Former F1 drivers line up for Formula E

Filed under: Motorsports, Electric



For every new driver who makes his way into Formula One, there's another who ends up flunking out, left to find a drive in another racing series. Fortunately there's no shortage of racing disciplines eager to lure a former grand prix pilot to their ranks. And soon there'll be one more.

That'd be the nascent FIA Formula E Championship, the electric racing series that's set to kick off later this year. Organizers have already finalized the calendar and announced the teams set to take part. They've even demoed the car in public. All that's left is to line up the drivers, and that's just what they're doing.

Although the series and its teams aren't quite ready to announce their driver lineups just yet, they have launched what they're calling the Formula E Drivers' Club. The list is made up of accomplished drivers, many of whom have raced in F1, support the idea of electric racing and are ready to get behind the wheel.

The roster includes former F1 drivers Sebastien Buemi, Karun Chandhok, Tonio Liuzzi, Takuma Sato and Lucas di Grassi (who's been serving as test driver for the SRT_01E that's set to become the backbone of the series). Other members of the club include IndyCar scion Marco Andretti, F3 and DTM racer Adrien Tambay and former F1 test driver Ma Quing Hua. A further ten drivers are set to be announced over the course of the coming weeks, which is a good thing, because with ten teams each to field two cars, they're going to need at least (hold on while we dust of the abacus)... twenty drivers in place come September when the first race kicks off in Beijing.Continue reading Former F1 drivers line up for Formula E

Former F1 drivers line up for Formula E originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Permalink | Email this | Comments