What is the difference between Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula E?
They are three distinct championships with different technical rules, purposes and business models.
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of open-wheel motorsport. Constructors build their own cars, which is the defining feature — teams design chassis and aerodynamics themselves, and much of the competition is engineering rather than driving. Current cars use 1.6-litre turbo hybrid power units producing around 1,000bhp combined, and budgets run into hundreds of millions, now constrained by a cost cap introduced in 2021.
Formula 2 is the primary feeder series, and it is spec: every team uses an identical car built by a single supplier, with a standard engine. Because the machinery is equal, results reflect driver ability far more directly, which is exactly what it exists to demonstrate. It runs mostly on F1 weekends at the same circuits.
F2 is part of a formal ladder — Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, then F1 — and superlicence points earned by finishing position in these series are required to race in F1, a system introduced to ensure drivers are qualified.
Formula E is the all-electric championship, and differs most.
Fully electric single-seaters, with a spec battery and chassis but manufacturer-developed powertrains — so it is a partial constructor series.
Street circuits predominantly, in city centres, because the series was designed around urban air quality messaging and accessibility.
Energy management is the core discipline. Races are defined by energy allocation rather than distance alone, so drivers manage consumption throughout — a genuinely different skill from conventional racing. Attack Mode gives a temporary power boost in exchange for driving through an off-line activation zone.
Regeneration under braking is substantial, and cars have no conventional gearbox in the usual sense.
Sound is the most obvious difference to spectators, and remains divisive.