Sao Paulo’s first Formula E race has been postponed to 2019 because the Brazilian city’s authorities are in the process of selling off the planned venue.
“The Sao Paulo city authorities have asked us to postpone the race to season five, due to an ongoing process of privatization of the Anhembi Park venue,” said a spokesperson for the all-electric series on Thursday, Reuters reported.
“Racing in city centers always poses challenges and as this process is taking longer than expected, in agreement with the city of Sao Paulo, we’ve decided to place negotiations on stand-by until the privatization process is complete.”
Formula E’s fourth season starts in Hong Kong on Saturday, with Sao Paulo originally scheduled for March 17 next year as the fifth round of the 14 race season.
Brazil currently has two Formula E drivers with the inaugural champion Nelson Piquet Junior and title holder Lucas di Grassi.
The Sao Paulo race was one of four new venues on the calendar along with Rome, Zurich and the Chilean capital of Santiago.
Formula E said a replacement for the Brazilian round would be presented to the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) in Paris next week.
Sao Paulo city authorities are also in the process of privatizing the Interlagos circuit that hosts the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix.
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