Jeddah ePrix 2025: Presentation and Stakes

Still held in Diriyah, the Saudi round of the Formula E World Championship will take place this year in Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea. After two races, it is Antonio Felix da Costa who occupies the first place in the championship ahead of the first two winners of the season, Oliver Rowland and Mitch Evans.

The grand premiere of the Pit Boost

In addition to hosting Formula E for the first time, the Jeddah street circuit will be the first circuit in history to see electric single-seaters make a pit stop to add energy to their batteries. Scheduled in 2023 for the first season of Gen3, the Pit Boost will finally make its appearance with a two-year delay.

After two additional years of development and new trials during pre-season tests last November in Madrid, the 22 single-seaters will be able to benefit from 10% more energy, or 3.85 kWh, during their mandatory pit stop of around thirty seconds. Thanks to a 600 kW fast charge, each single-seater will be able to recover energy to attack the second part of the race.

Only two members of a team will be authorized to work on a car, and another will be present to stop and release the car. The two single-seaters of the same team will not be able to make their stops at the same time.

Finally, the Pit Boost does not replace the Attack Mode, which remains available. It rather complements it to offer new strategic options to the teams. The race management will indicate, a few days before each event, the pit stop window based on the State of Charge (SoC) of each car.

Jeddah, a well-known destination for motorsport fans

Since the beginning of the 2020s, the city of Jeddah has made a prominent place for itself in various categories of motorsport. With Formula E, it will thus host a third major motorsport competition after the Dakar Rally and Formula 1.

Compared to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit that F1 will use for the fifth time next April, the planned circuit for FE is shortened to a length of exactly three kilometers.

The two types of single-seaters share the same chicane in the first two corners, but starting from the next corner, the Formula E cars will take an unprecedented version of the Saudi track. Turn 3 leads to the hairpin at Turn 4, followed by a section combining tight braking and fast corners.

Next comes the long left-hand curve of the return, which is interspersed with two chicanes (T8/T9 and T10/T11) before a long full throttle stretch up to the left hairpin of turn 13 leading to the start/finish straight. Before crossing the line, drivers will still have to go through two chicanes, where overtaking will be possible.

Porsche wants to continue its good start to the season

Even though they haven’t won a race yet, the German team can be satisfied with the first two ePrix of the season. With two poles, three podiums, and leading positions in both championships, Porsche is the team in form at the moment, riding high on their excellent end of last season marked by Pascal Wehlein’s title.

The German driver is currently fourth in a championship dominated by his teammate Antonio Felix da Costa, thanks to his two second places in São Paulo and Mexico. In Jeddah, the Porsches will be among the favorites along with Oliver Rowland, a brilliant winner on the Rodriguez brothers’ circuit.

The Jaguars of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy will also be ones to watch. Although they didn’t score any points in Mexico, the two New Zealanders have the equipment to fight for victory.

Finally, the two DS Penske will also have to be considered. Without the multiple race neutralizations during the first two ePrix that deprived them of the benefits of Attack Mode, Jean-Eric Vergne and Maximilian Günter would have deserved to at least climb onto a podium.

The start of the two races of the Jeddah ePrix will be on Friday, February 14 at 6:00 PM and Saturday, February 15 at 6:00 PM (French time).