PORTLAND FORMULA E NOTEBOOK – FRIDAY

The deadline for Gen4 manufacturer registration lapses this Sunday. So far Jaguar, Nissan, Lola and Porsche has committed to the new rules set already.
The plans of Stellantis (DS Automobiles and Maserati) are presently unknown but a decision is believed to be imminent for the new rules which kick in at the end of 2026.
Mahindra chief Frederic Bertrand told FEN at Portland today that he had recently attended meetings with senior Mahindra executives to discuss the company’s future in the all-electric world championship, in which it has been involved in since day one.
“Right now, the goal is to be really clear by the end of the season, 100%,” said Bertrand. “The administrative thing is one thing but the real decision is coming in the next two or three weeks.”
FEN understands that ERT will not sign up to the Gen4 rules as a manufacturer before the deadline but is planning to do so at a later date.
Norman Nato will serve a 10-place grid penalty in Saturday’s race after being issued with his third reprimand of the season. A full course yellow speeding violation in FP1 was his latest offence.
Oliver Rowland will not take part in this weekend’s Portland EPrixs after being rule not fit to fly ahead of the Oregon race event.
Nissan’s replacement for Oliver Rowland, Caio Collet, told FEN that he was “not even supposed to be here today because I was supposed to be testing in IndyNXT.
“On Wednesday I heard from Dorian (Boisdron), our team director, that I had to be here because the Oliver situation had started to be a little bit on the worried side. I just cancelled everything and came to Portland, then I was on standby.”
On preparation for this weekend, Collet’s work has been scant after racing at Laguna Seca last weekend and not being able to get to France where the teams DiL simulator is.
“Together with the team, we’ve been looking the last few days through a lot of the data, watching the past few races, especially what they did here last year here,” added Collet.
“First of all, I think they’re doing a really strong season and secondly they were really strong here last year with Sacha and Norman, so it’s just trying to make good of the situation, trying to adapt as soon as I can, and building up step by step.”
Nissan team principal Tommaso Volpe said that he was confident Rowland would return for his home races at London ExCeL in three weeks’ time, saying that “Oli should be in London and, like you said, he’s very strong in this form of races so we expect that realistically we’ll be able to score strong points in London.
“This weekend is more like damage limitation but Sacha has also improved a lot in the race management in the last races and last year qualified very well here – then the race was not good but qualifying was very good,” added Volpe.
“Let’s see; we have to count on Sacha and, why not, Caio to score points in both races this weekend.”
The FIA has confirmed in updated sporting regulations that drivers will have to wear integrated wrist protection gloves from next season onwards. As revealed by The Race last month, tests with the protective supports via suppliers OMP and Alpinestars are set to be carried out at either the London EPrix or in private testing this summer.
Sam Bird will trial the first iteration of the gloves this weekend in what the FIA has described via a bulletin: ‘for test purposes of the FIA Safety Department gloves with different hand protections, should he choose to do so.’ Bird opted to use the gloves in the 10-minute shakedown session this afternoon.
The FIA also recently confirmed the Gen4 technical regulations with all-wheel drive, 600 kW power in qualifying, 450 kW power and 700 kW recuperation (half each from the front and rear axles) as part of the roadmap.
The same as the Gen1 and Gen3 rulesets, the Gen4 car’s powertrain cluster will be homologated for two seasons. During this time, additional development is only possible for software.
The new body-kit (for season 15 in 2028/29) and a new tyre from Bridgestone are set to offer approximately five percent more grip than the initial spec. Rain tyres, however, will remain the same.
Aims for a new battery with the objective of a 20 percent higher energy density for the same weight is also planned for the fifth era of rules. This could mean that drivers will have around 66 kWh of usable energy available during a race, compared to the maximum of 55 kWh in the first four generation campaigns.
Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller is one of the drivers at the centre of paddock rumours that he could be moving to another operation for next season. After an impressive first half of the season the Swiss driver is a driver in demand, although he told FEN that staying at his current team is still also a possibility.
“We’re obviously talking and exploring different ways to potentially continue working together. I said, I feel like in my second family here, I love that team,” said Mueller.
“I think everybody has proven that they’re very good at what they do and I think it’s definitely something that we try and understand what we can do in the future.
