“We wouldn’t be in existence now; we’d have gone out of business years ago.” During his tenure as CEO of Formula E, Jeff Dodds has never been afraid of pushing boundaries when it comes to the all-electric championship.

Even before Dodds’ arrival in mid-2023, Formula E had garnered a reputation as a new and exciting motorsport series that defied general conventions, almost deliberately making waves as the new kid on the block. It’s a strategy which, as Dodds points out above, arguably ensured its survival in a cut-throat industry.

Those waves have become even bigger over the last two seasons with Dodds at the helm. From a public wager that Max Verstappen would not win the 2024 Formula 1 title, to in-race mandatory recharging pitstops that will make their debut at the next round in Jeddah. But Formula E’s latest concept is arguably its most eye-catching yet.

Earlier this week it announced Evo Sessions in which 11 celebrities and influencers, including the likes of Brooklyn Beckham and ex-footballer Sergio Aguero, will experience the new Gen3 Evo machines first-hand. It’s certainly not the first time media personalities have been given the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a racing car.

Celebrity races are now a thing of the past but were once a common sight at many race meetings around the world, while Formula E has previously put the likes of eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt and actor Adrien Brody behind the wheel for a few demo laps during a race weekend.

But this new event, on a truncated version of the Miami International Autodrome no less, will take things a step further, with each celebrity embarking on a driving journey that will consist of simulator sessions, physical conditioning, driver coaching and engineering debriefs with one of the 11 teams. In essence, it aims to showcase to more than 300 million people – the combined following of all the celebrities – what goes into becoming a racing driver and just how difficult it is to drive, let alone race, the latest iteration of electric cars.

Celebrities have driven the Gen3 car many times, with Olympian Usain Bolt one of several to get behind the wheel

Photo by: FIA Formula E

It’s a concept that has some merits and actually isn’t the first time such an idea has been put into action, with Twitch and YouTube streamers taking to the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans in Formula 4 machinery for a race back in 2022. While it could be argued that Formula E’s concept is being done on a grander scale with more high-profile figures, with a greater social media following and even faster cars there is one crucial difference – no race will actually take place.

Instead, each celebrity driver will simply conduct laps on their own as they try and get close to the benchmark time set by each teams’ respective regular driver. Dodds freely admits that it “would be the worst event to sit and watch in history” as a spectator with only one driver occupying the circuit at any given time and no competitive element in play. For this reason, the event will remain closed to the public.

That in itself feels like a massive missed opportunity as, while the on-track activities will more than likely verge on watching paint dry, having off-track fan engagement would have been an easy sell to an American audience infatuated by celebrity culture. Whether the ‘magic of editing’ can make the on-track spectacle any more appealing when the content is shared out on social platforms remains to be seen, but Dodds makes no apology for what has been decided.

“If we only played it safe and didn’t try and innovate, so we didn’t do Pit Boost, we didn’t do the Evo Sessions, we didn’t do any of this stuff, then we’ll be sitting here with 150 million fans today, not 400 million”
Jeff Dodds

“What crosses my mind when I wake up every morning is we have this great sport, great drivers, great car on a really strong innovation curve,” Dodds tells Autosport in an exclusive interview. “How can I show more people that product and how can I grow the importance and the noise around the sport?

“Inevitably that means you have to push the boundaries and treat it like a sports entertainment product, not just a sport product, and inevitably it means not everyone agrees with what you’re doing. But I can promise you, if we only played it safe and didn’t try and innovate, so we didn’t do Pit Boost, we didn’t do the Evo Sessions, we didn’t do any of this stuff, then we’ll be sitting here with 150 million fans today, not 400 million.”

In this day and age of social media and livestreaming platforms, sporting ‘gimmicks’ have become all the rage – think ex-heavyweight boxing world champion Mike Tyson being reduced to spending his time in the ring ‘fighting’ Jake Paul for vast amounts of money.

Hardcore boxing fans were in uproar and it’s easy to see why motorsport traditionalists will feel the same way in March, but it’s not surprising that Formula E has gone down this route. Its core audience is younger than other leading motorsport championships, whose first taste of racing isn’t the rorty sound of V10 engines, but more likely the whooshing of electric vehicles.

Formula E picks its locations to bring electric racing to the fans, but its latest initiative is arguably its boldest yet

Formula E picks its locations to bring electric racing to the fans, but its latest initiative is arguably its boldest yet

Photo by: Beto Issa – Motorsport Images

That the event is taking place is almost a moot point compared to a more pressing question. That is, why an event such as this is being held at the expense of an actual FIA-sanctioned, championship race.

The 5-6 March date sits exactly a month either side of the Jeddah double-header and the inaugural race at the Homestead–Miami Speedway, with that slot slated as a TBC on the provisional schedule. A race in Thailand’s Chiang Mai city was touted as the destination for a race, before a change in government meant a deal was not possible, and a decision needed to be made on whether to find a substitute venue.

Dodds adds: “The alternative for that was, ‘Let’s go and book a fixed circuit somewhere that we’re not particularly proud of or try and do something slightly innovative and disruptive in the slot.’”

Disruptive is a word that has followed Formula E since it was founded in 2014, especially in the eyes of traditional motorsport enthusiasts. Although it may not make itself many friends in the motorsport world, there’s every chance it might just make itself some new fans who, as of right now, have never even heard of the championship.

“If we sit at the end of this and I’ve had half a dozen racing fans tell me they think it’s ridiculous, but we’ve added 50 million fans to the championship, then that’ll feel like a pretty good return on investment,” says Dodds. “If we go through this exercise and it doesn’t add any fans and it’s not particularly compelling content for the creators, then it won’t have been a good exercise, but we’re a young, innovative, test and learn type of business.

“We’re 10-years-old and we aspire to be in 2030, the second biggest motorsport in the world, just behind Formula 1. To do that, we’ve got to grow our fanbase. There are very few ways you can attract completely new people to the sport; you have to go and fish in their pond, which means we’ve got to find ways of ways of doing that. We think this is a pretty compelling format to do it in.”

Formula E CEO Dodds is convinced that his plan will be the right move if it attracts new fans, even if it risks upsetting traditionalists

Photo by: Andreas Beil

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