The upcoming Gen4 era was a perfect time for a deal to be done with the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in the UK, according to the chief executive and founder of Motorsport Vision, the owners of the Brands track, Jonathan Palmer.
“We’re very excited indeed, and I think it’s the right time for Formula E, and it’s the right time for Brands Hatch to actually get together now,” the former Zakspeed and Tyrrell F1 driver told Formula E Notebook this week.
Palmer drove in in four Grand Prixs at the venue between 1983 and 1986 and is adamant that the race, which could be officially known as the London EPrix hosted at Brands Hatch, will be a success on and off the track.
“I have to say the technical people at Formula E have done an amazing job with the Gen4 car, they progressively worked up with the performance since the early days of Gen1, when it wasn’t so easy to get excited about it from my point of view,” said Palmer.
“But from where they’ve got to now, with the Gen4 car, to have 600 horsepower, standard race power, and 800 plus in ‘overboost’ it’s going to be a very quick car, and of course, with the four wheel drive on top of it as well, and the amount of regen too, Gen4 is going to be the most efficient racing car in history. There’s no doubt about that.”
Palmer believes that the combination of the much more powerful Gen4 cars and the natural undulating challenge of Brands Hatch will make for a memorable spectacle next May, saying that he thought “the elevation of the performance, the huge elevation of the performance of the Formula E with a Gen4 car means that the traditional circuits, like any traditional circuit is now a sensible circuit for a Formula E race, and of course the Brands Grand Prix circuit is legendary.”
“Everybody loves Brands Hatch – the undulations, the challenge, the history, the heritage, and for Formula E and Brands Hatch to come together for 2027 It’s hugely exciting, and it’s the right timing too.”
The double-header EPrixs at Brands Hatch, which will feature an ‘EPrixUnleashed’ race, is scheduled to take place on May 29 and May 30, 2027.
Paddock Buzz Palpable for Brands
The new 2026-27 ABB FIA Formula E world championship calendar has generally been met with favourable opinion from a location standpoint with the additions of Zandvoort, COTA and Brands Hatch been met with a great deal of positivity in the Formula E paddock.
While the back-to-back nature of Berlin-Monaco and Zandvoort-Jarama are definitely less popular, the addition of classic British circuit Brands Hatch has in been met very favourably by drivers that have raced on it.
One of them is Jake Dennis, who last raced on the Kentish track in DTM back in 2019, in an R-Motorsport run Aston Martin.
“I actually think the circuit itself is going to be a better addition than what Silverstone would have been able to achieve, it’s a bit more old school, and has a little bit more character, you could say.” Dennis told FEN
“I’ll be interested to see if they have to do a modification to it, because sector two is very fast and flowing, which is great for a driver, but in terms of efficiency and regeneration, it might not be the best.
“But it’s nice to finally have that kind of finalised for the driver’s knowledge and the team’s knowledge. But I’m very excited to go back there to Brands,” added the recent winner of the Sanya EPrix.
The addition of a second U.S event at the Circuit of the Americas in February has pleased teams and manufacturers, who told Formula E Operations in 2024 that they considered two events there and also in China a priority for them.
The race in Austin will take place on the NASCAR track which by-passes the full F1 circuit. Its sporting director Andy Soucek has visited the Formula E on many occasions including as an official advisor to the stewards, something he last did at the Madrid EPrix in March.
Talking to FEN about the expansion in the U.S market, Jaguar TCS Racing team principal, Ian James told FEN that he considered it to be a “a really, really big step in the right direction.”
“Having two races in the US is a real bonus,” added James. “We’ve got a very sharp focus on the US market for Jaguar in particular going forward, so that that helps again that race the road story that we’re looking also to strengthen as we go towards Gen4.
“It’s going to be boosted by that coming back to China twice, and then also expanding the European calendar. So, there’s a huge amount to be excited about.
“There’s no doubt that it’s going to be quite an intense period, especially in the middle of the year with the cadence of events that we’ve got. But listen, I think that’s also positive.”
Formula E is known to have looked closely at several other venues in the U.S including a potential street race at Detroit or Atlanta, and similar style of races in Phoenix and Washington. The classic Laguna Seca road course in California was also considered.
