The success of the FIA’s “Drive To Survive” on Netflix has prompted the world motorsport governing body to reuse the audiovisual formula to try to boost the popularity of Formula E.
In April, the FIA will release the film “Formula E, How the FIA’s Electric Dream Became a World Championship Reality”.
The motto is the elevation of the status of Formula E. As of this year, the category has become one of only five International Automobile Federation championships to receive the World Cup seal. The others are the Endurance Worlds, Rally, Ralicross, and of course the F1.
Film details
The script is known to those who follow Formula E: it begins in a restaurant in Paris, where two men wrote on a napkin the concepts and pillars of a category of electric single-seaters.
It was exactly ten years ago, in 2011. One of them is Jean Todt, former manager of Peugeot and Ferrari, president of the FIA since 2009. The other is Alejandro Agag, a Spanish businessman with strong connections in the sport. For example, he was a partner with Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore in the group that bought Queens Park Rangers in 2007.
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“I say many times that I’m the founder of Formula E,” recalls Agag, “but the real founder of Formula E is Jean Todt. He had the idea of introducing an electric car championship, and I said, ‘I would love to be the promoter of that’.”
“The world is changing very quickly; when looking at the evolution of motoring, we recognised it was important to define a motor sport category which would be green and encourage people in cities to use electric cars. We clearly identified the need to do something – and Formula E was the answer,” said Todt.
Image: fiaformulae.com
From dinner to the first race, it was three and a half years. And since then, 7 seasons, 71 events in cities like London, New York and Beijing, and five different champions, including two Brazilians, Nelsinho Piquet (2014/15) and Lucas di Grassi (2016/17).
The trailer also brings a lot of action shots: spectacular accidents, position disputes, overtaking. There are still many scenes of fans vibrating in the stands, a scenario that has not been repeated since the Marrakech stage, in February last year.
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The last season was only concluded because the category created a kind of bubble in Berlin, in August, and carried out 6 tests in an interval of only 8 days.
This year, it follows a strict security protocol, but, just in case, it only announced the race calendar until the beginning of June, leaving the entire second semester open.
The film is available on the FIA digital platforms. It lasts 26 minutes and is produced by Whisper Films, awarded for their work in the NFL and F1 and whose founding partner is someone with a lot of experience in motorsports: David Coulthard, 246 GP on the back of Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.
Written by I Jhonattan González
