Formula E has announced it will continue running the London ePrix around the Excel exhibition centre until at least 2026, with the indoor/outdoor spectacle allowing both parties to drive their commitments to sustainability and the environment.
Formula E brings a global television audience to Excel London, a unique event for the exhibition centre as it is the only one of over 300 events held annually to utilise its entire 125,000 square metres of space.
The race itself catches the eye as it passes through the exhibition space while also running externally parallel to the building, allowing Formula E to stage a race in the capital of the United Kingdom, just a stone’s throw from the centre of London.
But, for all of these shared positives, the alliance – which has now been extended until at least 2026 and the end of the series’ GEN3 Evo cars – also sees the all-electric series align with Excel London on their shared green ambitions.
The first race at the Excel took place in during season seven, a double-header in July 2021 that marked Formula E’s return to London following a five-year absence, having previously been located in Battersea Park.
“Formula E has formally announced the extension of its contract with Excel London until at least 2026, allowing the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to continue using the world’s first and only indoor-outdoor racetrack until the end of its GEN3 Evo era,” a statement confirming the new deal read.
“The extension means that the East London location is predicted to host the final race of the season 12 calendar, where 22 world-class drivers will compete for the coveted drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ world championship trophies.
“The contract extension also means fans will be able to see the full GEN3 Evo lifespan race as this generation of car will take to the track for the final time in the UK ahead of the much-anticipated all-new GEN4-spec car in late 2026.”
The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team pit crew lift Jake Hughes, McLaren, e-4ORCE 04 up
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Formula E chief championship officer, Alberto Longo, said of the extension: “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with Excel London, which has been a perfect home for Formula E over the last few years.
“Its unique track conditions and event space offers fans and drivers the very best of our sport, bringing the best racing and entertainment together in a truly unique venue at the heart of the capital, while all delivered sustainably.”
Driving that sustainability has become a key branch of the agreement between Formula E and the venue, as Darren Norman, director of immersive entertainment and events Excel London, explained to Motorsport.com.
“If we look back when we first started those early meetings on creating this sort of Scalextric, indoor- outdoor, up-and-down ramps through an exhibition hall, I remember looking at everyone thinking, is this even possible?” he said.
“But you’ve got a lot of very smart track designers and technical people who know far more about how to make that work than I ever will, and as soon as I heard it is technically possible, then you start going into solution mode and saying, well what do we need?
“What do we need to do with the floor indoors because it’s polished concrete, not very good for turning and actually, with the polyformer we use, we have more grip inside than outside on the tarmac, all part of fairly considerable work needed to bring in a track that was FIA-compliant.”
Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, 1st position, as he finishes the race
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
A track was eventually created, signed off and used in 2021, and the unique layout certainly caught the eye. But since then, the partnership between championship and host venue as developed into much more.
“All of the concrete blocks needed to make a racetrack, Formula E used to store them and then lorry them in, but they are a carbon-neutral championship so what we do is we now store then on site, that’s 260 blocks on site at the Excel,” revealed Norman.
“There is also no car access to the venue, everyone arrives by public transport, which again really feeds into Formula E’s key strategy on that net-zero pledge.
“That is also a nice segue into the fact the Excel just won the Exhibition News’ ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) award for being the best in the UK, so we also take it very, very seriously. We are carbon-neutral, and we’ve now set our own net-zero target to 2045. We’re already quite well on the way to that.”
Charitable work has also been undertaken as a collaboration between Excel London and Formula E, helping the immediate areas around the venue, including Richard’s House Children’s Hospice and – through the championship’s Better Futures Fund – providing a €25,000 grant to buy an electric van for Community Food Enterprise, a food bank charity in Newham, and allow it to complete deliveries in a sustainable manner and avoid ULEZ (ultra-low emission zone) tariffs.
The worldwide exposure also brings brand awareness and value to Excel London, as Norman concludes: “It is a very important piece of business to us. Our business model is relatively straightforward. We are an open church to anybody that wants to create an environment to bring people together.
“The fact that Formula E takes all of that campus means it’s important for us from a calendar perspective, but it’s also a really great event for us to host because it shows a different side to the venue, it shows what we can do.”
The 2025 London ePrix will close out season 11 of Formula E, with two rounds taking place at Excel London on July 26-27.
In this article
Mark Mann-Bryans
Formula E
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