A calendar clash in 2017 would pit the the Nurburgring round of the World Endurance Series against the Montreal Formula E fixture, meaning a reshuffle for the all-electric racing series’ third season schedule could be on the cards.

More than half of the current Formula E drivers also ply their trade in WEC, including season two champion Sebastien Buemi (who races with Toyota, along with Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway), first season champ Nelson Piquet (at Rebellion, along with Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld), Lucas di Grassi and Loic Duval (both at Audi) and Sam Bird (AF Corse).

The calendars for both championships have been free of clashes over Formula E’s first two seasons, enabling drivers to participate in both series with relative ease. Combined, drivers end up with around 20 events per season and effectively two salaries. Talk about the best of both worlds.

However, that may prove more difficult next year. Last weekend, WEC officials announced that next year’s six hour Nurburgring race would take place on July 16, telling fans on Twitter: “Pens out, phones out and mark your calendar!”

That could cause trouble, as Formula E had already announced a fixture for that weekend: the sport’s inaugural visit to Montreal, Canada. What’s more, that Formula E weekend is one of Formula E’s double-headers, with full race days on both Saturday and Sunday.

Organising a Formula E race is a fearsome logistical challenge, requiring meticulous planning in order to close city streets for the temporary circuits that the sport races on. Further, the series tries to run events geographically consecutively, in order to minimise freight. Unless the event is scheduled to be run on the city’s permanent race track (as happened in Mexico), it could be virtually impossible to move the date.

Formula E’s season three calendar was approved by the World Motor Sport Council at the beginning of July, following some preliminary discussions which raised concerns over gaps and “tbc” events (the S3 schedule still has some noticeable gaps on it still).

“The calendar as you know was discussed at the World Council and it was decided to postpone the approval, take one more week to tweak some elements of the calendar,” series boss Alejandro Agag said earlier this month while in London for the season finale.

So which series will budge: Formula E or WEC? Not the latter, it appears.

“The date has been requested by FIA/WEC, we have confirmed this date and we agreed to the request of FIA/WEC to release the date on Sunday,” a Nurburgring spokesperson told Current E this week. “From our point of view this date is hundred percent fixed.”

That could be an issue. If the dates remain as they are, with its bigger budgets and manufacturer involvement, WEC could assume it would claim priority for the factory drivers, such as Buemi, di Grassi et al. That would leave Formula E with an awful lot of temporary seats to fill for two races, which would do the sport no favours and which would undermine both teams’ and drivers’ championships.

The more palatable alternative (for drivers, at least, if not Formula E’s organisers) is for Formula E to find another date for its Montreal round. If the fixture is being run at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, that could be an easier task than it would be with a traditional street circuit venue.

Current E has asked Formula E for comment regarding Montreal’s date. As ever, we’ll bring you more when we have it.

Luke Smith