Who will drive for Formula E's brand-new manufacturer?

DS might be out, but Opel is in for Formula E's Gen4 era - so who will drive for the Stellantis-owned brand in its first season that starts later this year?

Opel will have some access to Stellantis’ pool of contracted drivers, meaning that, in theory, Nick Cassidy and/or Jean-Eric Vergne could move across brands if desired. However, this is highly unlikely to happen with both drivers expected to remain at Citroen next season. 

What is likely is that Opel will look at a German driver, although, according to Opel's head of motorsport, Jörg Schrott, this is not absolutely vital.

“To have a German driver would be nice, of course, because then we can play much more this German approach,” Schrott told The Race. 

“But first of all is to be successful, to have the driver which has all the capabilities to win races and at the end, also to win championships. This is the focus.”

Opel is expected to look for an experienced driver for its first campaign next season, and several names are already bubbling to the fore in the paddock 

The first is long-time Jaguar driver Mitch Evans, who is presently weighing up his future after a decade with the Big Cat.

He is out of contract at the end of the season, and Jaguar last autumn signed 2022 Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne as a reserve and development driver. The Race understands that Vandoorne has a clear option for a potential race seat for the Gen4 era, in which he has already tested extensively.

Evans’ future employment has been a much-talked-about topic of the Formula E paddock since the pre-season test at Valencia back in November. The Kiwi, who has driven in every single E-Prix that Jaguar has competed in, is in discussions with several other teams about a possible move for the start of the Gen4 period.

His new team principal Ian James, told The Race recently that the results so far this season are “unlikely to have the ultimate influence over the directions we take going forward. I mean, it sounds almost a bit of a cop-out to say it, but the focus is genuinely very much on making sure that we perform at this end of the season to the best of our abilities.

“Mitch has put himself with that win [in Miami] in a good position. We’re at early stages of the championship, we’ve had different winners in every race so far, so things are mixed up and he’s very much in the hunt. But no, that in itself doesn’t have too much sway on the decisions that we’ll ultimately take and not on the timing either.”

Additionally, current DS Penske drivers Maximilian Guenther and Taylor Barnard are also believed to be possible considerations for Opel. The former has experience and is also a German national, while Barnard’s meteoric early Formula E career has also made him an attractive proposition.

However, both drivers have contracts in place with Penske for the immediate future, although with the team is yet to confirm its Gen4 programme, so both drivers may have the scope to become available in the coming months.

The Race also understands that Opel is interested in Nyck de Vries, who is in his third season with Mahindra, and who is known to be on the market for a new deal this summer.

Mahindra's Frederic Bertrand told The Race regarding current drivers De Vries and Edoardo Mortara "for the moment, I want them to win in Gen 3.5, for Gen4 we have time. But they love the team so much, they will never want to sign before telling me. At least I can fully understand that they discuss [with other teams] because it's part of the game and I'm not ready yet to say who we go with or not. But here, in that case, I think we will get transparency and then we will have chances [for signining drivers] if needed."

Stellantis could also try to find a race seat for Theo Pourchaire, who has been its factory driver since 2024. The 2023 Formula 2 champion has tested on several occasions for Stellantis in both Gen3 and Gen4 machinery in recent years and could be chosen for a double campaign alongside his World Endurance Championship programme with Peugeot.

Former Red Bull-backed driver Tim Tramnitz was looked at and tested earlier this year, but is believed to now be less likely as an option after signing a factory BMW sportscar deal recently.