Executive Overview
The third season of the E1 Series—the world’s premier all-electric hydrofoiling speedboat championship—delivered high-octane drama against the majestic backdrop of the Italian Alps. During the second race of the season on Italy’s iconic Lake Como, Westbrook Racing, the high-performance team owned by Hollywood icon Will Smith, claimed a dominant first-place victory.
Piloted by off-road racing sensation Sara Price and professional circuit driver Lucas Ordóñez, Westbrook navigated the freshwater course with precision, capitalizing on rival mistakes and showcasing the relentless potential of sustainable marine technology. The win catapults Westbrook Racing to the pinnacle of the championship standings for the first time in the team’s history, upending early-season hierarchies and setting the stage for a fiercely contested battle as the circuit heads to Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Detailed Chronology of the Lake Como Grand Prix
Day One: Qualifying Chaos and Mountain Winds
Lake Como holds a unique distinction on the nine-stop E1 calendar: it is the sole freshwater venue of the season. Spanning the longest course layout in the championship, the venue offers a predominantly sheltered environment free from the coastal swells and rough ocean currents found in stops like Jeddah, Monaco, and Miami. However, the geographic basin of the Alps introduces its own unpredictable hazard: fierce, shifting mountain winds capable of destabilizing hydrofoiling watercraft in a matter of seconds.
Friday’s qualifying sessions immediately tested the structural limits of both the pilots and their 7-meter (23-foot) "RaceBird" hulls. Early-season championship frontrunners—including Steve Aoki’s Aoki Racing Team, Tom Brady’s Team Brady, and Rafael Nadal’s Team Rafa—suffered uncharacteristic missteps.
Team Rafa faced severe setbacks when a critical lap time was invalidated due to a procedural violation during entry into the milling area. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s Team Blue Rising incurred a crushing four-minute penalty for a separate technical infraction.
As the quarter-finals progressed, Aoki and Brady faltered, finishing seventh and eighth respectively, effectively locking themselves out of the high-stakes Pole Shootout.
Capitalizing on the chaos, Team AlUla’s Rusty Wyatt delivered a masterclass in aerodynamic balance, setting the day’s fastest lap at 1:18.667 to secure pole position for Saturday’s Group Races. Westbrook Racing’s Sara Price was right on his tail, clocking a time just 0.247 seconds slower to secure the second spot on the grid.
Day Two: Redemption, Collisions, and the Finals
Saturday’s racing format is designed to test every facet of a team’s depth, utilizing a multi-stage structure of Group Races, Race Offs, and consolation Place Races to determine the ultimate six-boat finalists.
John Peeters of Team Blue Rising staged a dramatic turnaround from his Friday penalties. Executing flawless, high-speed launches from the outside lane, Peeters seized clean water early in the heats, securing his place in the finals and earning the prestigious PIF Pilot of the Day award.
Despite their dismal Friday performances, Aoki and Brady clawed their way through the qualification gauntlet, securing spots in the finals alongside a resilient Westbrook Racing team whose mechanics had worked through the night to repair hull damage sustained during Friday trials.
The championship-deciding Finals featured two high-intensity heats where male and female co-pilots shared equal driving duties. Westbrook Racing’s Price and Ordóñez put on a clinical display of tactical energy management, clinching top honors across the board.
The race was not without incident; Team Brady’s Emma Kimiläinen suffered structural damage to her RaceBird after clipping a course marker during Final 1. Teammate Sam Coleman managed to nurse the wounded vessel through Final 2, securing a heroic third-place overall finish for the NFL legend’s squad. Blue Rising’s Peeters and Mashael Alobaidan rounded out the podium positions with a strong second-place overall performance.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The E1 Series Architecture
To truly appreciate the engineering marvel and strategic depth of the Lake Como Grand Prix, one must examine the foundational architecture of the E1 Series.
The RaceBird: Engineering Clean-Tech on Water
Launched in Jeddah in January 2024 by sports marketing entrepreneur Alejandro Agag (co-founder of Formula E) and former Ferrari and McLaren engineer Rodi Basso, the E1 Series operates on a strict "one-design" ethos. Much like Formula 1’s structural parity rules, the emphasis is placed entirely on pilot skill, tactical navigation, and strategic energy management rather than outspending rival syndicates on proprietary technology.
