This weekend (28-30 July), the third season of the FIA Formula E Championship will be decided on the streets of Montreal, as the all-electric racing series makes is first visit to Canada with a circuit comprising 2.75km and 14 corners in the centre of the city.

The likely showdown will be between championship leader, Renault e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi, who is bidding to become Formula E’s first double champion, and Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport’s Lucas di Grassi who trails his season-long rival by ten points. Buemi has been in imperious form throughout this campaign, with six wins to his name, but with the Swiss driver having missed the last two races in New York City and thus scoring no points, the consistently quick di Grassi is within touching distance and will be doing all he can in Montreal to overhaul the reigning champion.

Buemi and di Grassi both have team-mates who will be fighting hard to bring their respective squads to glory. Renault e.dams’ Nicolas Prost is the only driver to have scored points in every single race this season, while Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport’s Daniel Abt has been very strong in recent races despite suffering a lot of bad luck.

Behind the battle for the title, two other drivers are still mathematically capable of overall victory, but the gap is such that both would need a perfect weekend with the top two not scoring to make any impact. Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist has been in strong form in the second half of the season and sits third in the standings whilst Sam Bird took two sensational wins in the New York City double-header for DS Virgin Racing and will be riding a wave of confidence across the border to Canada. The pair will most likely be duking it out for third-place honours in the standings across the weekend’s two races.

With the last two opportunities of the season coming up, a number of the series’ top drivers will be hoping to get their first wins in Montreal. Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Mahindra’s Nick Heidfeld have both be regular visitors to the podium but have yet to take to the top step, so expect them to be pushing hard to end the season on a high.

With such an exciting battle for the title in prospect and every driver looking to make the best of the final event in season three, the FIA Formula E Championship is certain to provide the thousands of Montrealers and millions more watching around the world with a fantastic racing climax.

Away from the circuit, the FIA Smart Cities Forum compliments the season finale on Friday. Entitled The Role of Smart Data in Unlocking Urban Mobility Solutions, the day-long programme will open a discussion on how to find a right balance between efficient data analysis and its practical application with the aim of improving urban transportation systems. Proceedings will be opened by FIA President Jean Todt, as well as Denis Coderre, the Mayor of Montreal, Tim Shearman, FIA Region III President and CEO, CAA, Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag, Pierre Arcand, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Quebec and Faraday Future Dragon Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio. Participants will share perspectives of both public and private sectors on the role of smart data in shaping resilient urban environments.

The city is undoubtedly well aligned with the sustainable mobility messages the FIA Formula E Championship brings with it as it tours the globe. Almost all (99 per cent) of Montreal’s electricity comes from renewables, with hydroelectric the primary source, supplemented by wind and biomass production. In fact, the province of Quebec is the fourth largest producer of hydro-electricity in the world behind China, Brazil and the US.

Quebec has committed to a wide-ranging programme of electrification within the city, with a pledge to have 100,000 electric cars on the road by 2020. To aid this Montreal plans to have 1000 charging stations installed by that point.

Event Timetable

SATURDAY, JULY 29

08:00 - 08:45: PRACTICE 1

10:00: Qualifying group lottery, Podium / Allianz eVillage

10:30 - 11:00: PRACTICE 2

12:00 - 12:06: QUALIFYING GROUP 1
12:10 - 12:16: QUALIFYING GROUP 2
12:20 - 12:26: QUALIFYING GROUP 3
12:30 - 12:36: QUALIFYING GROUP 4
12:45 - 13:00: SUPER POLE

13:45 - 14:00: eRace, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

14:00 - 14:30: Autograph session, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

15:00 - 15:10: Driver parade

16:00: Montreal ePRIX (35 laps)

17:05: Podium ceremony, Podium

18:10: Qualifying group lottery, Podium / Allianz eVillage

SUNDAY, JULY 30

08:00 - 08:45: PRACTICE 1

10:00: Qualifying group lottery, Podium / Allianz eVillage

10:30 - 11:00: PRACTICE 2

12:00 - 12:06: QUALIFYING GROUP 1
12:10 - 12:16: QUALIFYING GROUP 2
12:20 - 12:26: QUALIFYING GROUP 3
12:30 - 12:36: QUALIFYING GROUP 4
12:45 - 13:00: SUPER POLE

13:45 - 14:00: eRace, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

14:00 - 14:30: Autograph session, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

15:00 - 15:10: Driver parade

16:00: Montreal ePRIX (37 laps)

17:05: Podium ceremony, Podium

18:10: Qualifying group lottery, Podium / Allianz eVillage

Championship standings

Entry List