MSG’s 2026 Plan
Citroen Formula E team principal Cyril Blais has commented for the first time on the drafting in of Beth Paretta as managing director of the MSG entity that is the ultimately the licensee of the Citroen entry.
“The recruitment of Beth is a big asset for us and strengthen the team,” said Blais. “I think what is clear is that she can bring a lot on the commercial front, and obviously develop that side of the business that we’ve been lacking a little bit behind in.”
“My understanding is that I will remain in charge of all the technical and the day-to-day operations. Really she’s there to expand the team in the commercial aspect, look for new investors, secure the team financially, as well as, building the relationship with Citroën.”
The Race covered one of Formula E’s most convoluted and laborious stories last week. To read what has occurred at MSG click HERE and HERE.
CUPRA Kiro wants revenge
CUPRA Kiro is targeting its first podium of the season this weekend in Monaco and is using its huge potential from 2025 as motivation to try and lay to rest a significant ghost. 12 months ago, it had one of the quickest cars in the field but scored just a seventh place via Dan Ticktum’s drive in the Saturday race.
“Dan was so impressed with you last year and the car was in a good window,” team boss Russell O’Hagan told FEN. “The races just ended up a bit mixed last year, and we didn’t deliver on our potential enough. So, we have to stop not being able to do that, basically. We said it in the last race; we just need to walk away from here with a minimum of 20 points across the cars in both races. We’ve got 9 out of 17 races left to go and we need to start scoring some points soon.”
Can Mueller break Porsche curse?
Porsche’s Nico Mueller told FEN that he is “confident” he can help the team kick its curse of never having got a major result at Monaco. The team’s best result was a fourth place last season, although Jake Dennis did score a third place in the customer Andretti Porsche 99X Electric last time around.
“We know qualifying is much more important here than on other tracks here,” said Mueller. “We come from the other extreme in Berlin, especially on the Sunday race here, so we put more focus on making sure we know what to do for qualifying. So that’s going to be key.
“I really hope that we can finally get rid of that statistic (no podiums or wins in Monaco) and be confident because we have what it takes. But again, you have to put it all together, right? And Formula E is unforgiving, yet I’m confident we can do it.”
Gen4 on the streets
The Gen4 will undertake demonstration laps on the Monaco track this Sunday with occasional Formula E commentator David Coulthard conducting the run. The Gen4 development car will get its final independent running ahead of an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July where James Rossiter and potential one other big name driver will be on hand to showcase the new design.
New PIF deal incoming
FEN has learned that Formula E is set to extend its deal with the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A new commitment would see PIF continue in to a new phase of partnership with Formula E with whom they signed the original agreement in January 2024.
PIF is believed to have a minority shareholding in Formula E. Its ‘Electric 360’ initiative was launched in 2024 and covers Formula E, Extreme E, and E1 (electric powerboat racing) with a goal to accelerating the growth of electric mobility and sustainability.
Formula E sells itself a ‘dummy’
Formula E and the FIA were considering hosting a dummy grid prior to La Rascasse corner this weekend but those plans were discontinued last week at the Sporting Working Group meeting. The plan outlined a dummy grid formed close to the Emotion Club to mark the running of the 10th Monaco EPrix. The cars would then have driven around to the grid for a normal standing start.
Andretti at Nissan test
The Andretti team, which recently announced its amicable split with Porsche, will have staff at a private Nissan Gen4 test in Spain later this month. The test will be a milestone for Nissan in that it will not only see its first gelling phase of the soon to be announced customer project but will also see the appearance of a new technical director for the team.
Andretti’s team boss Roger Griffiths would not confirm any plans but did say that any integration with the team’s new partner would take in to account its present responsibilities with Porsche.
“We have to be mindful of what’s written into the agreements on both sides to ensure that we are siloing the information,” said Griffiths. “There’s no transfer of information, either with our current partner or our future partner. We have to respect those confidentiality things, and it’s something as a team that we’re not afraid of doing. We’ve been in this position before and we’re very good at partitioning things, so there isn’t any fear of information going in either direction.”
SWG Lowdown
A meeting of Formula E’s Sporting Working Group took place on May 7 with multiple key topics discussed, mostly around the sporting and technical support framework around the new Gen4 era.
Formula E teams are in a race against time to get their Gen4 plans nailed prior to the homologation period for their cars which begins at the end of September. That leaves approximately six weeks maximum until the pre-season test which is planned for Jarama in mid-November. The 13th season of Formula E could start in mid-December.
Marek H at Spa
Formula E race director Marek Hanaczewski attended last weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa in an official capacity where he was observing how the WEC officiates its races. FIA officials attending other championships is reasonably common place throughout FIA series to nurture a broad selection of knowledge especially regarding IT systems and specific technical tools used.
New Big Cat Prowls Monaco
Jaguar has confirmed the name of its new luxury four-door GT, the Type 01. That references legendary predecessors, ‘0’ is for zero tailpipe emissions, ‘1’ for the first of a new generation. The new name ‘unites the brand’s history of innovation in design, technology and performance’ with the most advanced Jaguar ever Jaguar Type 01 prototypes are appearing at the Monaco E-Prix, wearing a distinctive camouflage wrap.
CUPRA Kiro’s new CRO
The CUPRA Kiro team has announced the appointment of Lawson Hill as its Chief Revenue Officer. Lawson has previously held senior commercial roles with Williams Racing and England Rugby, and also delivered the UK Government’s global sponsorship strategy at the Department for Business and Trade. His most recent position was Head of Sales at the agency, Reddoor Live.
Paffett Predicts Monaco
CUPRA KIRO’s Racing Director, Gary Paffett, attempts to predict the 2026 Monaco E-Prix in collaboration with the team’s partner Duelbits.
Qualifying will Define the Weekend
“Monaco is one of those circuits where Qualifying almost becomes half the job. Although we’ll still see a lot of overtaking, unlike Berlin, there isn’t the same opportunity to come through the field on raw pace alone. Track position will be critical, especially in Race 1, and even small mistakes in Qualifying have the potential to carry a much bigger impact than we’re used to seeing in Formula E.”
Two Days, Two Different Races
“In Monaco we’ll see two vastly different races from Saturday to Sunday. Race 1 will be more about reacting and timing Pit Boost and Attack Mode correctly whereas Race 2 will reward more long-term energy planning. Even though the circuit is the same, drivers will need two separate approaches over the weekend.”
Schools Out
Andretti’s Nerea Marti and Formula E’s special sporting advisor James Rossiter both visited Monegasque schools ahead of the EPrixs this weekend.
Nerea visited Ecole des Révoires, James visited Cours Saint Maur and Lucas Di Grassi visited Ecole de la Condamine.
Pipo Power
Genesis Magma Racing WEC driver ‘Pipo’ Derani visited the Formula E paddock on Thursday catching up with good friend and fellow Brazilian Felipe Drugovich. Derani, who now lives in Monaco, tested for the Mahindra team at the rookie test in 2020 at Marrakesh.
Live Podcast Alert
FEN founder Sam Smith will be hosting a live podcast in the Formula E fan village this Sunday. Along with guest James Rossiter, the pod will discuss all things Monaco EPrix and in particular the upcoming Gen4 era. The pod will take place between 12.50 and 13.30 on Sunday afternoon and fans will be invited to ask the guests questions.
Additional reporting by Georgia Williams
