Story highlights
Formula E cars powered by electricity
Nine teams competing in 11 races
Nelson Piquet Jr. defending title won in 2014-15
Welcome to the dynamic, technologically-demanding world of Formula E – a new motorsport for cars powered by electric engines.
Some of the competitors will be well known to Formula One fans, while others are fast forging growing reputations as the competition moves into its second season.
Scroll down to find out about the nine teams and 18 drivers competing in the 2015-16 Formula E Championship.
ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Country: Germany
Team Principal: Hans Jurgen Abt
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 3rd
Lucas di Grassi
The 31-year-old Brazilian has experience at the highest level of motorsport, driving for Virgin Racing in the 2010 F1 season with a best finish of 14th at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Since then, Grassi has competed in the last four FIA World Endurance Championships and raced at the Le Mans 24-hour race for the past three seasons, with a best finish of second in 2014.
He was third overall in Formula E’s inaugural 2014-15 season after one win and six podium finishes.
Di Grassi leads this year’s drivers’ championship heading into the third race in Uruguay.
Twitter: @LucasdiGrassi Facebook: lucasdigrassiofficial Instagram: lucasdigrassi/
Daniel Abt
Eight years the junior of his teammate, Abt enjoyed a successful stint in GP3 with Lotus GP in 2012, missing out on the title by just two points to New Zealand racer Mitch Evans.
The German, son of team principal Hans Jurgen, scored his first Formula E podium at the Miami ePrix last season and followed it with his first pole at Long Beach. The 23-year-old will look to use the experience gained last season to improve on his overall classification of 11th.
T: @Daniel_Abt F: abtdaniel/ I: daniel_abt
Andretti
Country: United States
Team Principal: Roger Griffiths
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 6th
Simona de Silvestro
Born in Thun, Switzerland in 1988, de Silvestro enjoyed four full seasons in IndyCar from 2010-2013 with a best finish of 13th in her final campaign before becoming an “affiliated driver” with F1 team Sauber the following year.
The 27-year-old raced in the final two Formula E races in London last June, combining her electric outings with three appearances in IndyCar for the Andretti team – four-time winner of IndyCar Series and three-time champion of the Indianapolis 500.
“She’s very technical and she’s fast,” team owner Michael Andretti says of Formula E’s only female competitor.
T: @simdesilvestro F: simdesilvestro I: simonadesilvestro/
Robin Frijns
Formula E newcomer Frijns has won titles in three different Formulas – BMW Europe, Renault 2.0 and Renault 3.5 – since graduating from karting in 2008.
The success earned the Dutchman a promotion to the GP2 Series and stints as an F1 test driver for Sauber and Caterham in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
The 24-year-old races in the Blancpain GT Series, and made his Formula E debut in Beijing in October.
Dragon Racing
Country: United States
Team Principal: Jay Penske
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 2nd
Jerome D’Ambrosio
The Belgian spent a season in F1 piloting the Marussia Virgin Racing car in 2011, and appeared on the grid once for Lotus F1 team the following season, finishing 13th at the Italian Grand Prix.
Three podiums, including a victory at the Berlin ePrix, earned D’Ambrosio fourth place in the opening Formula E drivers’ championship.
Loic Duval
The French veteran racer began his senior career in 2002 and has competed in Formula Nippon and Super GT – winning both series in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The 33-year-old recorded his most notable victory in 2013, winning the Le Mans 24-hour race with Germany’s Team Joest.
Two podiums in seven starts last season helped earn Duval ninth place overall.
DS Virgin Racing
Country: UK
Team Principal: Alex Tai
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 5th
Sam Bird
One of two Brits competing in Formula E this season, Bird hails from Roehampton in southwest London. A former test driver for reigning F1 champion Mercedes, Bird has raced in GP2, finishing second in the 2013 championship.
The 28-year-old has competed in the last two Le Mans 24-hour races and finished fifth overall in Formula E’s inaugural season, winning two races.
Jean-Eric Vergne
Formula One fans will be familiar with the Frenchman, who was a test driver for Toro Rosso in 2011 before completing three full seasons. His best results in F1 to date are two sixth places – at the Canadian GP in 2013 and the 2014 Singapore GP.
The 25-year-old combined last year’s Formula E duties for the Andretti team with stints as a test driver in Ferrari’s F1 team.
