Citroën Racing to join Formula E
The Citroën brand name will return to global motorsport later this year following the announcement that it will join the Formula E grid for the 2025-26 season.
The French firm is set to replace fellow Stellantis brand Maserati at the Monaco-based MSG team, ending a long-running saga over the future of the Italian nameplate in the championship. It will join DS – spun off as an independent, luxury-focused brand of Citroën in 2014 – in the series, and coming from the same conglomerate, will use the same powertrains as DS Penske, as Maserati has for the last three seasons.
“Citroën is officially returning to motor racing as a factory team, a field that has shaped its history and legend,” a statement from the company read. “Sharing values by reconnecting with motorsport in its most visionary form: a 100-percent electric, responsible and committed competition.”
Citroën has a storied history in motorsport, albeit mostly in rallying. It won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies from 1993 to '97, and won the Dakar Rally four times in the 1990s as well.
Following the turn of the century it became a dominant force in the World Rally Championship, winning nine consecutive titles with Sebastien Loeb (the 2006 triumph coming under the Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team banner as the factory readied the C4 WRC for competition).
In 2014 Citroen took on circuit racing for the first time when it entered the FIA World Touring Car Championship with the C-Elysee sedan. It was immediately competitive, winning 17 races out of 24 that season with Jose Maria Lopez, Yvan Muller, Loeb and Ma Qing Ha. Lopez won the title that year, and added two more in 2015 and 2016 before the brand withdrew from the championship. WTCC stopped entirely after the 2017 campaign.
In 2014 Citroen took on circuit racing for the first time when it entered the FIA World Touring Car Championship with the C-Elysee sedan. It was immediately competitive, winning 17 races out of 24 that season with Jose Maria Lopez, Yvan Muller, Loeb and Ma Qing Ha. Lopez won the title that year, and added two more in 2015 and 2016 before the brand withdrew from the championship. WTCC stopped entirely after the 2017 campaign.
The Formula E program will be Citroen’s first in open-wheel racing, and its first in an all-electric series. The team's driver line-up has yet to be confirmed – more information about the venture will come on Oct. 20 – but it is likely to field current DS Penske driver and two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne and the recently signed Nick Cassidy, who will move over from Jaguar and will also drive for sister brand Peugeot in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Stoffel Vandoorne, who drove for Maserati last season and DS Penske the two seasons before that, will depart the Stellantis fold entirely. He will exit the Formula E side and the Peugeot WEC Hypercar program (where he will be replaced by Theo Purchaire) following the conclusion of his contract. His teammate Jake Hughes is also expected to be left out of the game of Stellantis Formula E musical chairs, with Cupra Kiro thought to be an option for him.
Meanwhile, DS Penske will continue fielding Maximilian Guenther, with Taylor Barnard expected to join from the recently closed McLaren team, albeit on the Penske Autosport contract and not tied directly to the manufacturer.
DS will remain aligned to Penske Autosport until at least the end of the current season, the final one of the GEN3 ruleset, with the brand’s Formula E future unclear beyond that. Stellantis is set to retain presence across at least two teams regardless, with speculation mounting that it will run its own team under the Opel brand when the GEN4 regulations come in.
For more information: www.racer.com
For more Industry News, please Click Here
For more information: www.racer.com
For more Industry News, please Click Here
