The Formula E summer break may be a crucial part of the series’ cycle, allowing the paddock to recharge its batteries ahead of the new season, but it does mean we are deprived of its unique brand of close-quarters racing for three long months.

The gap between London and Hong Kong has been made slightly more bearable by the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro which, for the past two weeks, has kept those of us hungry for sport and competition satisfied. (It feels even more like home given that Formula E world feed commentator Jack Nicholls is part of the Rio 2016 commentary team.)

All sorts of weird and wonderful events are now included in events bearing those magical rings, such as rugby, football, golf and every shade of cycling event with unpronounceable names and unfathomable rules and mysterious tactics. Yet, much as the Games come around every four years, so does the question: “Why isn’t motorsport an Olympic event?”

It was, once. Sort of. In 1900. Even then, it wasn’t an official event, with the Games in Paris being run in conjunction with the Exposition Universelle world fair (futuristic exhibits included “talking pictures”, escalators and the diesel engine). Fifteen gold medals were up for grabs for motorsport in categories ranging from two-seater cars to delivery vans and even a fire truck. There were electric taxis and vans, while some of the manufacturer names are still familiar today (Peugeot and Renault). As novel as it was, however, motorsport never returned to become an official part of the Games.

Nation versus nation motorsport as a concept was attempted in the single make series A1 Grand Prix. The category kicked off in 2005, with many country entries run by existing racing teams. Although it was certainly entertaining, the series folded after four seasons.

The other notable battleground in motorsport for countries comes in the form of the long-running Race of Champions. The annual event got its start in 1988; last year, it was held at London’s Olympic stadium where the Nation’s Cup was won by England thanks to touring car legends Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx. However, the event is seen as being primarily about entertainment rather than outright competition.

We come back to the original question. Perhaps motor racing simply isn’t allowed under the rules? No. It’s true that the International Olympics Committee’s Charter was originally rendered in such a way that motorsport would not have been allowed to be an event. Under ‘Criteria for Admission of Sports, Disciplines and Events’, it read: “sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable”. This was removed in 2007. Then, in 2012, the FIA signed up to the Olympic Charter as an International Sporting Federation, promising to comply with its anti-doping guidelines – the latter coming into play when Franck Montagny failed a drugs test following Formula E’s second race, in Malaysia, resulting in a two-year ban from racing and the end of his racing career.

So motor racing could be permitted into the Olympics as the rules stand. And nation vs nation motor racing has some precedent. How likely is its introduction? At present, not very. In 2012, on a visit to the F1 British Grand Prix, then-IOC president Jacques Rogge doused any hopes of motorsport joining the Games. “The games are about the competition for the athletes, not for equipment,” Rogge said. “Therefore, while having a lot of respect, they will not be included into the Olympic programme.”

Boo hiss boo! The concept of competition being about athletes and not equipment is somewhat short-sighted, given events such as cycling and sailing do rely on the tools being used. And before you say those events use tools which require power transmitted directly by the athlete, well, what about shooting or the bobsleigh? And before you say those events use tools which are carefully scrutinised to ensure athletes are given equal opportunities, so are the cars in spec series. And before you say those sports do not rely on individual technology to enhance athletes’ performance, just look at the uber-high-tech skin suits and handcrafted carbon fibre shoes used by the cyclists.

So. There is precedent for countries competing against each other in motor racing, the Olympics rules do not prohibit motor racing being included, there are already Olympic sports which do require a blend of technology and human performance and there are Olympic sports in which professionals can compete (such as golf, tennis and rugby). It seems to be there’s no good reason standing in the way of motorsport joining the Olympics.

Following this line of logic, Formula E would be the perfect series for motor racing to use as a springboard into the Olympics. Let me elaborate.

As Rogge rightly picked up on, the biggest concern for having motorsport as an Olympic event would be the balance of performance delivered by the driver in contrast with that delivered by the engineers and the cars themselves. In F1, the differences between the cars is marked, making equal competition impossible. Therefore, any Olympic racing event would have to effectively be a one-make series. Sure, you could purpose build 50 new identical cars to go racing in but that’s incurring a whole world of cost and is then in itself a new sport.

Formula E is still very much in its infancy and was a spec-series in its first season. All cars still use an identical chassis, so it wouldn’t be a huge leap to install identical Spark powertrains in a bunch of Formula E cars for an Olympics event.

Having an independent team of engineers and mechanics to work on the cars would prevent any one driver from gaining an advantage because of their equipment. Drivers could be permitted to make small set-up changes, much as cyclists do to their bikes or sailors to their boats. That would keep the numbers of tech staff required to a minimum, to become a support backbone. Again, here Formula E has already proved the concept as, in season one, the operational personnel permitted was strictly controlled and numbers were very small.

All of the equipment would be checked prior to the event by an independent team to make sure that all athletes have the same tools to use. That really would put the focus on the driver, not the equipment. It is pretty clear, however, that teams of coaches, trainers, psychologists and nutritionists already play a key role in moulding successful Olympic athletes, while a great caddy can help a golfer in the best selection of clubs. In a similar way, perhaps each driver could have their own engineer to help them make the best mechanical set-up changes, while playing with torque maps and other software could be made strictly off limits.

With the premise established and a field of identical cars, we now need a grid. Much as other Olympic associations do, there could be a process of heats or qualifiers in each country to determine who would get the right to represent their country.

