Maserati has become the fifth brand to commit to Formula E’s GEN4 regulations, which will come into force in Season 13, the 2026-27 season.
The Italian brand joins Nissan, Jaguar, Porsche, and Lola in signing up for the new ruleset, which will arrive after the two seasons of GEN3 Evo are up. The confirmation of Stellantis’ involvement in GEN4 (through the Maserati brand) means that five of the six current manufacturers will be involved in the next era of Formula E, with oly Mahindra yet to officially confirm its intentions.
Maserati joined Formula E in Season 9 (2022-23), at the start of the GEN3 era, following sister Stellantis brand DS which had been involved since the second season of the all-electric series, and has since notched up two race wins.
“We are extremely proud to continue our commitment to a prestigious and innovative platform as Formula E,” said Maserati CEO Santo Ficili. “For this brand, the bond between the track and the road is unbreakable and the evolution of the single-seaters shows how many possibilities for development electric mobility holds.”
The announcement comes ahead of Maserati’s 100th year in racing, and for Jean-Marc Finot, senior VP Stellantis Motorsport, the ongoing Formula E commitment further continues that strong competition legacy.
“For Maserati, motor racing is a place where the brand belongs so we are very happy. Motorsport activities at Stellantis are endurance racing, Formula E, we have also customer racing with, for example, the Maserati GT2, and also high-performance road legal cars, so we are the perfect link between the motorsport activities and the road legal cars,” he said.
“We’ve been racing in Formula E for 10 years with the Maserati and DS brands. We are very happy to keep on developing cutting-edge technologies that are more relevant when we compare the powertrain we had 10 years ago and the powertrain we have now, and we will keep on developing and fighting with the Maserati brand in motorsport.”
For Formula E itself, as a forward-looking series, being able to lean on a historic brand is a big plus point for the championship’s CEO Jeff Dodds.
“We’ve had four manufacturers announce there involvement in GEN4 so far and Maserati very proudly today becomes the fifth and we all believe that the future will be electric vehicle racing but there’s something magnificent when you can fuse the future with the past,” he said. “As of next year Maserati will have been racing cars for 100 years, incredibly successfully. They’re an icon in racing, an icon in sports car development, so for us to be looking towards our future in GEN4 with a brand with so much rich history in racing is an absolute privilege.”
Maserati’s Formula E commitment goes beyond marketing though, with Ficilli highlighting the benefits of racing for the wider business.
“For us it’s an investment. It’s important for two reasons: For me it’s a super-good opportunity to get in touch with potential customers or customers that are driving our Folgore (range),” he said.
“And the other point is that we can move technologies from racing to cars that our customers will use, benefiting from this experience that we will have together with our colleagues from Stellantis Motorsport.
“We need to consider what is happening in the automotive industry worldwide, so we must be ready to serve our customers, keeping in consideration the transition that there is between the previous endothermic engine and the electric vehicle, that’s the reason why (we are) looking at the future because the world is asking something of the people that work in the automotive (industry).
“So that’s the reason why we are investing in the world championship, to develop technologies in the future, without forgetting that there are customers that are asking for endothermic, so we are ready, we have a multi-energy platform that can support the requests of our customers worldwide.”
Finot added that the program is “the best of the two worlds” when it comes to marketing and technological development, pointing out that Formula E is the best palace to develop its EV tech for its road-going products.
“What is expected by the customers of electric mobility is to have more mobility and to have more range and Formula E is the perfect laboratory to improve the efficiency of the powertrain, to increase the range, and to work the high-power cells in the battery for fast charging,” he said. “By pooling these technologies in motorsport, we will carry them over to the road legal cars.”
The announcement only covered the Maserati brand, with Finot coy on the continued involvement for DS – which is currently aligned with Jay Penske’s Penske Autosport team.
“For the time being we have decided to engage the Maserati brand in the championship because the DNA of Maserati is very close to motorsport,” he said. “Of course, we’ll consider to engage other brands, knowing that at least we will have four cars in the championship, but it’s still open for the brands and we have some time to make our decision.
“It’s a long-term view for Maserati Corse in motorsport, it’s also a trust in the growth of the Formula E championship for us.”
Finot also confirmed that the Maserati-badge Stellantis powertrain will continue to be developed at Stellantis Motorsport’s base in Versailles, France, but stopped short of confirming that the Monaco-based Monaco Sports Group, which previously operated as Venturi in Formula E, would continue to operate the Italian brand’s works team, saying, “The game is open for GEN4, so everything could be considered.”