The Formula E season gets underway: Hankook is ready for the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix

■ Hankook Mexico City E-Prix to take place on January 14 in Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues, Mexico City

■ Opening race of Formula E Season 9 with Hankook as title sponsor

■ Debut race for the upgraded Gen3 cars fitted with Hankook iON Race

Neu-Isenburg, Germany, January 10, 2023 – Global leading tire company Hankook Tire – new official technical partner and tire supplier of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and title sponsor of the opening race of Season 9 – is prepared and ready. The Hankook Mexico City E-Prix takes place on January 14 and is the first of eleven race weekends, with a total of 16 races, around the world this year.

Many Hankook engineers and service technicians are on site to support the eleven teams with a comprehensive tire service in the global metropolis. “We have invested two years in the development of the Hankook iON Race. Roughly 70 specifications were tested at the track before we came up with the final version. The test in Valencia in mid-December also provided us with more valuable information and findings. We are ready for Mexico and looking forward to the first race of Season 9,” says Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director.

For the 22 drivers, this season heralds a new era: As well as the new top-of-the-range product from Hankook, the Gen3 cars are also set for their race debut in Mexico. They are the fastest, lightest and most efficient single-seater electric race cars in the world. Roughly 40,000 spectators are expected at the event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

The Mexico City track was designed for Formula E in 2016 and uses the iconic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack. It is not only one of the fastest tracks on the calendar but, at 2,250 meters above sea level, is also the highest. The layout for the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix features a mix of long, fast straights and a technical infield section through the legendary Foro Sol baseball stadium. The track is in length of 2.63km, featuring 19 corners – twelve right and seven left.

The first free practice session of the season takes place on Friday, January 13, from 16:30 to 17:00 (local time). Saturday’s action gets off to an early start at 07:30 with the second 30-minute practice session. Qualifying follows from 09:40 to 10:55. The 22 drivers then embark on the first one-hour race of the year at exactly 14:03. The current schedule can be found at https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/races.

Hankook mastered the dress rehearsal for the start of the Formula E season, in January in Mexico, without any issues. During the five-day test in Valencia, Spain, in mid-December 2022, the Hankook iON Race impressed teams with its strong performance – both in the dry and on a wet track. “The test was extremely positive. We were particularly pleased when it rained, as that allowed us to gather more information on the performance in wet conditions,” says Thomas Baltes, Hankook’s Formula E race engineer.

Over the course of the five days of testing, the drivers completed 5,128 laps and covered a total distance of 17,300 kilometers. That is roughly the same distance as from the test circuit in Valencia, Spain, to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, the venue for the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix. Maximilian Guenther from Maserati MSG Racing set a Formula E test lap record of 1:25.127 minutes on the new Hankook iON Race in Valencia.

Hankook Tire celebrates another first in Mexico City with Girls on Track
This season, Hankook is the official presenting partner of the FIA initiative Girls on Track, offering the program in the racing cities of Mexico City, Diriyah, São Paulo and Jakarta. The program’s objective is to actively promote young women and gender equality through innovative and positive means in motorsport. Roughly 400 girls will participate in the program at the venues throughout Season 9. Furthermore, it is also possible to take part virtually for the first time. Hankook is presenting its commitment to social sustainability and gender diversity alongside its current partners, ABB and the FIA.

Hankook listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the seventh time in a row
For the seventh time in a row, Hankook is one of the exemplary companies listed in the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for industry-leading sustainability. This sees the company consolidate its leading role in the areas of the environment, social and corporate governance (ESG). With 326 businesses listed, the DJSI World currently comprises 12.8 percent of the 2,555 biggest companies in the world. Hankook is among the most important representatives of the automotive supply industry.

In the meantime, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship came out on top in a sustainability study encompassing more than 300 global sporting organizations. The “Global Sustainability Benchmark in Sports” study investigated the sustainability activities of such organizations as Formula 1, the NBA and NFL, FIFA, as well as various clubs (New York Yankees, FC Barcelona, Manchester United). Formula E occupied the top spot in three of four categories: Best Corporate Performance, Best Environmental Performance, and Best Governance Performance.