Formula E can be anything but predictable, but the 11th season of all-electric racing often felt like a procession thanks to a dominant campaign from its eventual title winner.
Oliver Rowland is the tenth different champion in Formula E’s existence – if its unpredictability needed further proof – but the destination of the trophy was all but decided for most of the season.
So dominant was Rowland’s form that he scored just 23 points across the final seven races and still finished more than a full race win ahead of second-placed Nick Cassidy, who racked up exactly 100 points more in the same stretch.
A driver who rose through the junior ranks alongside the likes of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, as well as current Formula E drivers Jake Dennis and Nyck de Vries, this is a much-deserved title for Barnsley native Rowland.
Sacha Fenestraz, an ex-teammate of Rowland’s, previously claimed that the Brit is “on a par with [Max] Verstappen” in terms of ability. Hyperbole or not, Rowland is a supremely talented driver who has been unlucky to not make it all the way to Formula One.
After all, he was Charles Leclerc’s closest challenger in the Monegasque’s triumphant Formula Two season in 2017. Leclerc now finds himself as one of the premier drivers at the top level of motorsport.
In many ways, this underscores the main challenge still facing Formula E: it continues to be measured against Formula One.
The electric Formula One
The viewing public will likely always do this work for them, but Formula E executives are now proactive in seeking out the comparisons themselves.
This began with chief executive Jeff Dodds promising to donate US$250,000 to charity if Red Bull’s Max Verstappen didn’t win the world championship in 2024. That season ultimately became one of the most competitive in recent memory.
Of course, the irony here is that Dodds would not be able to make the same bet this season due to a competitive battle between the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while Formula E could not manage the same intrigue.
If anything, the constant references to Formula One do Formula E a disservice.
In its calendar announcement for next season, Formula E was quick to poke fun at its new Madrid race in March as ‘the first world championship motorsport event held in the city in 37 years’. Formula One’s much-publicised new race in the city takes place next September.
Perhaps Formula E would be better served by securing a finished schedule, as there are still two yet-to-be-announced races on next season’s calendar.
Formula E also likes to remind its audience that the current generation of its electric car can accelerate to 60 miles per hour at a rate 30 per cent faster than a Formula One car – a perplexing boast given both series spend very little time at these speeds.
The most egregious of Formula E’s claims, though, came at the start of the year.
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‘80% larger than the Las Vegas GP’
The announcement that Formula E’s visit to Mexico City drew an audience figure of 10.5 million on CBS in the US raised a few eyebrows, and the series underlined this by stating it was ‘80% larger than the 2024 Las Vegas GP’ in an official release.
The series revised this figure later in the year, claiming the race actually reached 11 million viewers. Formula E also claimed that this was higher than all but one Formula One race over the last two seasons, which is a bold statement.
In short, the all-electric series uses cumulative audience data to estimate their viewership figures, calculating the total number of unique individuals who tuned in for at least one minute.
In that context, the 10.5 million can be deemed a misleading figure, especially when the race immediately followed a playoff game in the National Football League (NFL) between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos, which averaged 31.1 million viewers.
Sports Business Journal (SBJ) reported that the average audience for the race was actually 2.77 million. This was a hugely impressive return on its own and should have been celebrated as such.
Instead, Formula E focused on seemingly the wrong thing: Formula One.
Through market research group Kantar, Formula E estimated Formula One’s 2024 visit to Miami – which averaged 3.1 million viewers – had a cumulative audience of 11.25 million. The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which averaged 1.54 million viewers, had a cumulative audience of 5.77 million when using the same methodology.
Formula E is entering dangerous territory by reporting potentially misleading viewership figures.
The two tracking methods are very different, so comparing them is not possible. It isn’t even possible to convert Formula One’s average viewership into a cumulative audience figure. BlackBook Motorsport has spoken to Formula One executives who were perplexed by Formula E’s estimations.
Formula E’s visit to Mexico City in January has caused plenty of head-scratching after staggering viewership figures were reported by the all-electric series (Image credit: Formula E)
Knowing where to focus
Formula E is doing so much good work at the moment that it seems a shame some of its attention has been diverted to a rival.
The series looks set to exceed a cumulative audience of 500 million people this year, an impressive achievement for a championship that is barely over ten years old.
There was also positive news from Formula E’s digital audience, with a 13 per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase in video views, a 12 per cent YoY increase in social engagement, and a ten per cent YoY increase in social media followers, according to data analyst Emplifi.
Much of this success is thanks to an innovative social media strategy that shows Formula E at its best, namely the Evo Sessions that took place in Miami earlier this year.
A lineup of 11 social media personalities got behind the wheel of a Formula E car, including the likes of Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and former soccer star Sergio Aguero, which put the series in front of an all-new audience.
Also in attendance – although not officially part of the Evo Sessions – was YouTube sensation Jimmy Donaldson, more commonly known as MrBeast.
MrBeast has the most-subscribed YouTube channel on the entire platform, with more than 421 million subscribers. The 27-year-old is also the third-most-followed creator on TikTok, boasting over 119 million followers.
Crashing the car may not have been part of Donaldson’s plan, but it created a viral moment that was invaluable for Formula E’s visibility on social media, reaching 20 million views within 12 hours.
The pair then doubled down on their relationship by making MrBeast’s Feastables brand the official snacking provider of Formula E.
Making strides where others aren’t
Formula E has a clear advantage over rival motorsport series – but perhaps isn’t shouting loudly enough about it. Diversity has long been an issue in motorsport, with only three per cent of the current top-tier FIA racing licences worldwide being held by women.
Formula E’s all-female test was created to address this imbalance directly.
Held in November 2024, this was the latest programme focused on gender equity to be rolled out by the series, which expanded its Girls on Track programme to cover all race weekends last year and now has several women within its leadership team.
While the all-female test gave the participating drivers a moment in the spotlight, Formula E has stressed it is part of a long-term strategy to remove barriers for women, not a ‘one-off opportunity’.
That commitment continued in its rookie test in Berlin last month, where Bianca Bustamante, Jamie Chadwick, Abbi Pulling and Ella Lloyd lined up alongside ex-Formula One driver Daniil Kvyat and former Formula Two champion Theo Pourchaire.
The all-female test programme will be expanded to two sessions when it returns later this year, highlighting Formula E’s intent to offer tangible opportunities.
If the series can sharpen its focus on these unique strengths – especially those that set it apart from Formula One – then it is well on course to have a bright and exciting future.
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