News of the enforced future evolution of what's currently the NEOM McLaren team in recent weeks - an evolution in which both the NEOM and McLaren names will be gone after this July - has thrown an awkward grenade onto the Formula E grid.
While the reasons for that are complex and involve a small orderly queue of teams that need outside assistance to continue in the championship, numerous challenges have to be navigated quickly and efficiently to maintain a stiff spine of teams heading into the Gen4 period at the end of next year.
In addition to NEOM McLaren, the other significant walking wounded team is the MSG Maserati squad. That entity has been in ill-health for several years and racked up a considerable debt.
Some say it could be as much as €15million, and in light of The Race recently revealing a collapsed takeover deal, that figure will only be rising significantly now, month on month. In essence it is only racing because it has an authorised credit facility with the Formula E promoter, something which pointedly irritates fellow teams.
Maserati MSG's participation licence has now reverted to Formula E, which is known to be assisting the team financially, as it has been for some time. While this is by no means a new scenario in Formula E or indeed motorsport, it is clearly a situation that just isn't sustainable for long.
A similar scenario persisted back in 2021/22 when the Techeetah element of the DS Techeetah team also had substantial debt. That was an awkward time because the owner of Techeetah, Sheng Li, was also on the board of Formula E Holdings, and indeed remains so. It is not known what Li's specific position is on Maserati MSG's debt but one can only imagine that there should at least be some affinity.
What is particularly tricky for Formula E, MSG and as it is called for now, the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, is that any suitable and serious investor, if offered either of those teams, would see a choice that on paper would barely need thinking about.
One is a multiple title winning team (from its days as Mercedes EQ), while the other is a very capable and solid one in terms of human resources, technical aptitude and a sprinkle of wins, but also one with at present a big financial liability.
When MSG was the only team on the market, a deal would have been likely always structured around the actual debt of the team, rather than a true valuation. That would make sense. Now it gets theoretically more expensive because there is an alternative with no or little debt – NEOM McLaren – and also a clear choice of manufacturer partner too for the future.
MSG has an additional complexity as well. That is its status with Maserati parent company Stellantis Motorsport and what that group might be planning for the future. What we know is that a deal to bring Stellantis brand Opel into Gen4 is now done. One to bring in Citroen is almost done, and The Race has also discovered that a third Stellantis brand may also still be somehow a possibility. It would make sense, if that comes off, to keep DS aboard.
So where would MSG fit into this picture? It is clear at the moment negotiations are ongoing for Stellantis to buck its trend of keeping a non-team-ownership model for at least one of its brands' Formula E presence. It realises the benefits of owning a FE team licence and it will surely be able to get an attractive deal via the ailing and rudderless (from an ownership standpoint) MSG ship.
The MSG situation is regrettable and it is not only going nowhere in its present state but it's also in a swirling cul-de-sac with Maserati itself, which is experiencing catastrophic sales figures.
But some positivity can perhaps be sucked for nourishment from the former ERT team which was in a not too dissimilar predicament this time last year. That was until the Forest Road company bought in and from that a deal to run customer Porsches and bring in a manufacturer tie-up in the shape of Cupra, transforming the future prospects of the squad.
Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds, an eternal glass half-full optimist, agrees that a credible investor or investment team coming in for MSG is still possible and has plenty of faith in McLaren team boss Ian James keeping his squad on the grid too.
"The MSG team has lots of financial interest," he told The Race earlier this month.
"We have to find an appropriate investor and we've got lots of interest.
"Then Ian is a world-class team principal and he has a very good team. They, again, have lots of investment conversations that are live. Some of them we're aware of, and we've introduced some of them.
"My focus is on supporting them to get the investment secured as fast as possible, and to provide continuity. He [James] said very clearly, there's no intention for that team to come off the grid. It's just that it will be a change of branding the car.
"The opportunity for me, with McLaren leaving, is to make sure there's another power brand that goes on that car that brings something to the championship."
McLaren's situation looks to not be quite as grim as Maserati MSG's right now but both James and Dodds have a lot of lilting sales pitch to perfect in the coming weeks.
NEOM and McLaren will soon be gone, and replacements for them will not come as readily as they did back in 2022 when Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag helped stitch together a convenient McLaren-led replacement for Mercedes' shock departure.
Is Formula E stalling, faltering or flatlining?
Formula E has peaked, plateaued and dropped in terms of manufacturers and brands throughout its 11-year history and will likely continue to do so. It is experienced enough to negotiate those notoriously choppy waters but is it strong enough right now?
Ask the promoters and they will address the challenge and then state that they are indeed fit and agile enough. With Jaguar, Nissan, Stellantis, Porsche and Lola Yamaha making a commitment to Gen4 they are in a sense right to be a little bit bullish.
Yet still there is concern that should the MSG and the McLaren Electric Racing licences become moribund then manufacturers will get a knock-on spooking that could mean some of those big names curtail their Gen4 commitment at the halfway stage in 2028.
The volatility of the automotive sector and the world in general via the current surreal prism of geo-politics does not help matters. Formula E is a small, but noisy fish in sporting terms. A step away from Formula E for a manufacturer can be activated almost overnight irrespective of already announced commitments.
Porsche's vice president of motorsport and its most senior executive in the Formula E paddock is Thomas Laudenbach, and he told The Race earlier this month that the McLaren exit was "surprising but for me it's not a decision against Formula E because I think sometimes you come into boundary conditions where you're just not in the situation to carry on".
Laudenbach sees plenty of interest from potential newcomers to Formula E regardless of global circumstances.
"From the talks that we have there is enough interest in new players coming in so I'm not worried even though for the automotive industry it is not the easiest time," he said.
"We still have to improve, we still want to develop the series and we still want to grow it, that's very clear. And, if you could name something like a return on investment or value for money I would clearly say Formula E is good and when I say it's good it's always in comparison to many other series in the world."
Laudenbach also believes that Formula E still carries the "right messages". But of course, Porsche doesn't have much choice but to be in Formula E because it is the only credible all-electric world championship in town.
"Whether you like it or not, whether you're a fan of EVs or not, that's not the point," adds Laudenbach.
"We have a clear path of electrification in the world and we as Porsche and many others as well believe it is extremely important that we do racing with EVs."
It's a pragmatic approach from Porsche and one that will be of some comfort to Formula E. But the championship will also know that spending time on constantly having to jump start teams that get into difficulty is, while a necessary mission, also one that consumes time and effort that could be spent elsewhere on building Formula E up much further.
It's something that Dodds addresses openly.
"That's life, right?" he says, before alluding to his direct boss Mike Fries, the CEO of Liberty Global, the majority shareholder and now driving force of the championship.
"Mike's the majority investor of the championship, and I've known him a long time. One thing I've learnt from him, and he's masterful at this, is if you get thrown a curveball, the immediate reaction is to solve the problem.
"But there's also another opportunity in that moment, which is 'OK, is there an opportunity to do something different that has a net better result for the organisation?'"
Dodds highlighted the success of the recent Evo Sessions 'celebrity race' initiative and how the recent challenges of saving teams feeds his "instinct to go to 'OK, so does this represent to us as an opportunity to bring somebody else into the championship that can bring a different set of skills or strategies?'"
But he also acknowledged that there are other priorities.
"I'd be lying if I said to you I wouldn't much rather be travelling the world and meeting Prime Ministers from other core calendar locations we're trying to get into or talking to other OEMs in China about opportunities to join the championship.
"I'd much rather be doing some of that stuff, but that's not the job I signed up for. Some days it's snakes, some days it's ladders."
