SEASON 5 of the ABB Formula E championship starts with an all-new venue: Ad Diriyah on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The location breaks new ground for the championship, which has never raced in the Middle East before and the twisty circuit is likely to present a tough challenge: the track is undulating and has 21 corners within its 2.5 kilometres. And while most are the tight bends typical of ABB Formula E circuits, there is one high-speed corner. This will present engineers and drivers with a technical conundrum: do they optimise their new, faster, Gen2 cars for the high-speed, or for the slower-speed sections? This challenge will be overlaid onto the already formidable ABB Formula E riddle of maximising efficient energy use, while racing at the fastest possible speed. A further test will be the high ambient temperatures likely in Ad Diriyah. These will prove the efficiency or otherwise of the Gen2’s cooling systems that are essential for allowing the cars’ batteries to operate at their peak.

A number of other ‘firsts’ are due for Ad Diriyah: the introduction of a new team, HWA; the addition of two ex-Formula 1 stars to the driving roster: Felipe Massa and Stoffel Vandoorne; and the introduction of ‘Attack Mode’. This allows windows of maximum performance – though at the cost of higher energy use. The stage is set for a thrilling opening to Season 5.