Paris (AFP)

An updated 2022 calendar, without Cape Town (South Africa) and with Jakarta (Indonesia), and a change in the Formula E qualifying format were endorsed by the World Motorsport Council on Friday.

The schedule for next season still has 16 rounds but without South Africa on February 26.

The Cape Town ePrix is ​​replaced by a round on March 5 in a city to be determined.

The event scheduled for June 4 and so far had no destination will take place in Jakarta.

The qualifying format adopted for next season has a group stage, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.

Concretely, the pilots will first be divided into two groups of eleven (according to their classification in the championship) which will complete several laps for 10 minutes.

The fastest four in each group will advance to the knockout quarter-finals.

The four winners of these duels will advance to the semi-final on the same format, the two winners of the semi-finals to the final and the winner of the final will start from pole position.

This new format "was designed to remove the impact of the evolution of the track (which improves with the passing of qualifying, favoring the pilots starting later, note) while simplifying the comprehension for the fans and by optimizing the show with the duels ", justifies Frédéric Bertrand, responsible for Formula E within the International Automobile Federation (FIA), in a press release.

Until now, the drivers have been divided into four groups of six, each with 6 minutes on the track.

The fastest six then took the wheel to compete for pole position on one lap.

The 2022 Formula E season kicks off January 28-29 in Saudi Arabia.

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The updated 2022 season calendar:

January 28: Diriyah (Saudi Arabia)

January 29: Diriyah (Saudi Arabia)

February 12: Mexico City (Mexico)

March 5: to be determined

March 19: TBD (China)

April 9: Rome (Italy)

April 30: Monte-Carlo (Monaco)

May 14: Berlin (Germany)

June 4: Jakarta (Indonesia)

July 2: Vancouver (Canada) *

July 16: New York (United States)

July 17: New York (United States)

July 30: London (Great Britain)

July 31: London (Great Britain)

August 13: Seoul (South Korea)

August 14: Seoul (South Korea)

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