Formula E is Desperate to Be Singular. It Deserves to Be.

The Southwire Portland E-Prix proved the electric racing series can’t escape comparison

“This is the Formula, this is the Formula 1,” spilled out of the speakers on Saturday, penetrating the media tent on the other side of the Portland International Raceway. Despite the bass matching the crowd’s energy, the song was an ill-advised choice. The race wouldn’t see any “drivin’ like Max Verstappen” or a gas-guzzling “Mercedes like Lewis [Hamilton].” 

The day continued with another slip-up in the second free practice as an announcer expressed how exciting it was to see “Formula 1, I mean Formula E, in the wild.” 

Throughout its nine-year stint, Formula E hasn’t seemed to evade the shadow of its hybrid cousin. 

But, in Portland, the electric racing series showed it deserves to stand on its own and denounce its status as the “F1 reject series.” 

A quiet zing would replace the eardrum-exploding “vroom” as the Formula E Gen3 cars took to the 2-mile (3.2 km) track. 

The flurry of activity, tire wrenches drilling and a steady overhead airplane-like hum every minute and roughly 12 seconds during the closed Friday practice session, was quiet compared to the packed stands come Saturday. 

Unlike F1, the action takes place on one day with free practice two, qualifying and the race stretching from late Saturday morning to early evening. The compact schedule paired with low costs — tickets started at $35 — and a racetrack you could see from any seat made for a digestible intro to the series. 

And for many fans, that’s exactly what it was: an introduction to electric racing.

Walking into the first all-electric motorsport event in the Pacific Northwest brought an air of mystery.

Would spectators be the stereotypical NASCAR fans — their cut-off jorts riding in on a jacked-up pickup truck, touting a bald eagle and a revving engine — or a different cliche — Portland environmentalists quietly pulling up in their Teslas, Birkenstock on the brake? 

The latter seemed obvious. Even Avalanche Andretti Formula E’s namesake and team principal had clear assumptions about the sport’s target audience. 

“I think it’s attracting a different fan,” Michael Andretti said in Friday’s press conference. “There are a lot of people concerned with the environment, especially younger kids and I think that’s what has created a lot of interest from new motor racing fans.” 

However, the pendulum between extremes swung in a circle. The grandstands were a vibrant spectrum of Ferrari red, McLaren orange, Red Bull navy and NASCAR’s combination of all three. The names Palou, Norris and, overwhelmingly, Perez proudly sat across fans’ backs. From EV representatives to “Alex Jones for President”-clad on-lookers, the audience was a contradiction, showing that truly anyone can be a fan. 

Formula E merchandise seemed far and few between, but based on the line that snaked from the lawn to the store, it's only a matter of time before a trickle of Cassidy, Evans and di Grassi jerseys can be spotted at any motorsport event. 

Although the comparison doesn’t please drivers or teams, it’s understandable why Formula E is referred to as the electric F1. But what gets lost in translation is the level of performance. Formula E isn’t an F1 feeder series like F3 or F2 and that assumption is tarnishing its image. 

The series is a jumble of contradictions that oddly work: relatable yet futuristic, approachable yet star-studded, electric yet fast. 

Ultimately, it has all the ingredients to stand alone with a unique cast of heroes and anti-heroes and a collection of its own controversies. 

Dan Ticktum (Nio 333 Racing) is Formula E’s resident hothead: all sharp elbows and foul radio messages. 

The commentators echoed this over the loudspeakers mid-race, branding him an “aggressive but misunderstood driver.” 

I asked Ticktum his take on that label post-race. 

“Once you know me as a person, I’m not necessarily what the media makes me out to be,” Ticktum said. “The media does like to paint me as the villain because it’s good for views and likes and quotes and everything. Someone’s got to be that person and, unfortunately, I fit that mold.” 

While they may have Instagram follower counts reaching into the 70,000 range, Formula E drivers still seem to go unnoticed. Sure, they’re constantly farmed for content with enough star quality to garner pit lane autograph signings, but they also seemed to trot around Portland without much fuss. 

The glitz, glamour and gravitas that are immediately associated with the word “formula” in the motorsport world, are also largely absent. While there’s a lounge for elite attendees, the focus of the weekend was refreshingly on the racing — and rightfully so. 

It was fast, dangerous and shockingly close. Frankly, it was addicting. The gasps were audible at the crunch of a curb or the snap of a front wing.

Portland marked the quickest track of the season and series’ history. Drivers were itching to get a feel for just how fast their cars could push. 

