With almost half of the races in this season’s Formula E calendar completed, the sport took another step forward away from the track this weekend.

For spectators in Japan, the Mexico ePrix race which took place on Saturday, marked the first time the sport was streamed live on Twitter in the country.

The official Formula E Twitter channel streamed the race, with the live-stream supplemented by near-live clips to allow those not watching all of the action live to follow easily on social media.

Find out how you can watch the 2018 #MexicoCityEPrix! ????

How to watch >> https://t.co/zm4M8wrgNT pic.twitter.com/YjBuI1YZNv

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) March 1, 2018

Over the last few years, we’ve seen Twitter and other social media platforms snap up rights to plenty of live sport, and that trend looks set simply to continue. What we might also be seeing is the fact that social media sites can provide more than just live streams, but can also spread the reach of the sport to others who may not be interested in watching the whole event but would still be interested in keeping up to date with the action by watching near-live clips whilst they go on with whatever else they’re doing that day.

Speaking about the partnership, Jinichiro Takata, senior partnership manager at Twitter Japan, said, “We’re thrilled to collaborate with an innovative partner in Formula E to bring our fans in Japan live races from this exciting series alongside the real time Twitter conversation.”

Ali Russell, media & business development director at Formula E, added, “This partnership with Twitter is a first for the series and an area we’re looking to expand in the future. The fans in Japan follow Formula E closely, especially with names like Takuma Sato and Kamui Kobayashi behind the wheel in the past – along with the inclusion of Nissan next season.

“Japan is an important market for the series and now fans can’t miss a moment of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.”