This weekend the Formula 1 drivers have some time off, but for Nyck de Vries, Robin Frijns and all the other Formula E drivers it's race weekend time again, and for the first time in history the electric circus travels to a permanent circuit. It is time for the ePrix of Valencia.

Circuit Ricardo Tormo

This weekend, Formula E will race on a permanent circuit for the first time. The Circuit Ricardo Tormo is the stage for the third weekend of this season, and after Double Headers in Saudi Arabia and Rome, there will also be two races in Valencia. This means that there are a lot of points to be distributed in Valencia.

The Circuit Ricardo Tormo was built in 1999 and bears the name of the Spanish motorcyclist who died in 1998 due to leukemia. Many classes have driven on the circuit, including the Formula 1. This was only the case for tests by F1 teams. The lap record during a race is held by Andreas Zuber, who drove a lap of 1.21.244 in his GP2 car in 2006.

Formula E in 2021

As has been the case every year, Formula E will be a spectacle to watch again this season. You never know who will be on pole and who will win, with four different men on pole and four different winners after the first four races. You have to perform consistently to be a champion in FE.

Someone who's not normally known for that is Sam Bird. The Brit is fast, but he's also been in the wall plenty of times. He crashed out twice this season, but finished first and second in the other two races. Despite two losses, he is the leader in the championship. This is mainly because everyone seems to be making mistakes.

With Mitch Evans on P2, it's a successful start to the season for Jaguar, which has competition mainly from Mercedes. Stoffel Vandoorne 'finally' won in Rome, while De Vries could not find his strong form of Jeddah again. Robin Frijns has also started the season well, and is now third in the standings. Last year's champion, Antonio Felix da Costa, is only on P10 with 21 points. The differences are small though. Da Costa is only 22 points behind leader Bird.

Prediction for Valencia

Making a prediction for an ePrix is always difficult, because of the special way of qualifying in Formula E. The best men in the standings have to go out first, and drive on a track that is still dirty, so there is less grip. The last group is the most likely to get pole, but those guys aren't always good enough for pole.

In the last qualifying group we find André Lotterer and Nick Cassidy, who showed in Romeo that they have the speed to compete for the win. Lotterer has been on the podium six times in Formula E, but has never won. Cassidy is a rookie who made a terrible mistake from pole in Rome. The speed is there, now we have to finish a race.

In group three there are better men, who have not had a lot of luck this season. Think of former champion Sebastien Buemi, or Maximilian Günther and Lucas di Grassi. All strong drivers, who haven't had a great performance this season.

It's difficult to predict, as a shower in the middle of qualifying could spoil the race for the later groups. The race also offers plenty of opportunities this weekend, as the Valencia permanent circuit seems to offer plenty of overtaking opportunities for the drivers. Excitement is guaranteed this weekend.

Timetable ePrix of Valencia

Saturday

Free practice 1: 07:20 - 08:05

Free practice 2: 09:15 - 09:45

Qualifying: 11:00 - 12:00

Race: 15:04 - 16:00

Sunday

Free practice 3: 08:00 - 08:45

Qualifying: 10:00 - 11:00

Race: 14:04 - 15:00