Sebastien Buemi could make a sensational return to Formula E this coming season should talks with the new Fortescue Zero Formula E team progress to a deal for the 2016 champion.
Envision Racing, Buemi’s former team, announced last month it would change both its drivers before officially confirming both Maximilian Guenther and Zak O’Sullivan for the coming first Gen4 season.
That left Buemi facing the likely end of his Formula E career, or so he and many others thought. But now, Formula E Notebook can reveal that Buemi is a key option for Fortescue Zero to partner the about to be signed Taylor Barnard at the Australian owned/British based operation.
While FZ has several other options, Buemi brings key experience in working with Jaguar and some knowledge of the Gen4 car having tested it earlier this year with Jaguar and its development car.
Additionally, Buemi is well known to key figures at Fortescue Zero and is thought by some to be an ideal option to get the team established as it metamorphosises from DS Penske in to Fortescue Zero.
Buemi is believed to be keen to continue to race in Formula E next season and had agreed with Envision to remain as a consultant and occasional tester for them. Should he get a deal at Fortescue Zero, Buemi will clearly have to cease his new role at Envision.
Why Buemi deal would accelrate FZ project
Should Sebastien Buemi be able to pull off what only a few weeks ago seemed a highly unlikely return to Formula E with Fortescue Zero, he would become the only driver on the grid at Jeddah in December that took part in the first ever E-Prix at Beijing in September 2014.
Buemi is one of the all-electric World Championship’s greatest and most decorated racers, having taken 14 victories and the 2015-16 title. He has only ever driven for two teams – Renault/Nissan edams and Envision.
The key question that Fortescue Zero will be asking right now is whether Buemi can really be a particularly suited driver to the GEN4 cars. Technically he is in a good position, as senior parties at the team will know that Buemi brings much more than just his skill as a driver. He brings leadership, a relentless capacity to drive a team forward and a deep understanding of how Formula E squads have to work will be major assets that other drivers simply do not have.
Perhaps the best way to look at this situation is that Buemi would be the perfect driver to help establish the team in its first campaign. While Barnard is the probable future, Buemi would be viewed as a key accelerant for Fortescue Zero to get a firm foothold while it is authenticating itself as a competitive proposition during 2027.
It needs a plug-in and play driver that also has the desire to help build a new team. Bumei has that in spades, particularly on the technical front, already knowing how a Formula E team operates and how to gte the best out of an engineering team from the get go.
Any deal is likely to be for a firm one season only. Beyond that Buemi, who is four years younger than former rival and recent retiree Lucas di Grassi, feels unlikely to race in Formula E up to the Brazilian’s age of 41 when he stopped his 12 season career last month. But for the next season or two Buemi is a driver who can have a true Indian summer, with a smart by-product of it being an invaluable leg-up the grid for a nascent Fortescue Zero.
