Update on the Formula E transfer market

Let’s start this transfer update in chronological order of events. The first announcement regarding team rosters for next year concerns the Indian team Mahindra, which, unsurprisingly, retains its driver duo consisting of German Nick Heidfeld and Swede Felix Rosenqvist.

This is not surprising as the two drivers formed one of the most consistent duos on the grid last year, combining experience and speed. This season will mark the third year of collaboration between Heidfeld and Mahindra, with the German being present in Formula E since the first season, where he raced for Venturi. The young Felix Rosenqvist started in the championship last year, narrowly missing victory in his first race. The assessment of his first season is more than positive with a victory (in Berlin) and four podiums, finishing third in the championship behind the Di Grassi-Buemi duo. With this effective duo, the Indian team will hope to once again challenge the leading teams.

To find a more surprising transfer announcement, one must look towards the British team Jaguar, as the very first champion of the discipline, Nelson Piquet Junior, joins the team from NIO (NEXTev). Even though Piquet’s departure from the struggling Chinese team over the past two seasons might have seemed likely, his arrival at the team was hard to anticipate.

Alongside him, the team has decided to continue trusting New Zealander Mitch Evans, who had a rather solid first season within a new structure that finished last in the championship. Therefore, it was Adam Carroll who fell victim to the arrival of the Brazilian, as he didn’t have as satisfying a first season as his former teammate. In any case, this flashy recruitment is clearly motivated by Jaguar team’s desire to show its claws after a first season of learning.

The latest transfer announcement concerns the Chinese team Techeetah, which was still searching for a teammate to accompany Jean-Éric Vergne in this second campaign since the team’s acquisition. It is the endurance world champion and Le Mans winner, the German André Lotterer, who has been chosen to support the Frenchman for the next season. The team thus secures a luxury rookie in the discipline to start this new campaign.

The former Audi driver had found refuge this year in endurance racing with Porsche, but the announcement of the German brand’s withdrawal from the WEC has pushed the German to find a backup plan, although he insists that he wants to keep a foothold in the endurance championship.

On Jean-Éric Vergne’s side, the adventure logically continues to conclude a season marked by four podiums and a victory in the final race in Montreal. With a solid duo on paper, the team, in which Vergne holds shares, will want to further progress in the hierarchy after a fine fifth place in the constructors’ championship last season.