With Mitch Evans making the bombshell move to Opel GSE Formula E Team this season, having started his Formula E career at Jaguar TCS Racing a decade ago, these are 10 of the biggest driver market swaps that have been seen in the championship since its inception.
From prominent promotions to the end of an era, there have been several signings that have shaped the success of the grid. As the 2026/27 Formula E grid starts to take shape, Championship Correspondent Katy Fairman picks her more significant driver swaps.
Wehrlein’s move to Porsche
The pairing of reigning World Champion Pascal Wehrlein and the Porsche Formula E team feels like a partnership that was always meant to be. Two giants of German motorsport, but when Wehrlein joined the all-electric championship for the 2018/19 season he was actually representing Mahindra Racing.
After competing in Formula 1 with the likes of Manor and Sauber, Wehrlein balanced a full-time Formula E seat with Development Driver duties for Scuderia Ferrari. He was teammates to Jérôme d'Ambrosio – who is now himself Deputy Team Principal for Ferrari in F1 – and secured one podium and a pole position during his rookie season.
He continued with Mahindra, but midway through the 2019/2020 season – which was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic – he revealed on Instagram that he had left the Indian manufacturer with immediate effect.
Months later Porsche confirmed he would join the team as a full-time driver in their second season, and the rest is history. Two drivers’ World Championships and one Teams’ trophy later, the pairing of Wehrlein and Porsche is indisputably one of the strongest on the grid and will continue into GEN4.
Vergne departs DS
After eight seasons racing with the DS logo on his car, Jean-Eric Vergne made the switch to Citroën Racing for the 2025/26 season. The long-standing relationship started when JEV joined the DS Virgin Racing Team in 2015 for a single season, before leaving and joining the Techeetah team for the following season.
Following on from their championship-winning season with JEV, Techeetah brought on DS Automobiles from the 2018/19 season and the team won again – making Vergne the first two-time champion in Formula E history.
With four seasons racing under DS Techeetah, and another three as DS PENSKE, Vergne made the decision to leave the team in favour of Citroën Racing. Although both Citroën and DS run under the Stellantis banner, it still marked the end of a special partnership. JEV achieved a podium with the French team in their first season, and will continue with teammate Nick Cassidy in GEN4.
Buemi’s journey from e.Dams to Envision
Former Champion Sébastien Buemi joined Formula E for its inaugural season, which started with the 2014 Beijing E-Prix. Then racing for Renault e.dams, Buemi went on to establish himself as one of the best talents in the series and would win the 2015/16 championship after a tense final battle in Battersea, London.
Renault e.dams would continue, with Buemi at the helm, until 2018 when Nissan purchased a stake in the championship-winning racing organisation. It then became Nissan e.dams, but still Buemi stayed and picked up more silverware under the e.dams umbrella – 13 wins, 14 pole positions and 29 podiums in total.
However, after eight seasons and two generations of car, Buemi made the switch to Envision Racing for the 2022/23 season and remained there for the entire GEN3 era. It was a big change, but it didn’t stop the Swiss racing legend from building on his excellent racing record with another victory over the 2025 Monaco E-Prix, as well as plenty of pole positions and podiums.
Evans exits Jaguar for Opel
Perhaps the biggest driver move we have seen in Formula E’s history, Mitch Evans announced his departure from Jaguar TCS Racing after ten years together earlier this year. The Kiwi is the World Championship’s most successful driver in terms of victories, and was loyal to the Jaguar squad since he – and the team – joined the series in 2016/17.
Interview: Mitch Evans on his new journey with Opel GSE in Formula E
Having achieved all his silverware and milestones with Jaguar, Evans confirmed the switch to the Stellantis-powered Opel team for GEN4. As a new manufacturer on the grid, and a new powertrain to learn, this will be a big change for Evans but he says it comes at the right time and he’s ready for the challenge.
“GEN4 was a big reason why I wanted to move,” Evans explained last month. “I decided that I will look elsewhere, and there was some good interest from a lot of top teams. I have considered it in the past, and it's not the first time I've considered leaving Jaguar, although it's the first time I've really acted on it. I was with one team for so long, and you are always intrigued to see what other offers are out there or what other teams are up to.”
Di Grassi’s Audi adventure ends
The now-retired Lucas di Grassi had a relationship with Audi in endurance racing for several years, before he signed up to their Formula E programme for the first race. Having competed in the World Endurance Championship for the German marque, di Grassi signed on to race for the Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team and win championships with them – both a drivers’ title for him and the 2017/18 teams’ honours.
Whilst racing with the Audi badge in Formula E, di Grassi managed 12 wins, three pole positions and 35 podiums.
However, after 84 races Audi departed the all-electric championship and di Grassi moved over to the Monaco-based Venturi team. Here he would take a victory in the 2021/22 season, and four podiums, before stints with Mahindra, ABT and Lola before announcing his retirement ahead of the GEN4 era.
