LONDON, July 19: Formula E is in talks with three big cities in India for a potential return of the race in 2026, top officials of the all-electric racing series told PTI here on Friday.
The Hyderabad round was dropped from the 2024 calendar due to the change in government in Telangana.
Hosting a global motorsport event was not a priority of the new government which came to power last December.
For Formula E, not respecting the multi-year agreement was a clear breach of contract.
However, India is a market that Formula E cannot ignore and that is why it remains determined for a comeback.
The calendar for the next season is already announced, so, the focus is on getting the race reinstated for the season beginning in December 2025.
“Unfortunately due to the change of government in Telangana, we had to leave Hyderabad. It was a fantastic race. India is a Tier 1 market for us. We are working on a daily basis to try to be back there. Hopefully it will happen in 2026,” Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo told PTI on Friday ahead of the season ending London E-Prix.
“We are having discussions with three cities in India and I cannot reveal more than that. There is a lot of interest for Formula E in India.
“We are talking to big cities and hopefully we can be back in the short term. We need to focus on the street race. The Hyderabad event was amazing. We built something from scratch and that is always challenging.
Formula E prefers the street race model to push its cause of sustainability via electric racing.
The FIA World Championship status event can also be conducted in the purpose built facility in Greater Nodia near Delhi where Formula 1 was staged for three seasons from 2011 to 2013.
Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds also echoed Longo’s views on the Indian market.
“We were gutted honestly (when Hyderabad was dropped). India is a key market for us. We have got Indian teams with Mahindra and Jaguar, an Indian driver (in Jehan Daruvala).
“However, that has not dampened our spirits of getting another race in India. The calendar for next year is already announced and India is not on it.
“I am completely open to a street race in India but I would not discount a fixed circuit race if that enables us to get back to the country. We got back to China with a fixed circuit in Shanghai, I would love a street race in China as well, the same applies to India,” said Dodds.
Formula E staged a first ever street in Tokyo this year besides its comeback in China. Those were the highlights of season 10 but the absence of India and South Africa round following the debut in 2023 is not a good advert for the series.
“Well the trend is positive (of countries wanting to organize Formula E ), far from negative. We happily staged the first ever race in history on the streets of Tokyo. We also announced our way back to China, which is a very important market for us.
“It is much tougher to do a new race than return to a particular venue. That is why there is a big level of frustration at the Formula E level because of what happened in Hyderabad.
“The most difficult thing was doing a first ever event in Hyderabad. After that everything Is easy. Unfortunately politics did not allow us to be back in Hyderabad,” said Longo. (PTI)
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