The first wave of drivers officially signed to Formula E’s new “Drivers’ Club” – a group of international talent that have officially shown their willingness to race in the all-electric series – features some familiar names to IndyCar and Formula One observers.
Third-generation American driver Marco Andretti (pictured) and A.J. Foyt Racing/F-E development driver Takuma Sato may be the most well-known names to Stateside race fans. Also on the list are original F-E development driver Lucas di Grassi, current Red Bull tester Sebastien Buemi, Karun Chandhok, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Ma Qing Hua, and Adrien Tambay.
Sato, di Grassi, Buemi, Chandhok and Liuzzi all have Formula One race experience, while Hua has tested for HRT and Caterham. Tambay has spent time in a variety of European leagues such as GP3, Formula Renault 3.5 and, most recently, the DTM touring car series.
F-E says that an additional ten competitors will be added to the “Drivers’ Club” in the coming weeks.
“From the very beginning, we have set out to deliver great racing to fans across the globe and to do that you need high calibre drivers,” F-E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag said in a statement. “Now that we’ve announced all 10 teams, everyone is keen to find out who the drivers will be.
“Of course, we cannot confirm any drivers just yet as it will be down to the individual teams to select who fills their seats. However, we hope by offering them a “pool” of top international drivers to choose from – all of whom support the new series – we can deliver on this promise of providing close, entertaining racing in city centers around the world.
“We also hope it will showcase to fans, TV broadcasters and potential sponsors the high profile names Formula E is attracting and the level of drivers they can expect to see race come September.”
Naturally, both Andretti and Sato were upbeat about their respective additions to the Drivers’ Club, with Andretti dubbing the series “revolutionary” and Sato noting that the series “provides a huge potential for the future of motor racing and electric cars.”
“I’m not entirely sure what to expect but, for me, that is the most interesting part of this experience – the unknown factor,” Andretti said. “I’m looking forward to the growth and development of Formula E and am happy to be named as part of the Drivers’ Club. I’m really looking forward to getting into the cockpit of one of these cars.”
The series recently staged a public live demo of its new Spark-Renault SRT_01E in Las Vegas, but we found another video from the event that shows the new Spark making some electric-style donuts.
It certainly looks and sounds different than your average burnout, doesn’t it?