Even the usually straight forward Sylvain Filippi isn’t completely clear on what opportunities might be pursued by him and the Envision Racing team as it gets ready for a fourth rules set at the end of 2026.
Envision Racing, and in its previous guise as Virgin Racing, has worked with three big manufacturers in DS, Audi, and Jaguar over the period of nine years. It has tasted great success with each via wins, podiums and in the case of its association with Jaguar, a world title in 2023.
But this latest partnership with Jaguar has gone a bit tepid in recent times. A dearth of points, some confusion, bad luck, technical difficulties, and significant slices of frustration have hamstrung the once habitually reliable and successful Chinese owned, British based outfit.
So then, where next for Formula E’s last customer team to have won a major title?
“It’s all up in the air and frankly because of the world we live in as a team, it’s been not super clear,” Filippi tells Formula E Notebook.
“We know the manufacturers that have committed early (Porsche, Nissan, Lola, Jaguar and Stellantis (Maserati), and a lot of it felt like it was not fully set in stone yet.
“Now is the time when we are really looking at it properly. Like every generation, we speak to everybody because we get on with everybody and then see what’s happening.
“We are definitely not rushing. I mean, we have the luxury of being a stable team and we don’t have to rush, so we’re not fighting for survival and we’re not doing all those things, which means we can have constructive decisions, get things done really calmly and properly and make a good plan for Gen 4.”
That all sounds very methodical. But Filippi knows that there’s a lot to think about because the Gen4 design will be a big challenge for customer cars to maximise initially. Then again, at the start of Gen3 Envision was initially in a desperate place after accidents and uncertainty with the overall state of the Gen3 project. If it can get through that, which almost saw it withdraw from the Mexico City race in January 2023, then it can get through almost anything.
“We need to really pay good attention with who we work with, in what capacity, what’s the relationship, what kind of team we need,” adds Filippi.
“There’s a lot to do really, so I think in the next few months we’ll get a clearer picture, but we’ll also keep an eye on what’s happening in the bigger picture too.
The manufacturer balance in Formula E feels reasonable in terms of commitments but the wider landscape is less certain. The automotive industry is not in a good place at present and Filippi confesses that he is “a bit concerned by the overall economics for a lot of the manufacturers.
“The transition from petrol to EV is difficult but then you had COVID, now you have the Tariffs and all this and it’s difficult to catch a break to be honest.”
These thoughts are shared across the paddock. In a sense it is only reflecting the wider world and what appears to be an era of increasing instability in both socio-political and sustainable progress or in the case of some powerful country’s inertia at best, regression at worst.
But despite that, Filippi is optimistic for Envision, in the sense of what Gen4’s opportunities might provide.
“I feel super good about our team,” he says confidently.
“I know we have a great reputation as a customer team. We are reliable, we do what we say, we are funded and there’s no problems.
“I know there’s going to be some turbulent days ahead for manufacturers and we have to look at the bigger picture as well. Who’s in good shape, who’s not and I hope it’s all going to be good. But we just have to read the news. It’s not going to be so easy.”
With serious uncertainty around the future of Maserati MSG, questions emerging over NEOM McLaren and to an extent Mahindra too, Formula E is aware that its grid isn’t bullet-proof. The Liberty acquisition has certainly helped some corners of the paddock, specifically ERT being acquired last autumn and potentially bigger and better media deals for the series in the future.
“I think ultimately their (Liberty) interests are completely aligned to ours because they were very clear, the sport has to grow,” says Filippi.
“We need a sport with more races, more broadcasts and more promotion and it just has to be bigger. “
“I know they will be trying their best in achieving that because that’s what’s in their interest and that’s what’s in our interest. Whether it will be where they reach all the KPI’s and whatever, I don’t know yet but I’m confident they are working really hard on it.
“But, also let’s not be shy of the fact that it’s one of the trickiest times of the car industry I’ve ever seen for a lot of manufacturers, so we have to be mindful of that.”
Mindfulness, an adept choice in who it partners with Gen4 and a tightening of Envision’s core competitive principals have to be at the forefront of Filippi’s and the entire teams mind in the coming weeks. Because its fourth launch in Formula E feels like its most important.
