Nico Rosberg will return to the cockpit to conduct a shakedown run in Formula E’s new car for the 2018-19 season.
The 2016 Formula One world champion will demonstrate the ‘Gen2’ Formula E car at the Templehof Airport circuit ahead of the Berlin ePrix next month. Rosberg, an investor and shareholder in Formula E, will give the car its first public run in a special 10-minute session.
“I’m really excited to get behind the wheel of the Gen2 car,” said Rosberg. “It will be great to experience this high-performance e-mobility car and let’s see if I still have it in me.
“It makes it even more special that I’m able to do this at the Berlin ePrix, as I’ve always loved racing in my home country – Germany.
“Since my retirement, I’ve become very interested in the e-mobility movement and its potential to positively impact our society and our planet. I’ve therefore also long believed in the potential of Formula E and came on board as an investor some time ago.”
Rosberg retired from Formula One days after winning the 2016 championship. He has since said he is not looking to return to racing. Mercedes, who Rosberg spent seven season with in F1, will enter Formula E’s sixth season, which starts next year.
The 2017-18 Formula E season continues in Rome this weekend. Jean-Eric Vergne and Techeetah are leading the championship at its halfway point.
“We’ve showed that we can have two points scoring cars when everything is right, so we’re all working very hard to make sure that this happens at the next race,” said Vergne. I’ve been working a lot on my qualifying performance in the sim as I need to be able to grid higher to have a better chance of scoring higher.”
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Hugh (@hugh11)
10th April 2018, 10:31
Definitely good for FE that they’ll have an F1 World Champion testing the new car.
Neil (@neilosjames)
10th April 2018, 10:31
Hope it sparks a bit of interest in his mind and he thinks about getting back to competitive racing… I’d like to see him back behind the wheel in something like Formula E, and I imagine it’d give the series a bit of much-needed publicity as well.
Balue (@balue)
10th April 2018, 11:47
@neilosjames +1
bla
10th April 2018, 11:49
May as well. The manufactures are gonna dump F1 like a hot rock as soon as the numbers say to.
SparkyAMG (@)
10th April 2018, 12:45
Possibly, but not before Rosberg’s kids are old enough to be racing.
Gerty
10th April 2018, 14:01
I wouldn’t be so sure it’ll take that long!
F1 really is on its last legs like never before, and I don’t think even the new 2021 regs will save it.
Luke Harrison
10th April 2018, 20:07
Is it really? This comment still really intrigues me.
It is the third(?) most watched sporting event and the only one of those three that’s on every single year.
McF1 (@mccosmic)
11th April 2018, 7:18
Formula E becoming the technological pinnacle of motorsport is not a question of if, it is a question of when and how it will happen. For me recently, to watch F1 stars in other categories is a real excitement factor. So how about getting all the FE and F1 drivers together in one championship where they have to rotate between F1 cars & tracks and FE cars and tracks? Mercedes have already invested in an option to race in Formula E, why not get their drivers to race in both categories. Other teams could establish strategic partnerships between themselves as well as sharing their drivers. This would add such an interesting dimension to motorsport that I believe would create a massive amount of publicity and interest that can only be good for everyone.
Forza Maldonado (@forzamaldonado)
12th April 2018, 0:14
An F1/E mixed series would definitely be cool, but I with how technology is evolving in motorsport, it looks as if we may eventually see the two merge, unless F1 decides to strictly stay with internal combustion.
Though this also poses the question, would it be possible to run simultaneous mixed events, like the WEC? Or would the risk of deadly crashes be too great in mixed open wheel competition?
grumpy
11th April 2018, 8:29
That looks neat, even with batteries and a halo lol