Müller's Porsche promotion
Nico Müller also joined the Porsche Formula E Team last season, and was recently announced as continuing with the reigning Manufacturers' Champion into GEN4 alongside teammate Pascal Wehrlein.
After five seasons in Formula E, and one rogue podium at the 2021 Valencia E-Prix, Müller’s results didn’t reflect the high-quality driver he is.
However, this all changed for his sixth – and most recent – season, when the Swiss driver completed his first season for the Porsche team where he achieved his maiden Formula E win in Berlin, as well as his first pole position in Miami.
De Vries' return with Mahindra
Having stuck with Mercedes-EQ for his first three years in Formula E, and winning the 2020/21 Drivers’ World Championship title in the process – both Nyck de Vries and the manufacturer left the championship in 2022.
During this time, de Vries found himself in Formula 1 racing and competed in 11 Grands Prix from 2022 to 2023, racing for both Williams Racing and AlphaTauri. But, after a change of circumstance, the Dutch driver found himself back in the Formula E paddock for the London E-Prix finale in 2023.
Months later it was confirmed that the former World Champion would return to electric racing, and partner up with Edoardo Mortara at the Mahindra Racing team. Three seasons later, and the duo have just had a contract extension announced, with de Vries helping the team achieve their first win of the GEN3 in Monaco before adding to the trophy cabinet with another win in Tokyo. The news of his return made international headlines, and it’s a partnership that is still going strong on both sides of the Mahindra garage.
Bird joins Jaguar
Another big storyline was the signing of Sam Bird to the Jaguar organisation, ahead of the 2020/21 season – the first campaign as an official FIA World Championship. Bird had been a part of Formula E since its inaugural season, racing for the ‘Virgin Racing’ team for six solid seasons. During that time, he had won a race in every campaign he’d competed in and was the only driver to have done so.
At the time of Bird’s announcement, Jaguar had totalled up two victories in Formula E – both thanks to Evans – but had never really had a strong ‘second’ driver. That was until Bird.
His signing made Jaguar one of the most competitive line-ups on the grid, and their choice was instantly rewarded when Bird brought home their two and only victories that season, and alongside Evans helped deliver second-place honours in the teams’ championship with their best result having been sixth in the standings years prior.
Cassidy connects with Citroën
Although Nick Cassidy’s start in Formula E came with two years at Envision with Audi powertrains, he moved to racing with the Jaguar package from the GEN3 era and progressed up to the works team by the 2023/24 season.
Tensions were high in Cassidy’s final season with Jaguar TCS Racing, so news of his departure didn’t seem too much of a surprise. Nevertheless, it brought a lot of speculation as to where he would go. As the man who won the most races in the GEN3 era, Cassidy’s stocks were high and his move to the new Citroën team was quite the risk.
Yes, Citroën has been hugely successful in almost all its motorsport conquests, but for their first voyage into single-seaters, there was a lot to learn. That analogy was quickly out the window, when Cassidy delivered the team their first podium in São Paulo last season, before achieving their maiden win in front of the passionate fans in Mexico City.
Ticktum's turn at Fortescue Zero
Dan Ticktum will be joining Fortescue Zero Racing for GEN4, a change that might not look too dramatic on the outside but actually has layers.
Ever since Ticktum joined in 2021/22 with NIO 333, he’s remained part of the same ‘team’ despite it going through multiple rebrands and powertrain suppliers: NIO became ERT, which then became CUPRA KIRO. His departure to the new Fortescue Zero squad marked the end of that era for the Silverstone-based team.
How will he manage at the all-new Australian team, as a customer of Jaguar powertrains? Make sure you're watching the first GEN4 season to find out.
Other notable driver moves
In addition to the above, there have also been some significant signings that have changed a driver’s career path, or are yet to play out.
Nelson Piquet Jr’s – the inaugural FIA Formula E champion – moved to Jaguar for the 2017/18 season, after leaving the China Racing/NEXTEV team that he won the championship with in that first season. Unfortunately, he left midway through the 2018–19 season, and was replaced by Alex Lynn.
Andre Lotterer left a successful team at DS Techeetah alongside Vergne, and after helping win the Teams’ Championship in 2018–19, in exchange for a seat at the new Porsche Formula E team alongside Neel Jani. Lotterer would complete three seasons for the team before being replaced by Antonio Felix da Costa.
Speaking of da Costa, his move to Jaguar TCS Racing last season felt like the start of something new. The 2019/2020 Champion has raced with many teams in the all-electric championship, from BMW Andretti, Porsche and DS Techeetah, but seemed ready for a new chapter with the British team and has been rewarded with two victories and a further three podiums last season.
Find out more
GEN4: A new era of Formula E is about to begin
WATCH: How to watch every Formula E race in your country
CALENDAR: Here's every race set for the 2026/27 Formula E season
TICKETS: Secure your grandstand seats and buy Formula E race tickets
