Last weekend’s Monaco EPrix meeting became the first of its kind in regard to a world championship event having a double header on the same weekend. A little bit of history then but was it all significant.
Ahead of the weekend Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told Formula E Notebook that “our expectation is that there’ll be 10,000 people in the grandstands on both days because we know broadly what the ticket allocation looks like.
“From an entertainment experience, energy vibe point of view, we’re very optimistic that we’re going to get, well, we know we’ll get in hospitality. General admission is always a little bit trickier until the moment.”
Dodds needn’t have worried because, according to figures obtained by FEN, 36,000 across the two days attended the event. That included guests of the championship, teams, and manufacturers, nevertheless for a track that has a contained and thus naturally limited capacity it was a decent throng.
Also, ahead of the race there was a fear that there would be a dilution of the message within Formula E’s jewel in the crown event. That there would be no clear ‘King of Monaco.’
Oliver Rowland may have read that and shrugged. He’ll probably read it now and laugh because 2025’s standout ace took the crown and fitted it himself. It looks pretty good on him.
“I talk to people, and I get two really polarising views on it,” says Dodds.
“On one hand, I get perhaps some of the older drivers saying, I’ve come to Monaco and there’s one race and one victory and one victor and all that lovely stuff.
“Then I’ll get other drivers say to me, it’s such an amazing place and such a special moment. If it all goes wrong on race one, you get a second bite of that cherry and that’s really, really valuable to us because it’s such an important thing and our partners and our sponsors and everything.
“And of course, on Sunday night, we’ll have the gala and there’ll be the Prince Albert of Monaco Trophy, which is awarded to the driver of the weekend. It’ll be on their shelf at home, feeling like they’ve cracked Monaco for the weekend.”
Message to Chez Rowland. Get a bigger shelf because you’re going to need it.
