Formula 1 can’t go fully-electric without Formula E permission

Agag tells F1 they cannot go all electric

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag says Formula 1's claim it could go all-electric in the next decade isn't necessarily true as it would require permission from Formula E to do so.

Ross Brawn recently said if F1 wanted to go all-electric there was nothing stopping them from doing so, but added that it didn't currently deliver a "spectacle" and therefore he couldn't envisage it happening for some time [but] at the moment they don’t deliver the spectacle."

Agag however says F1 going all-electric in the next decade couldn't happen unless they seek permission from him first, as Formula E has a 25-year agreement with the FIA to be the only single-seater all-electric series.

"Ross said that Formula 1 could go electric in 10 years – and basically, they can't," Agag told Autosport.

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"Formula E has an exclusive licence with the FIA for 25 seasons, and we've only done four [so far].

"So the earliest Formula 1 could go electric is 2039 if we don't renew our agreement with the FIA, but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't renew for longer.

"We have exclusivity until at least 2039 – so no electric F1 until then at least."

However Agag said he would be open to discussion if F1 was serious about going all-electric.

"If they want to talk to me then of course that's a different question – I'm always open to talk to people.

"But without talking to me there is no way they can do anything fully electric."