The impasse between Porsche and its driver Antonio Felix da Costa is still unresolved with both parties currently believed to be in negotiations about the contract option that exists on the 2019-20 Formula E champion and the 'will he go, won’t he' saga over his future at the team that has been rumbling on for over a year now.
The effect this is having on a good chunk of the driver market is profound.
Four drivers are in a kind of weird stasis at present. Unable to make firm plans for a new season that is fewer than five months away. Until it's clear whether da Costa is exiting Porsche for Jaguar or not, a host of top drivers and teams can't progress their own 2025-26 plans with confidence.
The Race presents here the five that are affected and philosophises on their options and how their Formula E futures may pan out.
Jake Hughes
Hughes has known for some time that he will be surplus to requirements at Stellantis at the end of the present season. The hopes and aspirations he had for a longer stint at what's currently Maserati MSG have died and very little, if any of it, is down to him.
Hughes has had flashes of podium form this season, especially in Jeddah where he executed and got the result and at other races, even Berlin last weekend, where circumstances beyond his control meant he couldn’t.
The MSG difficulties and mess surrounding its ownership are also not something he can influence, meaning that when Stellantis agreed to take over the team (which is still to be officially communicated) and signed Nick Cassidy, Hughes and his manager Mark Blundell had to look elsewhere.
They have been talking to Envision, Cupra Kiro and Jaguar among teams but essentially they are stuck until the da Costa and Porsche situation is resolved.
Does Hughes deserve another season in Formula E? Undoubtedly he does because when the situation presents itself he can bring poles and podiums very promptly.
Will he get that opportunity? That is harder to determine. Should da Costa not free himself of Porsche then Hughes seems the obvious Plan B for Jaguar. Then it would be down to him to perform in the final Gen3 season, and should Mitch Evans fancy another challenge away from Jaguar for Gen4, perhaps Hughes might even extend his stay.
If da Costa goes to Jaguar and closes that seat off then Hughes should get a favourable outcome from the shuffle too as a Cupra Kiro seat could become available given David Beckmann is yet to contribute to its points tally.
Hughes gets on well with countryman Dan Ticktum and would surely bring more to the party than Beckmann points wise. Additionally, his knowledge of Stellantis and Nissan powered cars would be useful for the engineers at Porsche customer Kiro.
Nico Mueller
Nico Mueller’s difficult season as an Andretti team-mate to Jake Dennis has been well-chronicled. While a fair chunk of those travails have been self-inflicted Mueller still brings a dangerous angle of attack and the facts, points wise, state that he's already contributed more to Andretti's points tally with two races to spare than his predecessors Andre Lotterer and Norman Nato did in their seasons there.
But clearly more was expected because last season Mueller was in consistently the worst performing package – Abt's customer Mahindras – yet was mighty and easily outscored experienced team-mate Lucas di Grassi.
Those performances convinced Porsche to invest in him and the plan, while never publicly acknowledged, seemed clear: Mueller would replace da Costa for 2026.
There is doubt now over that notion. But in defence of it, Mueller appears to be exactly the kind of team-mate warranted for Pascal Wehrlein. Quick, dedicated, technically astute, but crucially he’s less of a risk from a volatile ambition point of view. In short, Mueller would not go to war with Wehrlein and he’d bring home big points too. At present, that’s precisely what Porsche surely needs.
But should da Costa stay, where might Mueller race next season?
The feeling is that Andretti wants to be much more in charge of its own destiny. With its relationship fraught to say the least with Porsche, Mueller is at a major risk of being replaced by either Jak Crawford or Frederick Vesti next season. That theory is consolidated when it seems likely that Andretti will partner up with Nissan in Gen4 rather than Porsche.
Should that play out then the only seat that seems realistic and practical for Mueller is alongside Ticktum at Porsche's other customer Kiro.
Porsche clearly had a major say in Beckmann’s appointment there for this season and it would grease the wheels to get Mueller in a race seat again.
Dan Ticktum
The Race chronicled Ticktum’s latest situation earlier this month after learning that Kiro's options on his services had been activated.
In theory Kiro bosses Alex Hui and Russell O’Hagan will be high-fiving to that. In reality they know that if Porsche really wants their boy in its works team then it will get him.
The Porsche interest in Ticktum is real but the actual approach and any real detailed discussion has been minimal.
It all feels like Ticktum needs another full season with his present team to give that final confirmation that he can maintain results and also prove that he can keep at least the wilder elements of his character in some kind of ordered check so that manufacturers such as Porsche don’t feel like they are taking a massive risk on him.
Should Ticktum do that then he feels like a serious contender for a manufacturer seat in 2027 and the advent of Gen4. But not now.
David Beckmann
Beckmann simply hasn’t done enough this season to warrant another season in Formula E. It certainly hasn’t all been his fault but too often he hasn’t even been close to capitalising when opportunities have arisen.
Genuine misfortune such as being wiped out last weekend in Berlin by an errant Sergio Sette Camara will happen in Formula E, but the numerous other occasions when he’s been too far away in races to make an impact just stand out too much.
Even if da Costa stays at Porsche, Beckmann may be unlikely to get a reprieve because Mueller would be the more attractive proposition for Porsche-influenced seats at its customers. So, it’s hard to see how Beckmann can stay on the grid. His best option will likely become a reserve again and rebuild for any Gen4 opportunities that come his way.
Stoffel Vandoorne
Stellantis has Stoffel Vandoorne contracted to race next season but his position amid the tumultuously chaotic Maserati MSG team is opaque at best.
The signing of Cassidy will be confirmed publicly soon and by rights Vandoorne will race alongside his friend and fellow Monaco resident. That all seemed set. Until that was, Jay Penske signed Taylor Barnard in May for fellow Stellantis team DS Penske.
With Maximilian Guenther having a long-term deal with Penske and Jean-Eric Vergne also having a period of time left on his Stellantis contract, we’ve a five into four seats scenario that has to be resolved.
The one driver who feels vulnerable here is Vandoorne. While he is not directly affected by the da Costa and Porsche situation, it could even be that the 2022 champion may still end up racing for a different team.
That feels unlikely considering his Stellantis contract but could he be sub-let out for a one-off season as a kind of compensation for not being able to fulfil his final Stellantis contract year?
Stranger things have happened but probably most likely would be Vandoorne sitting out the next Formula E season while concentrating on his Peugeot World Endurance Championship commitments and his Aston Martin Formula 1 reserve work.
There could also be a scenario that if da Costa is held at Porsche then Vandoorne becomes a strong Plan B at Jaguar - if Stellantis decides he's effectively surplus.
