A memorably chaotic first race of the 2025-26 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is picked over by Andrew van de Burgt and Sam Smith as Jake Dennis took the first win of the campaign and Pepe Marti hit the headlines with massive accident.

The new season also witnessed excellent drives by reigning champion Oliver Rowland in second place and Nick Cassidy who sealed a debut podium for the Citroen Racing squad in third after a typically clinical run.

The chaos wasn’t confined to Marti’s acrobatics, as Lucas di Grassi shunted out Edoardo Mortara, while series veterans Mitch Evans and Sebastien Buemi also clashed on more than one occasion.

But it will be Marti’s disastrous mistake which will be recalled from 2025 Sao Paulo EPrix, and The Race speaks to the Spanish rookie about the incident that ended an otherwise strong debut.

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A bumper edition of The Race Formula E podcast previews the 12th season of the only all-electric World Championship, which looks set for its closest ever campaign beginning at Sao Paulo on December 6.

Hosts Andrew van de Burgt and Sam Smith are joined by former McLaren and Mercedes engineering head Albert Lau, as they attempt to Andrew some of the key questions ahead of the action beginning.

Who will be champion, how many will win races, can rookies Felipe Drugovich and Pepe Martin thrives, and what will a successful season look like for promoters Formula E Operations? All these and many more ponderings are tucked in to as the final season of the Gen3 rules set gets really to play out.

One of the key protagonists, Nick Cassidy also joins Sam and Andrew to offer his expertise on how close the action is likely to be. The 10 time E-Prix winner jumps from Jaguar to new entry Citroen this season, and the Kiwi discusses both how he has settled in to his new environment and also his recent test in the headline hitting Gen4 development car.

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Formula E pre-season testing returned to Valencia after a year away and gave hosts Andrew van de Burgt and Sam Smith several headaches during the traditional guessing game of who might be favourites for the coming season.

Was there any kind of hierarchy forming? What are the chances of Oliver Rowland going back-to-back? And just where does Stoffel Vandoorne fit in to the Gen4 driver market?

These are just some of the questions that are tackled in the latest episode of The Race Formula E podcast, which sees Smith getting trackside at Valencia where he was especially impressed by one manufacturer.

The second women’s test is also picked over, as are several listeners' questions as our team discuss Jacques Villeneuve’s questionable Formula E legacy, Felipe Massa’s poor choice in picking fights, and why a Chinese manufacturer is yet to be seen in recent Formula E action.

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