Brendon Hartley will put WEC before Formula E if clashes continue
With a return to the FIA World Endurance Championship confirmed earlier this year it seemed clashes would rule Brendon Hartley out of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.
However, Hartley has since signed with GEOX Dragon Racing for Season 6 of the all-electric single seater series.
There remain some calendar clashes, but TOYOTA GAZOO Racing have confirmed Hartley will put the WEC before his single seater commitments.
The 8 Hours of Bahrain currently clashes with a to-be-confirmed event on 14 December 2019. Early reports by eracing365 suggest that TBC date may be scrapped entirely by the Formula E organisers, which would alleviate any problems.
The 1000 Miles of Sebring on 20 March next year currently clashes with a Formula E race in China on the same weekend. The host city for the race hasn’t been announced, but is expected to take place in Sanya again as it did in Season 5. The China race is reportedly set to move forward a week though.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing told eracing365: “In the event of a clash between WEC and Formula E races, Brendon will give priority to his WEC commitments.”
If the clashes remain Hartley will have to step down for those two weekends with priority firmly on the 2019-’20 FIA World Endurance Championship alongside Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.
Hartley isn’t the only driver facing the same issues. Buemi will likely return for the Nissan e.dams outfit.
2019–'20 FIA World Endurance Championship
Round | Race | Circuit | Date |
1 | 4 Hours of Silverstone | ![]() |
1 September 2019 |
2 | 6 Hours of Fuji | ![]() |
6 October 2019 |
3 | 4 Hours of Shanghai | ![]() |
10 November 2019 |
4 | 8 Hours of Bahrain | ![]() |
14 December 2019 |
5 | 6 Hours of São Paulo | ![]() |
1 February 2020 |
6 | 1000 Miles of Sebring | ![]() |
20 March 2020 |
7 | 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps | ![]() |
25 April 2020 |
8 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | ![]() |
13–14 June 2020 |
2018–19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship
Round | ePrix | Circuit | Date |
1 | Ad Diriyah ePrix | Riyadh Street Circuit | 15 December 2018 |
2 | Marrakesh ePrix | Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan | 12 January 2019 |
3 | Santiago ePrix | Parque O'Higgins Circuit | 26 January 2019 |
4 | Mexico City ePrix | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | 16 February 2019 |
5 | Hong Kong ePrix | Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit | 10 March 2019 |
6 | Sanya ePrix | Haitang Bay Circuit | 23 March 2019 |
7 | Rome ePrix | Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR | 13 April 2019 |
8 | Paris ePrix | Circuit des Invalides | 27 April 2019 |
9 | Monaco ePrix | Circuit de Monaco | 11 May 2019 |
10 | Berlin ePrix | Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit | 25 May 2019 |
11 | Swiss ePrix | Bern Street Circuit | 22 June 2019 |
12 | New York City ePrix Race 1 | Brooklyn Street Circuit | 13 July 2019 |
13 | New York City ePrix Race 2 | 14 July 2019 |
Photo: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

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