in September.
Lategan, last year’s overall runner-up, took his fifth career stage win and led Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah by three minutes and 55 seconds.
“Yesterday, we had a total of nine punctures. It’s unbelievable. I think that’s a record in three days. I was lost,” the factory Toyota driver said, his happiness tempered by missing his son’s sixth birthday.
“I didn’t know what to do on the rocks, whether to slow down or not, attack or not. Today I decided to forget all that and just go for it. It’s a lottery anyway.”
Al-Attiyah, a five-times Dakar winner now with the Dacia Sandriders team, was second in the stage — more than seven minutes behind Lategan — to move up from 10th overnight.
“We did a good job, we’re here, and I think we didn’t lose too much time. It might even be good for our start position tomorrow,” he said.
“We didn’t need to push any harder; we’re still some way back. The car is in good condition and we’re happy.”
Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom was in third place overall with teammate and four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz fourth and nearly 16 minutes off the lead.
Ford’s overnight leader Mitch Guthrie of the US dropped to 13th.
In the motorcycle category, Spaniard Tosha Schareina took the lead for Honda from Australia’s defending champion Daniel Sanders, who dropped to third on his KTM. American Ricky Brabec was second.
Schareina and Brabec finished the stage in a Honda one-two-three with American Skyler Howes third and Sanders fifth.
“I made some silly mistakes in the navigation. After the refuel, I tried to push and make up time,” said Sanders.
“I felt better in the last half. The bike’s okay. There was a lot of rocks. I tried to protect my tires. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
