Formula E chief rejects women-only series
Formula E’s co-founder and chief championship officer Alberto Longo urged motorsport to compensate for decades of missed opportunities rather than create women-only series, as the world of racing confronts a stark gender imbalance.
“I firmly believe that if women are competitive, they should race against men, not have their own championship,” Longo told Reuters on Wednesday.
His approach contrasts sharply with Formula One’s F1 Academy, a support series aimed at helping female racers progress. Instead, Longo advocates for tackling the problem at its roots through Formula E’s FIA Girls on Track programme.
“50 years ago, a father would take his son to a karting track and his daughter shopping for dolls. Now, why not take both?” he said.
The scale of the challenge was evident at Formula E’s rookie test in Berlin in July, where four women participated. Abbi Pulling, last year’s F1 Academy champion and current GB3 competitor, was the highest-placed female driver, finishing 17th overall with Nissan.
“If people told me that a female driver was going to join Formula One or Formula E, I’d say we’re not quite there yet, we are half a century behind,” Longo added. “We are trying to make up those years so that they are equally competitive within the next 10 to 15 years. What we lack in most cases is a period of training. They have had far fewer kilometres and hours of competition. If you start racing from the age of six or eight, when you reach 16 you’ll be at the same level.”
Formula E’s Girls on Track, in its seventh year, has supported over 4,500 young people aged 12 to 18 in a sport in which women make up only 3 per cent of licensed competitors worldwide.
The championship, however, currently has no female drivers after featuring three in its early seasons, yet Longo says their corporate structure tells a different story.
“Women make up 54 per cent of Formula E’s workforce, with every team featuring female staff, from engineers to mechanics,” he added. “We certainly make room and open doors to make this possible.”
FORMULA E EYES GROWTH IN CHINA
Beyond gender diversity, Formula E is eyeing substantial growth in China, where the championship could expand to four rounds in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.
“I’ve never seen such an appetite from a country to be part of our championship,” Longo said.
The provisional 2025-26 calendar already features two Shanghai races scheduled for July 4-5, with additional slots on May 30 and June 20 yet to be filled.
“The growth of the category there is spectacular. It’s more than just strategy, it’s a voracious appetite for our products in Asia,” Longo said. “We want to grow there and they want us to grow, so it’s a perfect marriage.”
Longo said the contrast with the United States was pronounced, with President Donald Trump’s administration scaling back a number of EV incentives.
“In the U.S. it’s a little more difficult, perhaps because now they don’t have such a clear green agenda.”
Though Formula E plans at least two American races covering both coasts in the medium term, the series ultimately aims to race in six U.S. cities, Longo said.
Published on Oct 09, 2025