Nick Cassidy has watched his strong first half of the 2026 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season has tail off alarmingly since the Berlin double header weekend in early May. But he’s far from panicking.
Last season’s runner-up switched from Jaguar to a Stellantis contract for this season and will stay with the automotive and motorsport multi-brand behemoth until at least 2028. Cassidy is completing a dual programme with Peugeot and is set to continue this in 2027 as well.
Life at Citroën could hardly have started better with a second place in the Sao Paulo opener and then a win in the second round at Mexico City. Since then, however there have been only a few bright points with only a further second place at the first Berlin EPrix being a highlight.
A combination of technical issues and some strategic missteps have limited Cassidy’s points scoring since the positive opening with Miami and Shanghai been set-up limited races in which he was never in contention for a result.
Shanghai last weekend was a chastening experience for Cassidy and his side of the Citroen garage as the team elected for a split strategy on car set-up. While Vergne become the hero with an excellent run to second place, Cassidy simply disappeared down the order to come in a highly frustrated
A day earlier Cassidy was already frustrated and pragmatic, telling FEN that “it has been a bunch of not great days in the office at the moment, so it’s a bit tough.
“I didn’t have great pace in the race. But then to be honest that wasn’t the issue as I took Attack Mode and about five seconds later the Safety Car came out. I kind of assumed that if the Safety Car came out, it would be for a while, so I boxed. And as we boxed, the race went green again.
Cassidy clearly, like many drivers did not agree with the Safety Car deployment, calling it “confusing to me”.
In races with only one Attack Mode, the safety car instantly destroys your race. When it is due to conditions, not an accident, it’s even more frustrating.
“And then three minutes later the conditions are suddenly considered ok. I didn’t think there was much more we could do. [Without the safety car] we were fighting for a point or two. More than that wasn’t realistic, but it sucks to not even get the chance. I just have to take it on the chin.”
That chin is getting more like a boxers at the minute as Cassidy spars with a difficult run, one in which he has now not scored in four consecutive races, the first time that has occurred since the Berlin/Jakarta/Marrakech quartet of races back in 2022, the last of the Gen2 era of Formula E.
Stellantis is really picking up its Gen4 development programme at present with recent testing at Navarra in Spain and further testing in the same country next week. Cassidy is racing at Interlagos at the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo this week with Peugeot, another programme that is presenting serious challenges at present.
They say in the tough times, an athlete grows stronger. In the long-term Cassidy may look back on this period more positively as he is doing now because the word already coming out of Gen4 testing is that Stellantis is really on target to bring something special next season.
For now, Cassidy and Citroen Racing are learning some hard lessons but also have one eye on what the near future may bring. Cassidy may well add to his success so far at Citroen in the remaining four races of the season but it is the bigger picture that has always been one coming in to clearer and more positive focus that really excites him.
