FIA: Formula E now a world championship racing series

It has already been six years and six seasons of racing for Formula E. But despite its track record, it has yet to be recognized to be on a world championship status...until now.

Recently, the FIA World Motor Sport Council has awarded full world championship status to Formula E starting in the 2020/2021 season. With it, the racing series will soon be recognized as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

FIA president Jean Todt, along with Formula E Founder and Chairman Alejandro Agag, finalized the agreement together at the FIA Headquarters in Paris, France. For Todt, the creation and development of the all-electric racing series has been quite the adventure. Todt added that ever since the first race was held in Beijing back in 2014, Formula E has proven that the concept of cutting-edge electric racing actually works.

“Within a short timeframe, the series has proven itself relevant for the automotive industry with two more major car manufacturers having joined the series at the start of the current season, bringing their total number to ten. The commitment and professionalism of those manufacturers and their respective teams is mirrored in the quality of the driver roster which has improved with every season,” said Todt.

As for Agag, it was always their ambition for Formula E to one day become a world championship racing series. “Everything we have done and delivered to this point has been working towards this particular moment in time. 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. This agreement and announcement truly puts Formula E in the top tier of international single-seater racing,” Agag said.

With its world championship status, Formula E now serves as the FIA's fifth world championship racing series. Beginning with its 7th season, Formula E joins the ranks of other prestigious motorsport competition which include Formula 1 (F1), World Rally Championship (WRC), World Endurance Championship (WEC), and World Rallycross Championship (World RX).

In addition, the sport continues to gain momentum as more major manufacturers join the racing series. BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz are now competing against Audi, Jaguar, DS Automobiles, NIO, Penske, Nissan, as well as Mahindra Racing.

As it now stands alongside F1, WRC, WEC and World RX, you can expect to see more action, racing drama, as well as more manufacturers join the all-electric competition that is Formula E.