Rain forecast forces Shanghai E-Prix schedule change

Formula E will see a change to its planned Shanghai E-Prix schedule on Sunday, as heavy rain poses a threat to the running of the second race of the weekend.

In Saturday’s race, the first round of its double-header weekend in China, Maximilian Guenther secured his second victory for DS Penske in an action-packed race at the Shanghai International Circuit, with his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne making it a maiden 1-2 for the American team.

Tomorrow will likely be a very different day, with heavy rain forecast across the municipality for the majority of Sunday.

The amended schedule will now see Free Practice 3 moved an hour earlier to 07:00 local time, with the same for qualifying which is now at 09:00 local time in Shanghai. The race has also been reshuffled and lights out will be at 13:00 local time.

It’s understood that if rain prevents any times being set in FP3 or qualifying, the results from the second free practice on Saturday will be used to form the starting grid, meaning Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa would be on pole and McLaren’s Taylor Barnard would start alongside him on the front row.

A spokesperson for Formula E confirmed: “As the inclement weather forecast for Sunday’s race is anticipated to impact the current sporting schedule for Round 11, the 2025 Shanghai E-Prix, together with the FIA, teams and manufacturers have taken the decision to amend the event timings in order to allow maximum track sessions to go ahead, taking into consideration rain and light conditions.

“The safety and experience of our fans, guests and personnel are our highest priority as we aim to put on the best racing spectacle possible here in China. We thank the organisers and local authorities for their prompt and unified response and we look forward to another successful Shanghai E-Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit tomorrow.”

This is the second Formula E race weekend in succession that has been heavily impacted by the elements, after qualifying was cancelled entirely in Tokyo earlier this month.

As wet races impact the championship more regularly, with the past three events all affected by rain, the majority of drivers are discontent with the all-weather Hankook compound available to the grid.

“It is not a wet tyre, it doesn’t work in the wet at any point,” McLaren’s Sam Bird told Autosport after Monaco. “Even the guys that came at the front can say it doesn’t even work in the wet. All the drivers have said similar things [about introducing a full wet tyre] for quite a while, not just with the current supplier.

“It has been a bit of, not an issue, but when you are racing and you’re pushing the rubber, the rubber is going to move and manipulate itself and anytime you have a tread block of any sort that then can push water away, it’s not going to be good in the dry.

“Similarly if you have a block that is good with dry running, it is never going to be able to dissipate water. It is very challenging.

“The cars are getting so quick now, I think Formula E should consider bringing a form of wet tyre to the races.”

Bridgestone has already been confirmed as the championship’s sole tyre supplier from the 2026/2027 season onwards through to 2029/30 – the Gen4 era.

It will become the third different tyre supplier the championship has seen since its inception in 2014, after Michelin started things off as a founding partner until Hankook took over from the 2022/23 season.