Bad news for Cape Town

The Formula E championship will not be returning to Cape Town next year, despite officials previously stating they will aim to host the race on local soil once again in 2025.

Last year, Iain Banner, chairman and co-founder of e-Movement a major rights holder to the Cape Town E-Prix, said the race would not come back to the country in 2024 as the organisers did not have enough time to make all the preparations, but that they will endeavour to bring it back in 2025. 

The 2025 Formula E calendar was released this week but no South African race is on the schedule.

Banner subsequently confirmed that with “the cost to stage the 2025 Formula E Grand Prix having risen to €15 million (R300 million), the race has simply become unaffordable for Cape Town.”

Pits at the 2023 Cape Town Formula E

Formula E made its first appearance on the African continent in February 2023 in the Mother City and at the time was the fastest track to ever feature in the sport, stretching for 2.94km over 12 corners with the quickest driver of the day managing a lap time of 1 minute and 7.848 seconds at an average speed of 154km/h.

The sheer thrill of the rapid street circuit combined with the breathtaking scenery saw the Cape Town E-Prix being voted the Race of the Year for that season.

It is estimated that the race generated over R1 billion in economic activity as it was one of the biggest events the city had ever hosted, so it is indeed a big blow to Cape Town and South Africa as a whole that Formula E will not make a comeback for the foreseeable future.

“With the significant economic impact that it delivers for South Africa, we are hopeful that the national Departments of Sport, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs will see fit to co-fund the race so that it can become an ongoing occupant of the annual Formula E global calendar,” said Banner.

2025 Formula E

While a South African race is not on the roster for 2025, fans still have lots to look forward to as the 11th season of the electric grand prix is shaping up to be one of the most exciting to date.

For the first time in the championship’s history, Formula E will complete a 17-race season across 11 iconic venues, with new race locations in Miami and Diriyah.

Additionally, there will be double-header events in Monaco and Tokyo, and Jakarta is returning to the calendar.

It is not only the agenda that is seeing a shakeup, but also the race cars.

The new Gen3 EVO challengers will be used for the 2025 season which are capable of rocketing from 0-97km/h (60mp/h) in just 1.82 seconds – 36% faster than the current Gen3 cars.

The season 11 campaign is kicking off in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 7 December 2024 following pre-season testing on 4-7 November 2024 in Valencia, Spain.