Formula E confirms calendar and new ‘duel’ qualifying format for 2022 season

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Formula E has revealed plans to hold 16 races next year, though two of its events are yet to be confirmed.

New events in Indonesia, Canada and South Korea appear on the schedule for the eighth running of the all-electric series, which became a world championship this year.

The championship will open with a pair of races on its Diriyah course in Saudi Arabia and conclude with a trio of double-headers in the USA, UK and South Korea. The other eight events will all be single-race rounds.

Formula E is yet to confirm the venue for the third race of the season. It intends to hold its fourth race in China, but has not specified where. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai is absent from the 2022 Formula 1 calendar, which was also published today, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The series has also confirmed an overhaul of its criticised qualifying format. Under the previous system, drivers took to the track in sub-groups arranged by championship order, with the points leaders first to run and therefore encountering lower grip levels. This prompted complaints the series leaders were being put at a disadvantage.

From 2022 Formula E will decide its grid by splitting the field into two groups based on their championship positions (except at the first round). The top four from each will then participate in a series of knock-outs, described as ‘duels’, to decide the top eight places on the grid.

In another significant change to its sporting rules for next year, Formula E will no longer reduce the energy available for drivers to use during Safety Car or full course yellow periods as has previously been the case. Instead the length of the race will be increased, unless the interruption occurs during the final five minutes.

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2022 Formula E calendar

RaceDateCountryCircuit
128/01/2022Saudi ArabiaDiriyah
229/01/2022Saudi ArabiaDiriyah
312/02/2022MexicoAutodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
405/03/2022TBCTBC
519/03/2022ChinaTBC
609/04/2022ItalyRoma
730/04/2022MonacoMonaco
814/05/2022GermanyBerlin
904/06/2022IndonesiaJakarta
1002/07/2022CanadaVancouver
1116/07/2022USANew York
217/07/2022USANew York
1330/07/2022Great BritainLondon
1431/07/2022Great BritainLondon
1513/08/2022South KoreaSeoul
1614/08/2022South KoreaSeoul

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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6 comments on “Formula E confirms calendar and new ‘duel’ qualifying format for 2022 season”

  1. Wasn’t Indonesia on the list of countries recently banned by WADA from hosting world championship events?

    The “duel” qualifying format sounds like it could be fun. Will be interested to see the details.

    1. Yes, we are in WADA red list due to some non compliance. WADA banned us to host new event, but event that already awarded/contract in place may go ahead (i.e. WSBK, MotoGP, FE)

      To be honest I’m not sure if the FE event is good idea. It’s in Jakarta’s so would be chaotic to close some roads (some heritage area included) and traffic aftermath.. the cost is whopping $ 20 million dollars-ish.. politicians are swarming against it.. all for just a race. If it’s double race maybe I’d think of it better lol

    2. @red-andy Indonesia, Thailand and North Korea were all declared to not be complying with WADA’s minimum testing requirements.

      However, WADA have said that any events which had already been awarded prior to that declaration are still permitted to go ahead, albeit with some restrictions (which is why the MotoGP race in Burriam is still going ahead, as is the WorldSBK race next month). It is also worth noting that Indonesia and Thailand have also both announced they intend to appeal against WADA’s restrictions, so it is also possible that the restrictions might be lifted before that event takes place.

  2. The Formula E ‘duel’ format sounds like it’s basically a hackneyed version of the IndyCar group qualifying, so at least it ought to be a clear improvement on what they have right now. While it will force some underperforming drivers towards the front of the grid, it will at least give an equal opportunity for all the frontrunners to get there as well.

  3. This “dual” sounds far too drawn out and tedious. That’s 14 hot laps after the main 2 sessions have finished, but with warm up / cool down laps in between. Almost feels like a largely anti climactic half hour after the main event.
    Adding laps seems like the same problem presented in a different way, but at least by not impacting the last 5 minutes, we won’t get the Nascar style extra last laps!
    It’s a shame that the season will start on a Friday again. I get that Friday is the weekend in the Middle East and its only fair to respect that, but it really undermines the build up and launch. A single race on the Saturday would suffice.

  4. Why can’t Formula E just have a normal qualifying format instead of trying to throw gimmicks at it which have so far failed to do anything but make watching the sessions quite dull to watch.

    The single lap superpole sessions inparticular were always awful because they lacked any real buildup of tension & always fell flat. Same problem the single lap format suffered from when F1 tried it 20 years back, It’s just always a really boring format to watch regardless of how it’s done.

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