Motor racing’s fastest-growing series, Formula E, returns to action this weekend in Saudi Arabia with Jean-Eric Vergne seeking a win as he begins his title defense while Mercedes and Porsche dip their feet into the electric series.

Big-name debutants in Porsche and Mercedes

This season Formula E will feature two of the biggest names in the car industry and in motor racing: Porsche and Mercedes.

Both companies are taking part in their debut campaigns and, despite pundits predicting they could challenge the established order, have been trying to downplay expectations.

Porsche will field Neel Jani and André Lotterer as they take on Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW.

“It’s going to be one hell of a fight,” Amiel Lindesay, Head of Operations for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E outfit, told the official Formula E website. “But we need to look at ourselves first. We need to clean ourselves up and do as well as we can – then we can maybe look around a bit. “That’s the great thing about the Championship – there are so many manufacturers and so much competition, we’re looking forward to being part of it. “Formula E is such a different formula from what we’re used to. It’s not straight forward.”

But while Porsche’s recent success in motor racing has come in endurance cars, it is perhaps rival newcomer Mercedes who have the most pressure on their shoulders.

Mercedes are six-time World Champions in Formula 1, Formula E’s rival series.

However, team principal Ian James says points in Ad Diriyah ePrix for Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries this weekend would be seen as a success.

“Finally, the day has come that everyone in the team has been working towards,” he said. “Our two cars will make their first competitive outing this week. “We’ve worked hard over the last twelve months to devise the best possible set-up and achieve the necessary consistency for our race debut at Diriyah. “The season opener is not the end of this journey but rather the beginning. We are conscious of our status as beginners. We therefore have to learn quickly from errors as they occur and to continue developing as a team. “Finishing the two races somewhere in the points would obviously be fantastic but no matter how this first race turns out for us, I would like to express my gratitude here and now to the entire team for their tireless efforts. “What I’ve experienced over the past few months has been the epitome of commitment in terms of teamwork.”

Formula E’s most competitive line up to date

Heading into its sixth season, the new Formula E championship features the most competitive line up ever.

Vergne is chasing his third Formula E championship title having won the crown with DS Techeetah the past two campaigns.

In 2018/19 he became the first double winner of the electric car series.

Vergne, though, was pushed all the way to the chequered flag by Sébastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi, previous champions, while six other drivers won races.

Such was the competitiveness of the most recent campaign that Tom Dillmann was the only racer who competed in the full championship but didn’t score a single point.

Our cars return to the track for the first time this season today! Here's the full schedule for the 2019 SAUDIA #DiriyahEPrix ⚡️ Find out where to watch here >> https://t.co/j2NbmM8ASn pic.twitter.com/d8n0l94OA9 — ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) November 21, 2019

Aside from the new Mercedes and Porsche entries, this new championship also sees former F1 driver Felipe Massa, runner-up in the 2008 F1 season, continue with Venturi Racing, who have switched to Mercedes powertrains.

Added to that 2019 Formula 2 champion de Vries has signed with the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team while 2017 GT World Endurance champion James Calado is mking his debut with Jaguar.

First stop, Ad Diriyah ePrix

The Formula E season begins this weekend in Saudi Arabia with a double-header at the Ad Diriyah ePrix.

The first one-day race day takes place on Friday with round two being held on Saturday at the Riyadh Street Circuit.

The 2.495km track has a long back straight and a distinctive first half that compromises 14 of the layout’s 21 corners.

Last year BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver António Félix da Costa won the race from pole position ahead of Vergne and Mahindra’s Jérôme d’Ambrosio.

It was just a one-off outing before heading to Marrakesh. This year, though, with back-to-back race days at the same track all the drivers will have the opportunity to learn from the previous day’s mistakes.

But with shakedown, practice, qualifying and the race all on one day, the pressure will be on from morning to evening.

In 2018 that saw slip ups in qualifying where drivers were punished for exceeding 250 kW of power while others were penalised in the race for using the FanBoost earlier than allowed.