The Chilean capital Santiago has quickly established itself as a staple of the Formula E calendar. It’s a race that never fails to deliver on drama and 2020 is set to be no different.
As we look forward to the Santiago E-Prix on 18 January, here are the things you need to know.
Where is the Santiago race held?
The Santiago race moved to the Parque O’Higgins circuit last season and has established itself as the new home of the Santiago E-Prix. The 2.3km track lies within one of Santiago’s largest parks and is named after one of the founding fathers of Chile, Bernardo O’Higgins .
For the season 6 E-Prix, race organisers have removed a chicane, leaving drivers with 11 corners to navigate instead of 14.
What happened last time around?
The 2019 Santiago E-Prix was an incident-fuelled race with only 14 of the 22 starters making it to the finish line.
Cars clashed left, right and centre and some technical problems added to the chaos. Oliver Rowland, André Lotterer and Felipe Massa all found themselves in the wall during the race, along with pole sitter and race leader Sébastien Buemi, who was forced to retire.
A lot of action was packed into the 45 minute + 1 lap race, that’s for sure!
Is there something in the air in Santiago that makes for exciting races?
Yes, actually. January is the hottest month of the year in Santiago, creating challenging track conditions. Track temperatures could well edge towards 40℃, which will cause significant tyre degradation issues. As in last season’s race, marbles are likely to lead to one or two incidents during the 2020 Santiago E-Prix, making great viewing for fans.
Who were the previous winners?
Envision Virgin driver Sam Bird secured victory in 2019 with a massive 6.489 second lead. The third different race winner in the first three races of the 2018/19 season, Bird left Santiago as the championship leader.
Jean-Éric Vergne took the top step of the podium in 2018 to score his second Formula E victory. His Techeetah teammate Lotterer came second, resulting in Formula E’s first one-two finish.
Sounds like it will be a great race! How can I watch it? What time will it start?
If you’re based in the UK, you can watch the race live on BBC iPlayer or Eurosport 2. Click here for ways to watch in other locations.
The race will start at 19:03 GMT (to be precise!), which is 16:03 local time.
If you have Saturday night plans and won’t be able to watch the race, Formula E Fanzone will be running a live blog, bringing you all the action as it happens.
