Formula E and Sennheiser have announced a multi-year partnership that will see the audio specialist become Formula E’s Official Sound Provider.
The agreement includes the integration of Sennheiser’s professional audio solutions and its AMBEO immersive audio ecosystem into the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the aim of developing new ways to convey the energy and distinctive soundscape of electric racing to audiences.
As the FIA’s first all-electric World Championship, Formula E also uses racing as a platform for technological innovation. As part of this partnership, both companies will explore advanced audio capture and encoding workflows designed to create more immersive experiences for audiences, regardless of the device they use to follow the races.
One of the objectives will be to take advantage of the technical evolution of the upcoming GEN4 era to capture the acoustic character of the single-seaters and the circuit itself with greater precision, including sounds generated inside the vehicles and at different points around the track.
Innovation and technology are at the heart of Formula E, and Sennheiser is the perfect partner to help us redefine our championship’s soundscape. Its professional technologies and workflows, particularly the AMBEO immersive ecosystem, provide us with a unique environment in which to explore the future of sound in racing and bring fans closer to the action through natural, three-dimensional audio, explains Dan Cherowbrier, CTO of Formula E.
For Andreas Sennheiser, CEO of the Sennheiser Group, the competition provides an opportunity to bring advanced audio technologies into a real-world application.
"Great images deserve equally compelling sound. We see great potential to define the distinctive acoustic character of this sport through dynamic soundscapes inside the cars and alongside the track".
AMBEO and three-dimensional sound come to Formula E broadcasting
The technical partnership will have a direct presence in the championship’s broadcast and trackside operations.
One of its main components will be AMBEO, Sennheiser’s ecosystem for immersive audio capture, processing and reproduction. The technology enables work with three-dimensional sound fields to create a more natural perception of space.
According to Kai Detlefsen, AMBEO Manager at Sennheiser, its application in Formula E will make it possible to explore new ways of bringing the dynamic atmosphere of the races and the position of different elements within the soundscape to home audiences.
From a production perspective, the initiative is particularly interesting because it approaches audio not merely as an accompaniment to the visuals, but as an additional narrative layer within sports broadcasts, capable of reproducing the circuit’s spatial sensation with greater accuracy.
Also in fan zones and hospitality areas
The partnership will not be limited to the television broadcast. Sennheiser and Formula E also plan to deploy these technologies in fan zones and VIP hospitality areas at the circuits, extending the sound experience to the on-site spaces associated with each race.
In this way, the agreement brings together broadcasting, immersive audio and the on-site experience in a championship where electrification also creates a soundscape very different from that of traditional motorsport.
