Formula E splits its weekends in two with ‘E-Prix unleashed’ sprints for the Gen4 era

Formula E is set for its most significant sporting shake-up to date, with the all-electric world championship introducing separate sprint and feature race formats for the Gen4 era.

Headlining the change is a new ‘E-Prix unleashed’ concept, a run of performance-focused sprints that will feature at double-header events.

Eight double-headers were confirmed as part of the 2026/27 calendar at the recent FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, meaning eight of these ‘unleashed’ races will take place in Jeddah, Monaco, Berlin, Zandvoort, Brands Hatch, Jarama, Shanghai and Tokyo. The full provisional schedule, a record-breaking 21-race calendar, was ratified alongside the new format.

These sprint races will run the higher-downforce specification bodykits to show off the raw pace and performance of the Gen4 car, which is expected to be at least seven to eight seconds per lap quicker on average than the current Gen3 Evo package. With 600kW of power and active all-wheel drive, the new machine is comfortably the fastest and most powerful car the series has produced.

Standalone races in Mexico, Austin, Miami, Sao Paulo and Sanya, along with the non-sprint races at double-headers, will keep to ‘traditional’ Formula E race lengths of around 45 minutes, where the emphasis remains on energy management and energy recovery.

The attack mode power boost and in-race PitBoost stops both survive into the new era, with the latter reserved for double-header events only.

The FIA and Formula E have worked together on the new sporting format over recent months, with the decision arriving after consultation with the teams. The FIA’s sporting chief for Formula E, Pablo Martino, said the framework was central to how the championship evolves alongside the new car.

“One of the things that I think is key to the evolution of the sporting format is the opportunity we have had with Gen4, with the new car,” Martino said. “We have prepared a championship format that we believe is going to showcase primarily all the capabilities of the new car.”

Confirming the detail, Martino explained that double-headers would now carry “two different race distances”.

“One race will be the E-Prix, with a similar approach to the championship races that we have today, with around a 25% lift-off requirement for the drivers in order to manage the energy on the batteries, the harvest of energy and the deployment of energy,” he said.

“Then we will have the E-Prix unleashed, which will be shorter races of around 25 to 30 minutes in length, with much lower requirements of energy management. That is going to provide much more of a showcase of the performance capacities of the car. This has been done in order to give the spectators two different E-Prix during these double-headers.

“When it comes to a normal single-header, when we have only one race during that race weekend, it will always be the normal E-Prix, so what we are used to.”

The main points system stays the same across both formats. Formula E will, however, adjust the points scored in qualifying, with the top eight now scoring: 1st, four points; 2nd, three points; 3rd, two points; 4th, two points; 5th, one point; 6th, one point; 7th, one point; 8th, one point.

Teams and drivers have been a little apprehensive about how the sporting format would shape up for the new era, which kicks off in Jeddah this December.

The step up in performance, grip and pace with the Gen4 cars is clearly unsustainable when it comes to the overt, ultra-energy-saving races seen at circuits such as Misano, Portland and, on occasion, Shanghai and Berlin over the past few seasons.

The structure of the calendar has changed so that some of those circuits have now dropped off. Concerns remain, though, that certain tracks, notably Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Sanya, will struggle to contain the Gen4 cars, should the sort of ultra-close racing seen at Sanya last weekend be repeated.

At the same time, the Gen4 cars have to be, in the current parlance of Formula E, unleashed. With a genuine 205mph now achievable, it will be a fine balance between spectacular racing and a package that could trigger heavy shunts at some tracks with little in the way of run-off.

There is also a lot of detail still to come from the FIA and Formula E around the precise technical framework for the two set-ups needed across a double-header weekend. That challenge is part of a broader period of change for the series, which has also seen Brands Hatch added to the calendar as a new home for the London round and fresh talks over a Zandvoort race.

“We’ve always wanted to be able to showcase the ultimate performance of the Formula E car, and maybe doing that over a shorter race is one way of approaching it,” Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths told EV Powered.

“There’s still some discussion around the technical specifications of what the car will be running, and once that’s finalised, we can then look at what that means in terms of the operation from a garage side, and how we work forward through that.”

While agreeing with Griffiths that further practical detail was needed for the plan to run two very different races on one weekend, Jaguar team principal Ian James said the FIA and Formula E had taken the right direction.

“I think they’ve actually struck a nice balance at the moment, as this is something we can do probably better, or in a more authentic fashion, than other championships. So it’s exactly the direction we should be going.”

From a driver’s perspective there is similar cautious optimism, with Porsche driver Nico Mueller telling EV Powered that the plans looked “pretty promising”.

“Having different race formats in events where we race twice is good,” Mueller added. “I think the new Gen4 invites something like that, right? Because the pure performance of the car is brutal and is already bringing a lot of spectacle to the track.

“So there’s definitely going to be occasions where we don’t need so much side-by-side action to keep the people in the grandstands entertained. I think it’s a good thing.”

The relocation of the British round is part of the same shifting picture, with EV Powered having reported on how Formula E weighed up its London future as the Gen4 performance leap loomed.