Formula E cancels its last rounds
The FIA Formula E Championship has confirmed the cancellation of the last round of the 2019/2020 season while the New York E-Prix is also hanging in the balance due to the ongoing crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
The Formula E championship was the first major motorsport series to announce changes to its calendar as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak when the Sanya E-Prix was called off at the beginning of February. When the crisis has started to spread in Europe, the championship announced the suspension of the current season, postponing the races in Rome, Paris, Jakarta, and Seoul.
The series introduced a flag system traditionally used in motorsport to determine the different phases and time windows where and when races could be held. While the initial system indicated that races could be staged in June, it has been recently changed as the coronavirus crisis has hardly shown any signs of improvements. This situation caused the cancellation of the Berlin E-Prix, but the two other rounds of the current season, the New York and London races remained on the calendar.
Since the hardly improving situation has urged several European governments to extend the ban on mass gatherings, it has been decided that the season-ending London double-header event will not go ahead.
"With the FIA Formula E Championship race venue at ExCeL London having been prepared as a temporary hospital and continuing to be used as part of the national response in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the London E-Prix has therefore been canceled," Formula E representatives said in a statement.
The New York E-Prix, scheduled for 11 July, is, therefore, the only event that has kept its original spot on the calendar since the Marrakesh E-Prix, although that event is also hanging in the balance given the severity of the situation in the U.S. It is believed that the cancellation of the Brooklyn race is imminent.
Formula E Founder and Chairman Alejandro Agag believes that both his series and Formula 1 have a 50-50 chance of getting their seasons up and running again. While the pinnacle of motorsport is yet to hit the track during a race weekend, the fully electric series has already staged six races. The Spaniard is hopeful that the situation will allow arranging a couple of more races, but currently, it seems that events can only be hosted behind closed doors.
“We will try to make at least two or three more races in a closed circuit. I think that should be possible in the month of August. But again, who knows. I'm thinking 90% they will be in Europe.”
„We still have an option outside Europe that we're looking at, that is still alive, but we will decide later on,” he is quoted as saying by the Reuters.