At the heart of the competition is the RaceBird, engineered by Sophie Horne of Seabird Technologies. Measuring 7 meters (23 feet) in length, the vessel utilizes advanced carbon-composite hydrofoils. As the boat accelerates, these underwater wings lift the entire hull completely clear of the water’s surface. This hydrodynamic lift drastically reduces drag, enabling top speeds of up to 90 kmph (50 knots / 55 mph).
Powering the craft is a cutting-edge 150 kW (200 brake horsepower) electric outboard propulsion system developed by Mercury Racing, driven by high-capacity Kreisel battery packs.
Ownership Syndicate
The championship features a star-studded lineup of ten distinct teams representing titans of sport, music, and business:
| Team | Principal Owner / Champion |
|---|---|
| Westbrook Racing | Will Smith |
| Team Brady | Tom Brady |
| Aoki Racing Team | Steve Aoki |
| Team AlUla | Championed by LeBron James |
| Team Blue Rising | Virat Kohli |
| Sierra Racing Club | Thibaut Courtois & Kyle Kuzma |
| Team Monaco | Independent Syndicate |
| Team Rafa | Rafael Nadal |
| Team Miami (powered by Magnus) | Marc Anthony |
| Team Drogba Global Africa | Didier Drogba |
The E1 Rulebook: Strategy, Laps, and Boosts
The E1 racing weekend is an intricate two-day chess match executed at blistering speeds:
- Championship Scoring System: Points are distributed based on final weekend placement: 1st: 38 | 2nd: 30 | 3rd: 23 | 4th: 19 | 5th: 15 | 6th: 13 | 7th: 9 | 8th: 8 | 9th: 5 | 10th: 3. Additional points are awarded to the top three qualifiers (3, 2, 1 points respectively) and the fastest lap of the weekend (1 bonus point).
- The Power of Boosts: Pilots are permitted to draw temporary, high-draw energy from their Kreisel batteries for accelerated bursts of speed lasting up to 20 seconds. However, tactical constraints apply: the recharge cooldown period is precisely twice the duration of the boost utilized (e.g., a 10-second boost requires a mandatory 20-second recovery window).
- The Clean Water Imperative: Hydrofoiling craft require undisturbed water to maintain optimal lift-to-drag ratios. Encountering natural swells or the turbulent wake of a rival vessel forces the boat off its foils, resulting in an immediate velocity drop and requiring a heavy energy expenditure to re-elevate the hull.
Official Statements and Reactions
The atmosphere in the paddock following Westbrook Racing’s historic triumph was one of sheer jubilation. Speaking through the official team owner communications channel, an ecstatic Will Smith celebrated the milestone:
"Finally! That one felt good," Smith messaged his team syndicate, before playfully taunting his grid rival: "Wait, why’s Brady declining my calls?"
The victory marks a seismic shift in team morale for Westbrook Racing, validating the pre-season development strategy implemented by technical directors and executed flawlessly by co-pilots Sara Price and Lucas Ordóñez under high-pressure alpine conditions.
Future Outlook: The Road to Dubrovnik
With the Lake Como event concluded, the 2026 E1 Championship standings have tightened dramatically at the top. Westbrook Racing now commands the leaderboard with 63 championship points, closely shadowed by Tom Brady’s squad at 59 points, and Steve Aoki’s team holding firm in third with 56 points.
However, with upcoming rounds scheduled in global maritime cultural hubs—beginning in the historic coastal waters of Dubrovnik, Croatia on June 12–13, followed by stops in Monaco, Luanda, Lagos, Miami, and the Bahamas—no frontrunner can afford complacency. Teams like AlUla (46 points) and Team Blue Rising (38 points) have proven that a single tactical breakthrough or aerodynamic adjustment can instantly disrupt the established hierarchy.
As the E1 Series continues its global tour, its dual mission remains clear: crowning the ultimate "Champions of the Water" while serving as a high-visibility testbed for zero-emission marine technology and coastal ecosystem preservation.