“It's very fast on the straight so, especially in the race, we expect a big challenge,” Maximilian Günther (Maserati MSG Racing) said on Friday. 

The drivers echoed each others’ apprehension, tinted with excitement, at the prospect of pressing the accelerator to the floor on the long straight before slamming on the brakes at the first twisting chicane. 

“The track is nice, it’s extremely hard, a lot harder than I thought,” Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) said from his garage as he autographed postcards, his own face staring up at him. “Just by not having walls around, you over-push your limits very easily. It’s honestly one of the hardest tracks that we’ve had this season.” 

Part of the challenge was power usage. At a fast track like Portland, efficiency is key. Drivers with a superior powertrain and past experience stretching out an inefficient battery had better performances.

Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Formula E), whose less efficient powertrain last year put him in sixth in the championship standings, looked forward to having a better car this year. 

“We've got one of the most efficient powertrains alongside Jaguar,” Dennis said following the first free practice. “I think it's gonna be a really difficult race, but one which I'm looking forward to and [I’ll] proceed to try and keep out of trouble for the first 20 laps, which will be harder.”

Testing the limits of speed and efficiency meant scrappy driving, something Formula E has plenty of. Cars drove wheel-to-wheel in a pack. Radio messages from Dennis and Ticktum complained about the hazardous choices of other drivers. 

“The first 10-15 laps were sort of as I expected but worse: very, very dangerous with people doing different strategies, jostling for position,” Ticktum said post-race. “It was just chaos, to be honest.” 

While F1 cars hit higher speeds, the average race pace isn’t far off from Formula E. Mitch Evans (Jaguar TSC Racing) claimed the title of the “Fastest Man in Formula E History” in free practice one, hitting 171.9 mph (276.6 km/h) and Dennis broke the record for the fastest average lap in Formula E’s brief history with 103.5 (166.6 km/h). The addition of high-speed tracks like Portland paired with constant technological advances means Formula E could surpass that gap. 

F1’s Red Bull has led 537 of the 553 laps raced so far this season with Max Verstappen piloting the majority, but Formula E doesn’t see one team, or driver, dominate. 

Antonio Felix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team), Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) and Dennis all led at one point or another.

While F1 continues to receive criticism for the “Americanization” of the sport to bring in more views with its sprint races, influencer invitees and outrageous price tags, the entertainment value of Formula E is all on track.

The race’s sectors were a great example: a different driver claimed the fastest time in each of the three sectors. Lucas di Grassi (Mahindra Racing) with the first, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE) in the second and Evans hitting an all purple in the third.

Evans jumped from 20th place to fourth, both DS PENSKE cars started from the pit lane after the team was handed a €25,000 fine for installing illegal technology that collected rivals’ tire data and da Costa had an unusual third-place finish.

Even in the title contention, the weekend began with Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) ahead of Dennis by one point. By midday on Saturday, Dennis had taken the throne and pole in qualifying. As the checkered flag raised, Cassidy held second in the championship standings after spraying champagne from the top step, pushing Wehrlein into third. TAG Heuer Porsche remains first in the team battle for points. 

When the series says it’s not only the future of racing, but also the present, they aren’t exaggerating. Formula E is taking steps to both retain its current audience and attract new spectators. 

The partnership between Nissan’s Pole-to-Pole campaign, an expedition from the Arctic to the Antarctic in a Nissan Leaf, and the Nissan Formula E Team showed the direct correlation between tech on track directly improving road cars. 

People like relatability, and if fans can’t drive a race car, the next best thing is having similar technology in their own cars. 

The series recognizes not only is relatability key, accessibility is fundamental.

Following the race, Formula E announced a broadcast rights deal with CBS, Paramount+ and Roku. 

“This live sports rights acquisition demonstrates a demand for more motorsports series, an interest in electric series like Formula E and an understanding of how sports fans consume content today,” Toni Cowan-Brown, a motorsport content creator, said via Instagram and TikTok. 

Formula E seems well on its way to attracting a larger audience and, if this weekend proved anything, it won’t be difficult. 

From the security guard at the grandstands thrumming with excitement for “the first-ever electric race in America” to the friend of the raceway ATM installer who corrected his statement (Brooklyn, Long Beach and Miami hosted electric races previously) but shared his infectious elation, people are curious about the prospect of electric racing. 

It turns out, after all, a zing from a battery isn’t that different from the vroom of an engine. 

Cover photo courtesy of DPPI photos.