FIA Grants World Championship Status to Formula E

After entering its sixth season, the ABB FIA Formula E championship will finally be recognised as a world championship. The all-electric racing championship, will now join the racing calendar after being granted world championship status.

The FIA is largely responsible for major racing events including Formula One, the World Rally Championship and others. Now, in the 2020-21 season, Formula E will also join its ranks.

The concept of all-electric racing was first proposed in 2011, in order to promote the electric vehicle industry. However, it took until 2014 for the series to really get off the ground running. Since then, its finances grew with the organisation behind it posting record revenues of €200m in September that year.

Under a new deal signed by FIA president Jean Todt and FE founder Alejandro Agag, the series will be considered a world championship event from the 2020/2021 season.

“It was always our ambition to one day become an FIA world championship. Everything we have done and delivered to this point has been working towards this particular moment in time,” Agag said.

“Achieving the feat and being granted with FIA world championship status adds more credibility to what is already a fully-fledged formula of racing and a spectacular sporting product. But it is only the beginning of a new chapter under the banner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.”

FIA President Jean Todt noted and appreciated the fact that Formula E has gone from strength to strength. According to him, in less than 6 years, the series has become more and more relevant in the automotive industry.

With a number of major car manufacturers joining the championship, it is time that FE be taken seriously. At the start of the current season, the likes of Mercedes and Porsche joined, which was historic in itself.

This is because, this is the first time that the four big German manufacturers are competing against each other in single-seater racing. In other words, Mercedes and Porsche joined the likes of BMW and Audi.