Let us theoretically aim for a race grid of 20 drivers. In the lead-up to an “Olympic ePrix”, a qualifying session would be held (using the Super Pole format or an alternative one) to decide the grid and eliminate any drivers if there are more entries than spaces available. From there, it’s a Formula E race like any other. It would be the same length, around 50 minutes. (It can’t even be argued that this is too long for an Olympic event, with some sports taking place over days and tennis matches lasting hours.)

The powertrains would be the next generation to arrive in Formula E, eliminating car swaps and pit stop strategies of any kind, leaving it up to the drivers to fight their way to gold, silver and bronze on track. Each car would even be decked out in the colours of its driver’s nation, creating a very visual event for fans watching in the grandstands and on TV. Here, too, Formula E has already got history. Both Sam Bird and Jean-Eric Vergne’s cars were easily identifiable in London and Paris respectively when running with their national flags on the powertrain fairing – why not a whole livery like that for Team GB? The IOC could also drape the cars with its partners, including brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and – just for an extra slice of Formula E crossover – Panasonic and Visa.

The majority of “mainstream” sports that also feature in the Olympics have the debate about professionals taking part, given that the Games are chiefly for amateurs. In an era where golf and football both feature a number of professionals, it would not be an issue for top name racer drivers to participate. However, the catch is that drivers are not able to be paid directly. Some Olympic committees do offer bonuses to their athletes but the figures vary widely. According to Fox Sports, the top-paying nation is Singapore, offering its athletes £580,000 for each gold medal. The USA coughs up a more modest £19,400, while the UK gives its athletes no bonuses. It would be up to each committee to fix its own sums but those entering should not expect a big payday. The lure of a gold medal could see some of motorsport’s biggest names wanting to try their hand in a Formula E car, perhaps even drawing interest from F1, IndyCar, WRC or WTCC.

The addition of golf for Rio prompted cynicism from some due to the lack of pay-out. Not so gold medallist Justin Rose. “It’s representing your country that made it so special,” he told the BBC.

“I remember Rosey saying at dinner a few years back he would play and want to win every major if there was no prize money,” Australian golfer Marcus Fraser added. “So that medal means a hell of a lot to him; the trophy means more to him than money or anything like that.”

If the FIA and the IOC were able to strike an agreement for an Olympic ePrix to be a championship round and therefore award points, drivers would be given another incentive to enter. The feed down of money from the IOC to the Olympic committees could also result in extra money being pumped into motorsport, boosting grassroots racing all over the world. Smaller nations without a huge motorsport scene but with a driver capable enough to compete would benefit from this.

Perhaps one of the most groundbreaking areas that could come as a result of adding motorsport to the Olympics is the ability for men and women to compete for medals alongside each other – something only present in tennis, badminton, sailing and equestrian – and even head to head. In the Olympics, very few events are open to both men and women. Yet, in its short history, Formula E has already pitted men against women in the same crucible. The likes of Simona de Silvestro, Katherine Legge and Michela Cerruti already have Formula E experience and could be easily summoned for an Olympic team.

Granted, this could just about be feasible with other motor racing. You could easily imagine a spec WRC challenge, for example. However, one of the biggest advantages Formula E has ahead of other series when it comes to the Olympics is its environmental credentials, both in terms of air and noise pollution (zero emissions and low decibels, respectively) and resource management (the sport already permits only one set of tyres per race per car, and the electricity for recharging batteries comes courtesy of generators running on glycerine and producing virtually zero CO2 emissions).

The opening ceremony to the Rio games put a huge focus on renewable energy, climate change and “being green”. “Climate change and the depletion of natural resources need our attention and the Olympic opening ceremony is a wonderful opportunity to shed light on this subject,” read part of a monologue offered by Judi Dench in accompaniment to a film during the ceremony. What better than an all-electric series to tie in with this?

And where better than Tokyo in 2020 for Formula E to feature as the first motorsport event at the Olympic games? Japan is one of Formula E’s biggest fanbases, boasting enormous TV audiences and interest surging ahead like Kenny on two wheels. A street course could be drawn up in the lead-up to the games, much as they are for road race cycling or the marathon. Taking inspiration from the approach to the upcoming virtual Formula E race in Las Vegas next January, the course would not be announced until a couple of days before the event, preventing drivers from going on a simulator to get to grips with the track in advance. Track walks would have to be conducted alone, preventing an advantage being gained from an engineer’s advice – the onus is again on the driver. Alternatively, it would be very easy to move Formula E inside into a velodrome-type stadium, to help with lighting and sound for TV, when the cars produce no emissions and the sound is quiet enough not to destroy eardrums. Formula E is already pretty used to racing in tight spaces.

And Formula E has visited an Olympic venue before, of course. The very first race of the series took place on the streets around Beijing’s Olympic Stadium. Start as you mean to go on, and all that…

I’m convinced that motor racing could be a viable entry to the Olympics. Should that become possible, Formula E would surely be the logical first step in combining four wheels with five rings.

Luke Smith

What could an Olympic ePrix grid look like?

Time to start daydreaming. If you could put together a “dream team” of drivers from your country, who would you pick? There are so many options! Based on two drivers per country where possible, the below is what I’d go with, pieced together using current Formula E drivers (taking into account their results) as a baseline and then casting the net across other top flight motor racing series. Which would win gold?