Max Verstappen and Formula E Jeff Dodds wager their donation, as BMW announces WEC and IMSA line-up for 2025 season.
Max Verstappen, Formula E –
Formula E has announced the donation of $250,000 split equally between two impactful causes: advancing the participation of women in Formula E, and to Wings For Life foundation for spinal cord research. The donation was originally pledged as part of a ‘wager’ made by Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds in an interview early in 2024, in which he committed $250,000 to a charity if any other driver beat Max Verstappen to win the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Following Max’s convincing fourth-consecutive championship victory, Jeff and Max discussed the ‘wager’ during a video call ahead of the opening round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s Season 11 that took place in São Paulo, Brazil on 7 December. After Jeff congratulated Max on his victory – and claiming, tongue firmly in cheek, that his title was never in doubt – the pair agreed to split the funds 50/50 to benefit a charity they each chose.
$125,000 has been pledged by Max to Wings For Life, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s partner charity, which aims to find a cure for spinal cord injury. Jeff then committed the remaining $125,000 to establish a new fund supporting initiatives dedicated to providing greater opportunities for women in motorsport.
Following Formula E’s ground-breaking all-women’s Test – the first-ever of its kind test event for an FIA World Championship – which took place in Madrid in November with 18 of the world’s best women drivers, Formula E is developing strategic initiatives to support parity and inclusion for women in the sport, with further announcements to be made in due course.
Formula E is proud to announce that the first initiative funded as part of the new $125,000 fund will be a strategic research partnership with More Than Equal. The independent, not-for-profit organisation was founded with research, data-driven insight, talent identification and driver development as its core goals.
More Than Equal and Formula E have commissioned research to understand the barriers – systemic, technical and cultural – faced by women striving to race full-time at the highest level in Formula E. The research will support Formula E in better understanding talent pathways and build a tangible framework for the future diversity of the championship.
Jeff Dodds, CEO, Formula E, said: “What started as a very tongue-in-cheek ‘bet’ at the start of the season has evolved into a serious commitment to support gender equity within our Championship, with the ultimate goal of seeing women competing full-time in Formula E. As a first step, the research we have commissioned in partnership with More Than Equal will help us better understand the barriers to entry that women currently face, and how specifically Formula E and our teams can provide greater parity, opportunities and inclusion at the top level of our championship.
“My thanks also go to Max and Oracle Red Bull Racing for committing half of the money from my original wager to Wings For Life to support the important work they do around spinal cord research. Congratulations to Max on his fourth-consecutive World Drivers’ Championship and we look forward to even more competitive racing next season. Meanwhile, the new Formula E season is already well underway and we’re excited to showcase more thrilling races, lots of exciting overtaking and fantastic wheel-to-wheel action for our fans across the globe.”
During the call, Max Verstappen, Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, said: “The charity closest to me is Wings For Life and I’m sure they’ll be very grateful; and to support any kind of motorsport and young talent is amazing, so I think it’s a great shout from you. Thank you very much Jeff, I wish you all the best of course, and I’ll be watching the championship during my time off!”
Dr. Fran Longstaff, Head of Research at More than Equal, said: “Formula E has demonstrated a strong commitment to developing and providing opportunities for female drivers, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on this important research initiative. This project will use our expertise to identify the key factors that contribute to success in this unique and rapidly evolving series, which demands a distinctive blend of skills and experience. By working closely with drivers, team managers, engineers, and other experts, we aim to translate these insights into actionable recommendations for driver development.”
Anita Gerhardter, CEO, Wings for Life, said: “A big thank you to Jeff Dodds, the entire Formula E team and Max Verstappen for this generous donation to Wings for Life. 100% of the donation will go towards promising research projects around the world to help find a cure for spinal cord injury.”
BMW WEC/IMSA line-up –
In the BMW M Team WRT line-up for the FIA WEC, there is one change compared to the debut season. In the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Magnussen will start alongside Marciello and Vanthoor. The crew of car #20 remains unchanged with Frijns, Rast, and van der Linde. Wittmann continues as a regular driver in the LMDh programme but switches from the FIA WEC to the IMSA series with BMW M Team RLL. Eng stays in North America and will enter his third season with the BMW M Hybrid V8 there.
Van der Linde and Vanthoor will take on a dual role, competing as regular drivers in both the FIA WEC and the full IMSA season. Vanthoor and Eng will share the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, while van der Linde and Wittmann will drive the #25 sister car. Due to scheduling conflicts between the two racing series, only two drivers per car will participate in the FIA WEC event at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) in May. Vanthoor and van der Linde will simultaneously race in the IMSA event at Laguna Seca (USA).
For the endurance races of the IMSA series at Daytona, Sebring, and Road Atlanta (all USA), the other four LMDh drivers will supplement the line-ups. Magnussen will compete in all three races in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Marciello joining as the fourth driver at Daytona. In car #25, Frijns will drive all three races, with Rast completing the Daytona quartet.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We have high goals for the upcoming season with our BMW M Hybrid V8 prototypes. To achieve these, we are striving for optimisations in all areas. For our driver line-up, this means focusing and specialising. The more time our drivers spend behind the wheel of the BMW M Hybrid V8, the better they will get to know its handling and the more feedback they can provide to our engineers. The goal is to intensify the development of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in collaboration with the specialists at the teams and at BMW M Motorsport.
“It also helps us in this regard, that some drivers compete in both championships, thereby further improving the exchange of information. We are convinced that this way joining our forces will bring us advantages. Of course, the schedule overlap in May is not ideal, but we have the regulatory option to compete in a 6-hour FIA WEC race with two drivers per car, which we will utilise. The fact that the season starts in January with the 24-hour race at Daytona is very beneficial for us. This allows us to have all eight drivers together for an extended period early in the season, helping us to optimally synchronise with each other.”
Here’s news on the initial bet
[The story is as per press release]
