Formula E is in the starting blocks

After a five-month break, Formula E returns to the race track on Saturday: the fifth season of the all-electric racing series begins on the 15th of December. Supported by KUKA, the Team Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler with Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi will compete as reigning team world champion with high expectations and full of energy.

December 13, 2018

New Rules in the Formula E

The opening race in Ad Diriyah marks the beginning of a new era in the Formula E. The most important innovation: thanks to the greater battery capacity of the new generation of vehicles, the previously obligatory car changeover in the middle of the race is no longer necessary. Nevertheless, it remains exciting with the so-called "Attack Mode": If the driver passes the activation zone on the track, the performance of his car in the "Attack Mode" temporarily increases to 225 kW (306 hp). Challenge for the strategists: The FIA determines the number of activations and their duration individually for each race and only announces these shortly before the start of the race.

The race distance - previously defined by laps - is now always 45 minutes plus one lap in the new season. You will find an overview of the new rules and everything else worth knowing about Formula E here.

Extra energy boost through Fanboost

Still present and a criterion, which is currently only available in formula E, is the FANBOOST. Up from six days before the start of each race, fans can vote for their favourite driver and give them a real advantage in the race. The five drivers with the most votes receive an extra energy boost as "FanBoost", which can be activated in the second half of the race and temporarily increases the power to 250 kW.

Here you can go directly to the Fan Boost of our drivers Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi.

Audi relies on consistency within the team

Despite all innovations in the environment, Audi relies on consistency within the team: Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi are two of only five drivers in the field who have completed all 45 Formula E races held so far. With 35 podium places they celebrated by far the most successes.

"It's hard to believe: At the age of 26 I'm already one of the most experienced drivers in a racing series," smiles Daniel Abt. " ...We've worked hard on and off the track over the past few months. Now we want to get the best possible start in Riyadh and preferably set our first exclamation point."

Live broadcast of the race on December 15 from 1pm on Eurosport 1 and in the ZDF live stream.