{"id":958959,"date":"2026-11-10T04:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/958959\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T04:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:48:09","slug":"formula-e-twiggy-forrest-declares-war-on-old-dinosaur-f1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/958959\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula E: Twiggy Forrest declares war on \u2018old dinosaur\u2019 F1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian mining magnate Andrew \u2018Twiggy\u2019 Forrest has declared war on \u201cnoisy, smoky, smelly\u201d Formula One at the launch of his new Formula E racing car. <\/p>\n

The fully electric Fortescue Zero GEN4 was officially unveiled over the weekend, with Forrest addressing the crowd. <\/p>\n

Fortescue Zero is the first Australian-owned and entered team in the sustainable open-wheel series.<\/p>\n

The Australian billionaire, who is said to have a net worth of around $20bn, said he wanted the Formula E series to go head-to-head with the \u201cold dinosaur\u201d of Formula One, which he described as \u201cnoisy, smoky, smelly\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like the fossil fuel sector,\u201d Forrest joked. <\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the only jab Forrest made at the industry responsible for his fortune. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about serious, savage competition,\u201d Forrest said after the car\u2019s reveal. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one other competition I\u2019ve seen which is more cutthroat, more deadly, and more dangerous than this sport, and that\u2019s fossil fuel.\u201d <\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018Big and ugly\u2019: Car giant sued over $3m lemon<\/a><\/p>\n

The next season of Formula E starts in late December, and runs into 2027.<\/p>\n

The opening race will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and will be the first time the new GEN4 cars take to the track competitively. <\/p>\n

Dan Ticktum and Taylor Barnard will be driving the new Fortescue Zero car, with Jim Wright working as team principal. <\/p>\n

\u201cLaunching a new racing outfit is a significant challenge, and that\u2019s exactly what makes it exciting,\u201d Ticktum said. <\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018Crisis point\u2019: Calls for ban on Aus car imports<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the world\u2019s first look at who we are. But the real work is well underway, to be ready, push hard and deliver as a team when we begin running on-circuit next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the moment, there are no Australian races on the Formula E calendar. But, speculation has been brewing that could soon change. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds said the category is exploring potential venues both here and in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

MORE: Formula E explores Aus race after Andrew Forrest buys team<\/a><\/p>\n

Plans to bring the sustainable racing series to Australia have been ongoing for a number of years. However, there\u2019s been renewed interest after Fortescue purchased the DS Penske racing team.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur connections are obviously better now with Fortescue coming in,\u201d Dodds said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that they\u2019re on board, [Andrew Forrest] will certainly have an interest in us racing in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Forrest, he believes Fortescue is currently taking part in two competitions. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we lose the climate race it\u2019s over. We\u2019re not going to lose that race.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian mining magnate Andrew \u2018Twiggy\u2019 Forrest has declared war on \u201cnoisy, smoky, smelly\u201d Formula One at the launch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[526309,526327,526286,526290,465188,526305,376490,526316,450883,387445,54367,399785,115428,526317,64,526297,526325,526289,526326,63,526314,17652,1018,14828,14170,512327,51536,526294,25073,486703,376920,126528,526315,835,342366,73845,526313,465153,31614,29253,395300,383591,526322,3208,21423,526302,526299,1736,33725,51485,526307,163329,526304,526319,526283,6622,5948,526291,415454,14640,526308,44161,526296,526312,526295,3203,85,13773,526311,526282,526287,377299,425279,526318,377127,526321,526285,376549,526324,526298,526300,526284,376932,380431,225862,526320,526288,526323,526310,526293,526306,526292,22514,54798,401042,526301,142173,526303,6900,16257,32388],"class_list":["post-958959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-s-first-look","tag-s-reveal","tag-3m-lemonthe","tag-2027-the-opening-race","tag-a-net-worth","tag-a-new-racing-outfit","tag-a-number","tag-a-savage-take-down","tag-a-significant-challenge","tag-a-team","tag-aim","tag-an-interest","tag-andrew-forrest","tag-around-20bn","tag-au","tag-aus-billionaire-savages","tag-aus-car-imports","tag-aus-race","tag-aussie-billionaire-andrew","tag-australia","tag-australian-mining-magnate-andrew","tag-ban","tag-big","tag-board","tag-calls","tag-car-giant","tag-crisis","tag-dan-ticktum-and-taylor-barnard","tag-dinosaur","tag-dodds","tag-earlier-this-year","tag-formula-e","tag-formula-e-ceo-jeff-dodds","tag-formula-one","tag-forrest","tag-fortescue","tag-fortescue-electric-car-launch","tag-fortescue-zero","tag-fossil-fuel","tag-head","tag-head-to","tag-his-fortune","tag-his-new-formula-e","tag-interest","tag-jeddah","tag-jim-wright","tag-late-december","tag-new-zealand","tag-next-season","tag-next-week","tag-no-australian-races","tag-noisy","tag-on-circuit","tag-only-one-other-competition","tag-our-connections","tag-part","tag-place","tag-potential-venues","tag-renewed","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-savage-competition","tag-serious","tag-smelly","tag-smelly-formula-one","tag-smoky","tag-speculation","tag-sports","tag-team-principal","tag-teamplans","tag-that-race","tag-the-old-dinosaur","tag-the-car","tag-the-category","tag-the-climate-race","tag-the-crowd","tag-the-ds-penske-racing-team","tag-the-first-australian-owned-and-entered-team","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-formula-e-calendar","tag-the-formula-e-series","tag-the-fossil-fuel-sector","tag-the-fully-electric-fortescue-zero-gen4","tag-the-industry","tag-the-launch","tag-the-moment","tag-the-new-fortescue-zero-car","tag-the-new-gen4-cars","tag-the-only-jab","tag-the-real-work","tag-the-sustainable-open-wheel-series-the-australian-billionaire","tag-the-sustainable-racing-series","tag-the-track-competitively","tag-the-weekend","tag-the-world","tag-this-sport","tag-ticktum","tag-twiggy","tag-two-competitions","tag-war","tag-world-sport","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}