Venturi, TV rights, and Rome: the latest news of Formula E

Two Mercedes-backed drivers at Venturi:

The Monegasque team has finally made its choice of drivers, with the Italo-Swiss driver Edoardo Mortara and by retaining the German Maro Engel, who had already raced for the team last year. Mortara, 30, is currently a DTM driver for Mercedes, after several years with the Audi team. He began his single-seater career in 2006 in Formula Renault before moving on to the Formula 3 Euro Series. In three years in the discipline, he won the Macau Grand Prix twice and was crowned champion in 2010.

He subsequently won the Chinese GT event three times before joining the DTM in 2011. The Mercedes factory driver, who was looking for an alternative solution after the German brand announced its withdrawal from the touring car championship, then turned to Formula E, in which he had already participated in preseason testing.

On the other side of the garage, Maro Engel is returning for a second season with the Monegasque team, where he achieved a best result of fifth place during the Monaco round. Engel is also a Mercedes driver in DTM; could the brand be positioning its future drivers? There will be no more French drivers in the team next year, as Stéphane Sarrazin left at the end of last season and Tom Dillmann was not retained despite a strong end to the season.

So happy to announce that @MaroEngel & @edomortara will be our drivers for this upcoming season. Come on, guys! #fiaformulae #MadeInMonaco pic.twitter.com/d6apvZ1y9i

— Venturi Formula E (@VenturiGP) October 20, 2017

Eurosport will broadcast the championship starting from the 2017-2018 season

As part of a TV rights agreement for Formula E in several European countries, Eurosport has secured the broadcast of all championship races. The free practice sessions (which are also broadcast on Facebook) as well as the qualifying sessions will be available on Eurosport Player (paid application). The races will be commented on by former Formula One driver Olivier Panis, although the rest of the setup has not been disclosed.

However, the Canal+ group will simultaneously retain the broadcasting rights. All the races will therefore continue to be broadcast on Canal+ Sport with the same setup as today. It should be noted that 6 races will be broadcast free-to-air on the Canal+ group’s TNT channels, namely C8 or CSTAR depending on the program schedule. This will be a good opportunity to discover the championship for free.

The Rome e-Prix Circuit Officialized:

As part of a demonstration in the presence of the three crowned champions in the championship, Nelson Piquet (Panasonic Jaguar Racing), Sébastien Buemi (Renault e.dams), and Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler), as well as Italian driver Luca Filippi (NIO), the track that the Formula E cars will follow on April 14 in the streets of Rome was revealed in detail. Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag and the city’s Mayor Virginia Raggi were also present at the inauguration.

The circuit will be one of the longest in the championship, measuring 2.85 kilometers. The race will take place in the Esposizione Universale di Roma neighborhood, a residential area strongly marked by the fascist era, as the Palace of Civilization, known as the Colosseo Quadrato, was meant to pay tribute to Benito Mussolini. The track features 21 turns and will start on Italy’s longest avenue, Via Cristoforo Colombo, which stretches 27 km. The cars will pass in front of the Marconi Obelisk, which was built for the 1960 Olympic Games. Competitors will also pass by the Nuvola convention center, and the pit lane will go around the Palazzo dei Congressi.

Introducing the track for the 2018 #RomeEPrix 🇮🇹 What do you think? #ReadyToElectrify pic.twitter.com/Gm7dAylsju

— RENAULT e.dams (@RENAULTedams) 19 octobre 2017