Maserati is making its debut in Formula E in 2023, making it the first Italian team to enter the championship and coinciding with the introduction of the new Gen 3 Formula E car, to be revealed later this month. The Italian team has chosen Venturi Racing to be its partner as it enters the championship from next year. This secures Venturi’s future as well, as it is a Mercedes EQ customer team currently and Mercedes will leave the championship at the end of the current season.
Maserati is part of the Stellantis Automotive Group, and thus has ties with the Citroen-owned DS Automobiles which has successfully fielded cars in Formula E since 2015. We know that DS and Maserati will have technology transfer and shared development of their Formula E powertrain, although the powertrains will not be entirely similar.
After the announcement that Mercedes would leave Formula E at the end of 2022, Venturi held talks with many manufacturers, including Mahindra, Nissan, Porsche and Nio. However, aligning with Maserati is a smart move as they get exclusive access to the Italian supercar maker’s vast technical resources considering the fact that Maserati will be the sole supplier, dedicated to Venturi’s racing effort with no team of its own, unlike now, when Venturi is also competing with its supplier Mercedes. Venturi are currently leading the driver’s and constructors championship in the 2022 Formula E season as well.
Speaking about the announcement, the CEO of Maserati, Davide Grasso said, “Returning to motorsport with Formula E was a natural choice for Maserati. Indeed, we are driven by our passion and innovation. And we’re happy to share this adventure with a partner that abides by the same values as we do and is looking ahead to the future, just like us. We share with the ROKiT Venturi Racing team the same determination and desire to compete and win on circuits all over the world.”
The team principal of Venturi Racing, Susie Wolff, said, “Uniting with Maserati marks the start of a new chapter and represents the best possible outcome for the team following our successful partnership with Mercedes. Being entrusted with the return of one of motorsport’s most recognisable brands to international single-seater competition underlines our success in recent seasons in which we have firmly established ourselves as a commercially viable, race-winning team that can seriously contend for championships. With this commitment, the team is now in a fantastic position to contest Formula E’s next generation of competition which will commence in 2023.”
The next generation of Formula E cars are expected to be lighter, more powerful and smaller in order to facilitate better racing. Since it will still be a spec chassis supplied by one manufacturer (Spark), the specs we know of are that the car will develop 470bhp, reach a top speed of 320km/h and a total regenerative capacity of 600kW. The new car will be revealed for the first time on 28 April at Round 6 of the 2022 Formula E season in Monaco.