“I feel like I have a big point to prove here, been around for a while and have invested a lot of my energy and time into this project. I feel like it’s a format and a championship that suits me, I enjoy being here and driving these cars at the limit and I want to prove that I can win races and compete at the very sharp end in this championship because I’m convinced I can.”
ERT’s Dan Ticktum told FEN that he is actively looking at other opportunities in Formula E next season but is also confident that ERT will make strides up the field in 2025 if he were to stay where he is.
“I haven’t had any contracts put on the table yet,” he said. “If I were to get two other offers I would have to compare them and I’d choose what works best for me at the end of the day.
“I’ve been here three years now and it’s time for me to get into a car where I can prove my worth a bit more. I think we will have a better car next year, there’s no doubt.
“I’m not sure what step the others will make, I’m sure they will make a step but we’ve obviously got a bigger scope of improvement so I think that the gap will reduce a lot.”
Ticktum’s ERT teammate Sergio Sette Camara and his representatives from the GP Management stable are believed to be talking to several other teams about opportunities for next season. The Brazilian told FEN that, similarly to Ticktum, he is keeping options open for next season:
“Of course, it’s always good to keep talking to some other teams to see if they’re interested or not, to get a feel for the market. I think that’s quite natural, every driver does that. I’ve been having some chats.”
Former Mahindra team boss and now spearhead and founder of the FG Series, Dilbagh Gill, is on site in Portland this week. Gill is believed to be conducting meetings with Formula E executives regarding the possibility of sharing the bill at some EPrixs in the future.
Check out the recently released visuals of the planned car HERE.
Another former team principal on-site this weekend at Portland will be ex Nissan Formula E chief Michael Carcamo, who handed the role over to present incumbent Tommaso Volpe in 2021. Carcamo has recently been working in Japan as Program Director of Sports Cars, NISMO Cars and Motorsports at Nissan Motor Corporation
Former DTM and Indycar race winner Robert Wickens was also in the Portland paddock as he readied for a drive in an adapted Gen3 pool test car at the track. It is the first time since his horrific Pocono Indycar accident in 2018 that he driven a single-seater car.
Speaking at a specially arranged press conference with Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds on Friday afternoon, Wickens said that “all I wanted was an opportunity and I think that’s what’s so amazing about Formula E; for years now it’s always been people saying ‘oh, it can’t be done’ and Formula E proves it [can].
“I know that it was high on my list being one of those things I wanted to try, being a disabled driver now, and I knew that, frankly, in this paddock I was likely to be welcomed with open arms because people aren’t afraid to do things against the grain here.
“One of the beauties of Formula E is the actual electrification of the vehicle. It already has brake by wire so for me that adaptation for hand controls, it was always going to be one of the easier cars to adapt. Easiest is a light term, it still takes a lot of energy and resource to make it happen, so for me today we’re adapting the regen paddles on the steering wheel; one side will be throttle, one side will be brake, and I’m assuming regen will be moved to a button on the front side of the wheel.”
Maserati MSG Racing revealed in Portland its 2024 Pride month celebration, We Are Everywhere, designed to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity in motorsport.
The Monegasque operation was the first Formula E team to celebrate Pride in 2021, celebrating diversity and inclusion in LGBTQ+ awareness.
Scott Swid, Chairman & Principal Owner, Maserati MSG Racing said that the team has been “striving to change the face of motorsport and during that time, it’s become clear that there’s an abundance of diverse talent in the world. But we’ve also noticed that there’s a pipeline issue in which underrepresented groups are unable to gain access to the opportunities they deserve. As a team, our passion is to unblock and open access, not just for the LGBTQ+ community, but for all groups who are underrepresented in motorsport.
“We Are Everywhere stands alongside our existing work in promoting gender diversity as the next step in our ultimate mission: driving diversity, inclusion, and equity at the track.”

Recent Indy NXT first time race winner Jamie Chadwick will be part of the Roku TV broadcast at Portland this weekend. Chadwick has preciously tested Formula E cars for the Jaguar and NIO teams.
The sensational all-electric McMurty Spéirling PURE (Validation Prototype 1) fan car destroyed the closed-wheel lap record at Hockenheim earlier this month, setting a lap time of 1.24.43 at the Dörr Group Trackday.
Running at 75% power and 75% downforce, the car proved to be 3.9s faster than the fastest ever DTM Qualifying and 14.1 seconds quicker than the production car record set by the track-focused Mercedes-AMG One.

Header image: Spacesuit Media.