Renault e.dams
Country: France
Team Principal: Alain Prost
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 1st
Nicolas Prost
Son of four-time F1 world champion and team principal Alain Prost, the 34-year-old Nicolas has competed in the last four World Endurance Championships and eight Le Mans 24-hour races.
Prost finished sixth in last year’s Formula E drivers’ championship, clinching his maiden victory in Miami after finishing second in the previous race in Buenos Aires.
Sebastien Buemi
The 27-year-old Swiss spent three seasons with F1 team Toro Rosso from 2009 to 2011, recording a best finish of seventh at the Australian and Brazilian races in his rookie year. Since leaving F1, Buemi has competed for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship.
His first season in Formula E yielded three wins, helping him to second place in the drivers’ championship.
Buemi took the checkered flag in this season’s opening race in Beijing.
Mahindra Racing
Country: India
Team Principal: Dilbagh Gill
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 8th
Bruno Senna
The 32-year-old is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna – the three-time F1 world champion who tragically died after crashing at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
After two seasons in GP2, Senna made the step up to F1 where he made 46 starts for three different teams from 2010 to 2012. His final season at Williams brought two seventh-place finishes and 31 points in all.
Now in his second season racing for the Indian Formula E team, Senna will look to build on the promising close to last season where he narrowly missed out on a podium place in London, finishing 10th overall.
Nick Heidfeld
The most experienced driver in the Formula E field, the German veteran spent 11 seasons in F1 – securing 13 podium finishes in total. His best year came in 2007 when he finished fifth in the drivers’ championship for the BMW Sauber team.
Since leaving F1 in 2011, the 38-year-old has competed in the World Endurance Championships and was 12th in the 2014-15 Formula E season driving for the Venturi team – which included a dramatic crash at the opening race in Beijing – before signing for Mahindra.
NEXTEV TCR
Country: China
Team Principal: Steven Lu & Yu Liu
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 4th
Nelson Piquet Jr.
The son of Brazil’s three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet made history when he won the first Formula E title, collecting two wins and five podiums during the 11-race series.
In 2008-09, the 30-year-old spent two seasons driving for the Renault F1 team – a period chiefly remembered for the so-called “Crashgate” affair where Piquet, under orders from his team, deliberately crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Piquet has spent the time since competing in NASCAR and the Global RallyCross Championship, scoring four podiums in his opening season in 2014.
Oliver Turvey
The Briton has competed in the single-seater Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 Series, and has driven 630 laps as a test driver for the McLaren F1 team.
Turvey, 28, has also competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race and made his Formula E debut in last season’s final two races in London.
Team Aguri
Country: Japan
Team Principal: Mark Preston
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 7th
Antonio Felix da Costa
The Portuguese has enjoyed two spells as a test driver in F1, with Force India and Red Bull Racing, as well as taking part in the GP3 Series. His most notable win came at the 2012 Macau Grand Prix – a race contested by Formula Three cars.
The 24-year-old scored his first Formula E win at last year’s Buenos Aires ePrix.
Salvador Duran
The Mexican steps into the shoes of Nathanael Berthon who left the Formula E team at the end of January to concentrate on his endurance racing career.
Duran, 30, competed in nine rounds for Team Aguri in the inaugural Formula E season and was part of the Trulli team who had to pull out of this season’s series.
Prior to Formula E, Duran has competed in Formula Renault 3.5 and partnered ex-Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Pruett to win the 2007 Daytona 24-hour race.
Venturi
Base: Monaco, France
Team Principal: Nicolas Mauduit
2014-15 Constructors’ Championship: 9th
Stephane Sarrazin
The versatile Frenchman (right) has competed in numerous motorsport categories, notably the World Rally Championships, the Le Mans 24-hour race and a solitary appearance in F1 at the 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 40-year-old was a consistent performer last season in Formula E, finishing nine of the 11 races to be 14th overall, and has continued his solid form with ninth and fourth in China and Malaysia.
Mike Conway
The Englishman replaced former Formula One world champion, Jacques Villeneuve at the end of January.
The 32-year-old tested for the Dragon Racing team in 2015 and previously competed in the GP2 series from 2006-08.
Stints followed in IndyCar and most recently in World Endurance Championship where he drove alongside Sarrazin at TOYOTA Racing.