Max Guenther and Zak O’Sullivan both tested the Jaguar Gen4 car last week as Envision Racing prepares for its second phase of customer supply from the British based manufacturer.
Formula E Notebook can reveal that their runs came at Estoril last week, where Jaguar spent two days testing its Gen4 development car. As well as Guenther, who will race for Envision next season, and development driver O’Sullivan, Stoffel Vandoorne and Antonio Felix da Costa were also on hand for the ‘Big Cat.’
Envision had several members of its team on hand with Jaguar at the test, which was shared with Stellantis and Lola. It is believed that Zane Maloney in the Lola set the fastest time across the test by 0.4s as Formula E cars visited the Portuguese venue for the first time.
Guenther was released by DS Penske to be allowed to attend and take part in the test, which came just a few weeks after he is believed to have agreed a deal with Envision for the start of the Gen4 era. This is believed to have come after he was unable to get specific details on what the Penske team might be racing next season, after the DS Automobiles brand of Stellantis decided to exit the all-electric series after a decade of racing.
O’Sullivan is understood to be a potential future race driver of interest to Envision for next season, although presently he has a deal in Super Formula that will take him to the end of the present season at least. But the British driver, who is formerly a Williams F1 test driver, is known to be open to racing in Formula E in the near future.
Last week’s test at Estoril was clearly much more than just a regular test, as the 21 year-old then flew directly from the Estoril to Sugo for the latest Super Formula E round, where he finished ninth driving for the Impul team. He currently sits 11th in the championship with four races remaining.
When contacted by FEN, Envision Racing stated that they “don’t comment on private testing activity or speculation around our future driver line-up. We have a development programme in place and regularly evaluate drivers as part of our preparations for GEN4. Any announcements regarding our Season 13 line-up will be made in due course.”
Could both Buemi and Eriksson miss out?
O’Sullivan’s test could indicate that Envision is considering a completely new line-up for the first Gen4 season. This would be a major surprise as DS/Envision has never changed both drivers over one season to the next in its 12 year history.
The amendment in dates for the Monaco EPrix next season has certainty strengthened Sebastien Buemi’s chances of getting in to a fourth rules set of Formula E and he did drive the Gen4 Jaguar earlier this year.
Eriksson meanwhile has had an impressive season on his full-time return to Formula E, where he currently has a slender 8-7 qualifying advantage over his teammate, although the Swede has registered 20 fewer points. Buemi has scored a pole position this season as well, and like Eriksson, a single podium (at Jeddah).
Speaking to Formula E Notebook at Tokyo, Eriksson said that Gen4 is “going to be like pressing the reset button, and it’ something I’ve been looking mostly forward to because this year has obviously been a bit tough with new tracks.
“Obviously trying to learn as much as possible this year. The tracks and the racing itself, because the format is going to be a little bit different, but I think the racing itself is going to be quite similar.
Eriksson had not been informed of his future position at the team prior to the Tokyo EPrix, and Envision is still believed to be weighing up who it will place alongside Guenther. The high likelihood though is that it will be one of Eriksson, Buemi or O’Sullivan.
“So, I’m just trying to get as much experience as possible and I’ve just been looking very much forward to this reset,” concluded Eriksson.
