Formula E races in China for the first time in seven years this weekend, with the Sanya E-Prix reviving a venue last used in 2019 and dropping the all-electric championship's title contenders onto a circuit most of the grid has never seen in a current-generation car.
The race on the southern island of Hainan is Round 11 of 17 and marks the start of the run toward the season finale in London. It is Formula E's first visit to Sanya since Season 5, when the cars were slower, the field was smaller and the calendar was still finding its feet. Only eight drivers on the current grid have raced the 2,520-metre, 12-turn street layout before.
One of them is Jean-Eric Vergne, who won here in 2019 on his way to a second straight title and now drives for Citroen. He is wary of leaning too hard on old notes.
"Sanya is a circuit I remember well... a lot has changed since then. The cars are different; the championship is even more competitive and the level across the grid is incredibly high," Vergne said. He expects the layout to reward calculated risk: "It's a track that can create interesting races because energy management plays such a big role."
At the front of the standings, Jaguar's Mitch Evans carries a 19-point lead over reigning champion Oliver Rowland, with Edoardo Mortara and Pascal Wehrlein next and fewer than 30 points covering the top four. Evans, who will leave Jaguar at the end of the season after a decade with the British team, has won every honour at the Kidlington squad except the drivers' crown - and he is not about to overcomplicate the chase.
"I think we should continue what we're doing: minimise mistakes and keep preparing well," Evans told RacingNews365. "I think I can have good pace in the car now, like we showed in Monaco - good race pace and good one-lap pace. So we just need to continue that."
Citroen are among the teams chasing the leaders, and team principal Cyril Blais framed the Asian leg as a turning point.
"Sanya marks the beginning of an important phase of the season and it's good to see Formula E returning to a circuit with such unique characteristics," Blais said. "The championship remains incredibly competitive, and we know how small the margins are."
His driver Nick Cassidy, who has never raced at Sanya, is treating it as a step into the unknown.
"Whenever you go to a circuit you haven't raced at before, there are always a few unknowns," Cassidy said. "Sanya looks like a circuit where energy management, braking and race execution will be particularly important."
Practice opens on Friday before qualifying and the race on Saturday, 20 June. With the field bunched and a track that punishes any waste of energy, the return to China shapes up as the kind of unpredictable afternoon Formula E has built its name on - and a chance for Evans to land the blow his title bid still lacks.
---
