Calendar and team changes for 2016/2017 season in Formula E

In the heat of the battle for the hard fought 2015/2016 title fight, Formula E saw presentations of the teams for the next season being made, and this came alongside the presentation of a revamped calendar for the next season, which will include an expansion in the number of races.

The calendar for the next season will have 14 rounds instead of the current 10 races, with two double-headers finishing the season. Out is Beijing as season opener and Hong Kong gets in with a race in its port section. The Asian trip down to Putrajaya, Malaysia, will become a trip to Africa, as Marrakech, Morocco, will hold round 2 and the last race of 2016. After that is the Buenos Aires/Mexico City combo crossing the Americas, with the Mexican round moved to April. No city was selected for round 5, so from this point is finally time to step into Europe, starting with Monaco and then going to Paris and Berlin, to then see another TBA in the calendar. The final European round will be held at Brussels, Belgium, and the final portion of the season will occur in North America, with the mentioned double-headers taking place at Montreal and then New York.

Rd 1 - Hong Kong ePrix - October 9

Rd 2 - Marrakech ePrix - November 12

FIA Electric Mobility Forum - Las Vegas - January 7

Rd 3 - Buenos Aires ePrix - February 18

Rd 4 - Mexico City ePrix - April 1

Rd 5 - TBA - April 22

Rd 6 - Monaco ePrix - May 13

Rd 7 - Paris ePrix - May 20

Rd 8 - Berlin ePrix - June 10

Rd 9 - TBA - June 24

Rd 10 - Brussels ePrix - July 1

Rd 11 - Montreal ePrix - July 15

Rd 12 - Montreal ePrix - July 16

Rd 13 - New York ePrix - July 29

Rd 14 - New York ePrix - July 30

Also, the teams list for the third season was announced last weekend without massive changes, as eight of the original teams keep their entries for 2016/2017 with some just adjusting their names to accommodate new branding, as in the cases of NextEV NIO and the most significative one, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, as the Jay Penske-led team now partners with the American mobility company.

The new entries this time take the slots from teams that left the championship in a given point of the year. Jaguar Racing puts the British brand in place of Trulli Team, which called it quits after failing to race two rounds, and Team Aguri’s slot is taken by Techeetah, owned by China Media Capital from Shanghai.

Nine of the ten teams already announced its constructors for the next season, with the only exception being the recently announced Techeetah squad:

ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport – ABT Schaeffler FE02

Andretti Formula E – Andretti Technologies ATEC-02

DS Virgin Racing– DSV-02

Jaguar Racing– I-Type 1

Mahindra Racing – M3 ELECTRO

NextEV NIO – NextEV TCR Formula 002

Faraday Future Dragon Racing – Penske 701-EV

Renault e.DAMS – Z.E. 16

Venturi Formula E – VM200-FE-02

The 2016/2017 Formula E season starts on October 9th.

PHOTOS: FIA Formula E, Faraday Future