Formula E is a single seater motorsports championship brought by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). Officially named as ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is the first motorsport championship to use fully electric vehicles or EV. First season aired in 2014, marking the 2024/2025 season as their 11th season. Formula E was made to promote the technologies of electric vehicles, and to persuade people that even with environmentally friendly cars, racing can still be interesting and fun to watch.
Even though Formula E and Formula 1 are under FIA, there’s few different points that make Formula E unique other than using electric based vehicles. They use the same point system as Formula 1, but the difference is they still keep the fastest lap point. Racing without DRS, their key point is the Attack Mode where drivers can take a special line to gain an extra of 50kW to 350 kW of power which is about a maximum of eight minutes of extra power to overtake. Drivers must take the Attack Mode twice during the race, but they can discuss with their engineers on how to deploy it. If Formula 1 always start their season in the first third of the year and finish it around the last two months of the year, Formula E starts their season right during early winter and finishes the season during summer.
The Unique Identity
Being the only FIA championship that is held in Jakarta, this season marks as the third Jakarta E-Prix after debuting at season 9 with a double header. The Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit whose design is inspired by Kuda Lumping, is a unique circuit because it’s officially categorised as a street circuit, but it’s actually a temporary purpose-built street circuit as the FIA called it. What makes it different is because the Jakarta E-Prix aren’t fully held at a common street like Monaco, but they aren’t a permanent circuit like Mexico either. Even though the layout and asphalt are permanent and aren’t using any parts of the common street, some structures still can be disassembled and the track aren’t used in other championships, hence they’re officially marked as a street circuit. This unique track consists of 18 turns and the race goes clockwise. Lucas Di Grassi, a driver for Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team, described it as a track that has all the good combinations of slow, medium, and fast corners which will test every aspect of the car’s performance.
Chaos Unveiled Through the Heat
The third Jakarta E-Prix served us an interesting race that made the audience scream and held their breath. Starting from qualifying, the final gives us a neck to neck battle between Jake Dennis, the 2023 Formula E World Champion from Andretti Formula E Team, with the young and the new fan favourite rookie, Taylor Barnard, from the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. Where the audience bet that Barnard will take the pole, which he proves only by his first sector but later made a mistake which cost him a one second gap and lost his pole to Dennis. Qualifying ended with a penalty for Pascale Wehrlein which cost him a place in the starting grid.
Five lights out and the race started normal and calm with a touch of close moments. Just like any other Formula E races, the race isn’t complete without chaos. A series of chaotic events started by the battle of Nyck De Vries and Jake Dennis for P1. This battle started when De Vries took the Attack Mode in lap 22 then made way to overtake Dennis in lap 23. Dennis tried to defend his place but sadly ended up losing to De Vries who’s using the Attack. Not just a place that he lost, Dennis also lost his front wing that got chipped by De Vries while he’s defending his position. Later, the race stewards gave him a 10 seconds penalty as the defence was moving under braking. This caused a full course yellow to clear the debris of the front wing.
Even after all the effort, De Vries has been forced to come into the pit for a DNF due to technical issues, which leave the fun at Dan Ticktum and Eduardo Mortara battling for the first place. With a series event of chaos, yellow flag, full course yellow, even safety car, Ticktum who started from P5 managed to defence his position from Mortara, who started from P6, and make the round 12 of season 11 as his first win. Ticktum, a driver for Cupra Kiro Formula E Team, got his first win at the Sarinah Jakarta E-Prix after 60 starts. Not just a special first win for Ticktum, this win is also a special win for the team as it is their first win since Moscow in season 1.
How Formula E Inspires the Motorsports Community
Formula E shows us how racing can still be fun and thrilling while also being kind to the earth. This inspires us, a Formula Student team, to slowly step into the EV world. Even though as for now UI Racing Team still focused on maximizing our combustion-powered vehicle, having the chance to watch the Sarinah Jakarta E-Prix 2025 in person has opened our eyes into how important it is to embrace sustainable energy and align it with the evolving landscape of motorsports. Just like Formula E, UI Racing Team is also dedicated to contributing in advancing the green technology in motorsports.
