Formula E looking at 'all options' to get season back on track after coronavirus shutdown

The all-electric series could be held without spectators and away from city centres

BMW i Andretti Motorsport's British driver Alexander Sims at the front during Round 1 of the Formula E championship's season opening race; the Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia on November 22, 2019. Getty

Envision Virgin Racing's British driver Sam Bird during practice at the Diriyah E-Prix. Getty

Team Venturi Racing's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa during practice at the Diriyah E-Prix. Getty

Sam Bird celebrates after winning Round 1, Getty

TECHEETAH's French driver Jean-Eric Vergne. Getty

Envision Virgin Racing's Dutch driver Robin Frijns. Getty

Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrlein. Getty

Alexander Sims at, the second race in Saudi Arabia. Getty

Nissan e.dams' Siwss driver Sebastien Buemi during Round 2 in Saudi Arabia. Getty

Mercedes' Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne during practice. (Photo by Getty

Alexander Sims leads the way in Round 2. Getty

Alexander Sims celebrates winning Round 2. Getty

The Formula E series could run races without spectators and away from city centres to finish a season put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief executive Jamie Reigle said "all options" were being considered during the crisis which has led to two of the all-electric series' top venues being turned into temporary hospitals

The current calendar is scheduled to end at London's ExCeL Exhibition Centre on July 25-26 with cars racing through the building on a circuit that also takes in the Royal Docks waterfront.

The facility has been converted into the Nightingale Hospital, which will eventually be able to treat about 4,000 Covid-19 patients.

The round in New York on July 11 uses the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal site that is being transformed into a temporary hospital. New York has been the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

"Clearly, I can’t look you in the eye and say we’re going to race [on those dates in London and New York] given that pattern," Reigle said.

"Could we race later in the year? We’re looking at all options right now.

"In simple terms, if you work backwards from next season, which starts in the middle of December, we’re trying to shrink that off-season period as much as we can to create space in the calendar to race in August and September."

Reigle said the sport's teams, manufacturers and partners were supportive.

He added that there was a regular dialogue with ExCeL's owners over dates but other options were under discussion for a city-based series that runs on temporary street layouts to promote electric vehicles and cleaner energy.

"We find ourselves of course in a very different moment and I think everyone is in improvise mode so we need to look at all alternatives," said Reigle, speaking from Singapore.

"We’ll look at behind closed doors, we’ll look at tracks, we’ll look at venues that otherwise wouldn’t be a natural Formula E venue.

"That doesn’t signal a change in the overall strategy, it’s just a reflection of the current circumstances."

Reigle hoped next season would start as planned and saw two main ways of getting this one done.

"One is some races in Europe and in Asia in July and August and September, which are more typical Formula E races in cities, and then there’s the behind closed doors at tracks and in remote locations," he said.

"I’ll be very disappointed if we don’t start our next season in December. But I suspect if that’s the case we’ll be dealing with much bigger issues than racing calendars."

Reigle remained optimistic about Formula E's future, despite the shock to the global economy.

"I fundamentally believe that Formula E’s proposition is sound for the medium term," he said. "There’s a trend toward electric vehicles, consumers want them, there’s regulatory pressure for auto manufacturers to shift towards electric vehicles.

"With people stopping moving around, the pollution levels have come right down ... it’s really demonstrated that human activity has a direct impact on the climate and not just in the long term but the very short term.

"We think that lends credibility to our story. So the business model for Formula E is sound. There’s no doubt we face headwinds though. I don’t want to sugar coat that in any way."

Formula E has already postponed the introduction of its new Gen2 car for a year as part of cost-saving measures.

It announced on Tuesday a partnership with the UN children's fund UNICEF to support a global coronavirus appeal.