Stellantis, the world’s fourth largest volume automotive manufacturer, has continued its double down programme in Formula E despite electric vehicle industry turbulence that has seen it, like many other OEMs, significantly alter its plans and strategies.
From DS and Maserati, Stellantis has chosen to introduce Citroen this season, and Opel next, in a quest to reinvigorate its title-winning glory from the Gen2 era.
Why Stellantis is consolidating
Stellantis, through its Citroen and now Opel brands, has renewed, and, in many people’s eyes, has enhanced its commitment to Formula E.
To some, that is a surprise considering that the automotive behemoth announced €22.2 billion of charges in February as it pulls back its electric-vehicle forecasts. The move was seen as the company managing investment between EVs and petrol products while facing prolific and cheaper Chinese rivals in addition to volatile trade obstacles.
Yet, the ownership of the licence that Citroen races under is still in a state of considerable flux. The Race understands that an intricate and potentially contentious solution is presently in the pipeline and awaiting for final legal detail approval before being officially actioned. Should that come off, which many expect it to in the coming weeks, then Citroen should be in a much more solid position heading into Gen4.
That’s not to say it isn’t already, because compared to the messy spectacle of Maserati in 2025 it is in a decent place. It’s just more that the foundations needed to be solidified so the entrant will enhance its standing for the next four years and give it added political and commercial standing.
The exit of the largely successful DS Automobiles brand was mostly no surprise after a decade of competition but its legacy expertise will be important for Stellantis as Gen4 ramps up to a likely December start.
“I think generally there's a continuity in the approach on the knowledge of what we've been gathering with DS for all those years,” new Stellantis Motorsport CEO, Olivier Jansonnie told The Race.
“Now we're looking at how to transfer that at best with the new brands. There's actually new commerce from the brands, marketing perspective, marketing strategy, and commercial strategy.
“We have this consistency of what we learned and the knowledge and experience of Formula E. And then there are different setups which we're trying to always refine and optimise to enter Gen4 in the best possible way for competitiveness.”
Jansonnie (above), a highly talented engineer, also knows how to dig in and fight. He was a key figure in the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar programme from 2023-25, a programme that had more than its fair share of challenges. But the project survived and word within that brand which Jansonnie helped to protect the Peugeot project for its continuation beyond 2024.
Technically adept and knowing the value and importance of aligning brands with sporting programmes, Jansonnie already feels like a details guy in the often intricate and increasingly politically charged backstreets of Formula E.
Is Stellantis already ahead?
The Stellantis development testing of the Gen4 is, like its competitors, at a very early stage but the indications from each of the two group tests so far, held at Monteblanco and Almeira, are that it hit the ground running with its new package.
Nick Cassidy, Andre Lotterer and Theo Pourchaire have done the bulk of the testing so far and the initial indications are that Stellantis and Porsche are leading the way in both reliability, pace and understanding of the new Gen4 challenge.
What is not known for sure is how much of its actual Gen4 powertrain has been used in the back of the spec Gen4 hardware. But if it has a hybrid set-up it is not alone as all bar Jaguar are believed to have at least a mixture of Gen3 and Gen4 components in its powertrain cluster.
One other advantage that Stellantis should be able to exploit is its experience with cars that have used active differential set-ups before in conjunction with multiple control systems management and all-wheel drive. That was part and parcel of where Citroen in WRC and Opel in the ADAC Electric Rally Cup have been technically so strong in the recent past, and these are traits and capabilities it will be keen to exploit, and quickly.
We may already be seeing Stellantis showing it has a head start in this area, where it has in-house knowledge and expertise, whereas as some other manufacturers have to outsource more readily.
Driver juggling skills
Stellantis has an impressive and large pool of drivers that it will strategise in the Gen4 era.
Its most recent star signing Nick Cassidy has already delivered a first pole and win for Citroen and long ago justified his acquisition from Jaguar. His former Big Cat team-mate Mitch Evans is likely to follow as Opel’s own big name signing soon. That is more than just a potent pair of Kiwis, it’s a brace of formidable and driven winners very capable of fighting for their own personal first title successes.
Beyond that, Jean-Eric Vergne brings experience and guile, even if he is suffering a fallow period results wise. Theo Pourchaire is clearly the bright young thing that Stellantis believe in, and one that will undoubtedly have a Formula E racing career at some stage, potentially as Evans’ partner next season.
Stellantis tried out former Red Bull junior single-seater racer Tim Tramnitz at the start of 2026 but his signing to BMW as a factory driver means he is highly unlikely to factor now in Formula E with Opel.
Yet there could be more drivers in the pipeline too. Jansonnie says that the selection and management of that part of the business is a very collaborative affair.
“We do it completely combined (between Stellantis and its brands) but there's a lot of different constraints to this,” he tells The Race.
“Some are brand decisions, sporting, and obviously capacity in general but everything we're doing is combined. You see our brands are very much involved in what we're doing and It's very much a brand project and has to be a brand project overall.”
Stellantis Motorsport is also acutely aware that any calendar clashes between Formula E and in particular the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship could potentially also impact its drivers and teams.
“Calendar-wise, you clearly can't tell and this year, there's no clash, so it should be pretty smooth,” Jansonnie added.
“It's a super busy calendar, so you've got to have somebody who's completely committed to it. That's the cons but there are some pros. They are that you drive quite a lot, you experience different things, and that can also be good for some drivers. So, it's a very personal thing.
“I don't see any negatives. There's always a choice to be made with the driver that's very specific. We try to build stronger models, basically and we try to adapt to different models, but still, we keep the continuity of what we try to learn.”
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