You may have missed it this week, but whether you saw it earlier or you’re seeing it for the first time, Formula E released its calendar for 2026-27. 

(Sidenote: The Beehiiv embed is getting worse and worse)

The language is a new thing too. They still call it Season 13 on their website but it looks like they increasingly want to feature the year more.

There is a lot to like about this calendar. It has been intelligently put together. And we’ll start with the most striking highlight, namely, the number of races. (yes, namely was originally an m-dash but these days, they’ll lock you up if you use an m-dash.)

Since Covid and the Berlin Thunderdome season, Formula E had settled on 16 races as a sweet spot. London was the season finale going in and out of the Excel Centre. This season sees the first time that Round 17 will be used by the series and with the new cars, they’ll be going more rounds than ever before.

Eight of these outings are double headers, starting in Jeddah, before Round 8-9 in Berlin and then doubles in Monaco, “London”, Zandvoort, Madrid, Shanghai and finishing in late July around the streets of Tokyo at night.

But where we’ve had double-headers currently, Formula E have tried to make them different through Pit Boost, which is literally someone plugging in a charger into the car for a bit and slightly retimed attack modes. It wasn’t really a full commitment and this latest calendar addresses that with a new format that absolutely should not be called a sprint. Except when Formula E do.

The new E-Prix Unleashed is a 30-minute event, with six of those in Attack Mode. No pit boost and a high-downforce configuration on the car. More grip is more confidence and more overtakes, in theory. 

The 45-minute E-Prix (but not E-Prix leashed!) retains eight minutes of Attack, throws in the pit boost and is run from the low downforce configuration. A game of chess and strategy that should bring the usual excitement and chaos Formula E is known for. This is the main event and the slightly longer format is what will be used during the single header weekends in Mexico City, COTA, Miami, Sao Paulo and Sanya.

So a new format to get to grips with and new, but familiar tracks on the calendar. COTA is a brilliant race track and used by F1, WEC and MotoGP among others. Elite motorsport demands the best tracks and COTA really is. There’s a week off and then they go to Miami, which is a hugely sensible move given that there’s something called the Super Bowl in between them. If Formula E get it right, they could really tie in with the NFL here and gain some new sports fans while Formula 1 is in its off season. If they were really punchy, they’d spend the millions on a Super Bowl ad, but I digress. The only downside is building a championship narrative this early in the season and giving casual fans a reason to get behind a driver or team.

Zandvoort is leaving the F1 calendar at the end of this season, but the Dutch seaside had become beloved by the teams and drivers, and seeing them hit the banking with different lines will be fun in Formula E. This and COTA also attracts F1 fans who might be watching because they know the track. Add a version of Jeddah, Mexico City, Monaco, and Shanghai to this and you’ve got just enough familiarity while still retaining your own identity.

And then there’s London. The series has come a long way from disturbing the dog walkers of Battersea Park, moving on to disturb the finance bros by the Excel and now leaving London altogether. Even Ryanair might struggle to call this London by their naming conventions. But London-Sevenoaks, 24 miles south east of the Excel is Brands Hatch. Another great circuit which is criminally underused, currently British Superbikes, BTCC and all the GT racing you can eat visit Kent. So for Formula E to go there is a major feather in the cap for British racing, and while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with Silverstone (F1 prices notwithstanding), it’s great that there’s more than one good venue in this country.

The only disappointment is that they haven’t yet confirmed which layout they’ll be using, because the surrealist kidney-shaped Indy variation I think could be a defining race for the series.

There are also nods to Formula E’s past. Tempelhof Airport in Berlin always provides stunning visuals and the high-grip surface has always been a test. Rome was always a fun track, but has dropped off the calendar for the last three years now. A shame, but perhaps the Gen 4 car is too powerful now.

The new Gen 4 car gives Formula E serious speed with all-wheel drive and lots of other things you shouldn’t be reading this blog for serious technical analysis. To me it looks like the Batmobile, but there is a note of caution here. The cars are more powerful, yes, but they’re also longer and heavier than they ever have been and hopefully that does not curb the instincts and bravery the drivers show around tracks like Monaco as we’ve perhaps seen in, ahem, some other series.

There is enough of Formula E’s soul here to please its long time fans and enough innovation to intrigue new fans. With no intended disrespect, heading to Portland will never build you the mainstream audience that grows the sport. Done right, this calendar could be the start of something special for Formula E.

All the headlines in 2026 are video game references.

Video games have always been seen as generations, each leap providing more and more realism, while also being more connected and as is tradition, more ways to try and sell you things. We’ve gone a long way from Press Start to begin to Press X, then negotiate your way through ads and upsells to actually play the game.

Sometimes satire is more accurate than you might think.