Formula E Preview: Can Dennis defend his title honours?

The Formula E season kicks off for its tenth year in 2024, havinglaunched for the first time in 2014. Jake Dennis heads into theyear as the defending champion, having sealed his first WorldChampionship with Andretti during the 2023 season. Only Jean-EricVergne has successfully managed to defend his title between the2017/18 and 2018/19, will Dennis be able to do the same in 2024? Hewill have some competition as Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans look toimprove on their fortunes having finished as runner-up last year,while Pascal Wehrlein will also be in the hunt at Porsche. Britishdriver Sam Bird will replace René Rast at the McLaren Formula Eteam, following a difficult third year with Jaguar. Oliver Rowlandalso returns to Formula E with Nissan, while Maserati has signedIndian driver Jehan Daruvala replacing Edoardo Mortara. RobinFrijns switches from Abt Cupra and returns this season to Envision,the team who took last year's Constructors' Championship. FellowDutch driver and 2019/20 champion Nyck de Vries also makes areturn. After a foray into Formula 1, he returns to the electricracing class at Mahindra. That team did not fare very well lastyear, so it is to be hoped that it can find its way to the frontthis season. The calendar A total of sixteen E-Prix's will be heldin 2024. The new season will kick off in Mexico, where the lightswill go out Saturday 13th January. After that, the circus willtravel on to Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, for two races. The highlight ofthe season, however, will be the E-Prix of Monaco, which will takeplace on April 27! The season will end with two races in China, theUnited States and Great Britain respectively. The last two raceswill take place in London, where on 21st July the next Formula EWorld Champion will be crowned. New rule When Formula E wascreated, it was not yet possible to complete a race with just onecar - drivers switched to a new car in between races. Now the carsare strong enough to cover an entire race distance and have anumber of gimmicks. For example, again this season, a driver cantemporarily use "Attack Mode" if the driver elects to take a'joker' lap to gain an extra 50 kilowatts of power. From the sixthrace in Italy, it will also introduce something new: 'AttackCharge' faster charging. Drivers must make a pit stop to enable'Attack Mode' to be used later. This pit stop may be made bydrivers only at the time indicated by race control. The stop takeslonger because of safety and a 'Boost Charger' is applied toquickly recharge the car. The drivers can then use the 'AttackMode' twice and have four kilowatts more power for the remainder ofthe race. The scoring? That's the same as Formula 1 between 1st and10th. If you take pole position, you do get an extra three points.How to watch Formula E live on TV In the UK you can watch Formula Eon both Discovery+ and TNT Sports. The first race of the seasonkicks off at 19:00 on TNT Sports 4.