Formula E

Porsche believe they have good foundation for Formula E entry

2 Mins read
Credit: Porsche

Porsche believe they have the foundations in place to be ‘as quick as possible’ when they enter Formula E in the 2019/20 season.

Their former LMP1 boss Andreas Seidl said after a recent fact-finding visit to the Berlin ePrix that he believed they could be competitive from the off despite deciding against setting-up a feeder team.

This is in marked contrast to fellow German manufacturer Mercedes, who are also entering the sport in season six but chose to have Mercedes racing specialists HWA become a customer of the Venturi team.

Mercedes say this will allow them more experience ahead of 2019, but Seidl said that he did not believe this was necessary as any customer team would not have any Porsche equipment on the car, making it of limited use.

Speaking to Autosport Seidl said, “It was never a topic to run an FE season with a car which doesn’t have any single Porsche bit in, so this is why the option was never there to do something like HWA is.

“It was clear that we would only start doing Formula E once we have our own powertrain in place, which wasn’t possible – similar to Mercedes [which also joins in 2019/20] – for season five in terms of timing.

“We are aware how tough this competition will be. Especially considering that we go into competition against manufacturers which are already in for five years when we enter.

“This is why we approach this challenge quite humbly and with a lot of respect, but at the same time, with us now having history of the team with the LMP1 business, we have a good foundation to be competitive as quick as possible.”

Seidl also discussed driver selection ahead of their debut, saying that their preference would be drivers from within the Porsche stable, but that he would expect that they would need a driver with experience in the series.

“On the driver’s side we probably have to make a decision in the first quarter of 2019,” Seidl said.

“Similar to the LMP1 programme, our focus initially will be to see first which drivers we have inside the Porsche family because we try to be loyal to these guys first.

“But at the same time, I have to make the decision.

“Can I really afford to go into Formula E without having a driver who has Formula E experience? That’s something I have to figure out in the next month.”

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Formula E writer for TCF since 2015-16 and fascinated by all things electric.
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