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Why Formula E's 2021 season will be a crucial litmus test

As off-track politics threatens to overshadow events on it, the upcoming Formula E season is perhaps its most important since the championship's inception. And that's a shame, given that the focus should be on what promises to be its closest title fight yet

Matt Kew Feb 24, 2021, 10:52 AM

The story of this Formula E season won't be anything like as clear cut as the years that have gone before. An inaugural term answered whether this fledging and disruptive series could make waves. The second campaign centred on the opening up of the technology to manufacturers. The year after, the main plot was what Techeetah could do with its customer Renault powertrain. Then, if Audi was the new dominant force. After, it was the arrival of the Gen2 cars. Last season, all eyes were on newcomers Mercedes and Porsche.

As for the 2020-21 season lying in wait, the only '2020' part stands as testing in Valencia. All races will take place this year, between now and late September, as the pandemic ensures that arranging a calendar remains the most persistent of headaches for championship organisers.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.