The opening race of the new GEN4 era of Formula E will now be the Mexico City E-Prix in mid-January, with the original Jeddah opener planned for December 18-9 now moving to a planned April date in 2027.
The Sanya E-Prix will be moved forward by two weeks to April, while Jeddah has been re-scheduled for April 16-17 and is set to be the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2026-27 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Recent attacks on key infrastructure such as Riyadh, Abha and Dammam airports and ARAMCO oil facilities, have added to the pressure on sports businesses on whether they can safely complete events in the region.
Last month the Dakar Rally organisers confirmed that they would not hold the their event in Saudi Arabia in January, instead making as yet to be finalised alternative arrangements for the event. The World Rally Championship had also previously cancelled its event in Saudi Arabia, while Formula One is expected to give absolute clarity soon on if it goes ahead with planned races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi next month.
Formula E Operations has been in regular consultation with The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), who recently updated their directives as advising ‘against all travel to parts of Saudi Arabia.’
The Yemani ‘Houthi militia force’ that has consistently been launching attacks in the region since 2019, usually via drone strikes, has stuck several targets in recent weeks including Riyadh airport recently, where 13 people were killed.
That travel advice for the UK is replicated for several other countries where teams are based, meaning that invalidated insurance is one concern for entrants if they are proven to have travelled to a country against specific governmental advice.
Speaking about the decision to postpone the Jeddah E-Prix race, Formula E’s CEO, Jeff Dodds, said that “we will no longer start the season in Jeddah in December as planned. The race that followed the first race of 2027 (original) calendar was Mexico City. That will now become the first race of season 2027.
“We will schedule Jeddah in for the weekend of 16/17 April, and in order to accommodate that change, we will move the Sanya race to April 3. So we’ll move it two weeks forward.
“Now, our entire focus has been on on Jeddah, ensuring we keep that in the calendar with our long ongoing relationship with the kingdom. One of the benefits, actually of the Sanya move, which is parallel to the benefit of rescheduling Jeddah in that it avoids the China Formula One race because there was a Formula One race in Shanghai on that same weekend, so now it avoids that, which is a small benefit.
“But the key benefit for us is, of course, that we continue to plan to race in Jeddah in 2027, and by moving it to April, we allow ourselves more time for things to settle,” concluded Dodds.
Why moving Sanya makes sense
Moving the third Sanya E-Prix to early April and postponing the double-header in Jeddah for mid-April helps to resolve a clash with the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on the same date.
Moving the Sanya E-Prix to an April 3 deployment means that logistically there is little impact for teams, while also ensuring no clash of Formula One and Formula E in China on the same weekend.
That also makes sense for logistics operations, while also keeping a consistent cadence of races for the teams and stakeholders. There was also a much more advantageous and progressive reason for applying this plan. The disruption caused by a postponed Jeddah E-Prix has in fact ultimately seen a beneficial outcome for Formula E with a direct clash in mid-April with the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit now averted.
Formula E had announced the original date of the Sanya E-Prix as April 16, at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting in June, two months ahead of F1 confirming its schedule.
The clash with the Chinese Grand Prix did not cause Formula E any particular issues on its original date, but a chance to shift the third Sanya race will please team some partners and also local broadcasters.
The first run of sea freight actually left from Valencia several weeks ago and now be re-organised and re-routed so that it does not further impact upon the logistical flow of equipment for other races on the multi-leg operation throughout Formula E’s most expansive calendar yet in 2027.
