To be a motorsport fan is to be frustrated. While few other sports can replicate the excitement of five red lights on a Sunday afternoon or render free practice a spectacle, the fickle automotive industry can leave one without a team to support at a moment’s notice.
Fans of Audi’s endurance car efforts went from the heights of a fifth consecutive Le Mans win in 2014 to the team withdrawing from LMP1 just two seasons later. Honda fans endured years of Formula 1 mediocrity only for the team to withdraw and the rebranded Brawn GP win the Constructors’ championship the next year. For fans of Formula E, as EV scepticism becomes ever more commonplace, the unknown future of the industry threatens the series itself.
The variety of EV perspectives can be seen in the winners of the 2023-24 Formula E Constructors’ and Drivers’ championships respectively. Jaguar, having taken its first title as a works team last season, has committed to an all-electric future from 2025 onwards. In contrast, Porsche announced its commitment to selling ICE Cayennes into the next decade, mere days after works driver Pascal Wehrlein won the Formula E championship. With the automotive landscape more volatile than ever, the question is: can Formula E offer a championship that appeals to constructors no matter their level of EV commitment (and how that might vary) and can this series build and retain an audience during the current surge in popularity of motorsport in general?
