Media report: 24 cars in the Gen4 era? Formula E allegedly sold all starting licences

Following the withdrawal of McLaren, there will only be 20 cars on the grid in the 2025-26 Formula E World Championship, as few as in the Gen1 era. However, for the following season, the first with the recently presented Gen4 cars, the racing series is once again aiming for a full field of 24 cars. Formula E is said to have found a buyer for the two "ownerless" licences. This is reported by Il Messaggero.

Formula E could once again reach the maximum number of 24 cars permitted by the regulations in the coming season. This would reverse the trend of recent years: While there was still a maximum number of twelve teams in seasons 6 and 7, this dropped to eleven in season 8 following the withdrawal of Audi. BMW's withdrawal was offset by Andretti taking over the licence, while Mercedes' withdrawal the following year was offset by the sale of the team to McLaren.

First 12 teams, then 11 and now 10

In contrast, there was no replacement for Techeetah, but ABT took over the former Audi licence and initially competed as a Mahindra customer team, leaving eleven teams until the end of season 11. The demise of the Monegasque team Maserati MSG Racing was averted with the takeover by the Stellantis brand Citroen. However, the withdrawal of McLaren after three years in the electric series reduced the starting field for season 12 to ten teams with 20 cars.

For the future, however, the omens are much better: the Stellantis brand Opel is said to have acquired one of the two free licences from Formula E and will compete as a Stellantis works team next season. This would be the first time that the Group has run its own Formula E team, having only ever worked with other teams in the past - first with Virgin Racing, then with Techeetah and in the Gen3 era with Penske and MSG Racing.

The question remains: What about licence number 12? The Gen4 car has also been well received in circles that were previously not particularly convinced by the electric series. Interested teams or even manufacturers could well be interested now. However, the possibility that Formula E has sold the licence to speculators hoping to make a financial profit by reselling the last available licence can be ruled out.

Did the 12th licence go to an "important OEM"?

There were already rumours in Valencia that an "important OEM" had put out feelers for the last available licence. However, it is still unclear whether this manufacturer has now also acquired the licence and will actually start in season 13. For a car manufacturer, Formula E would primarily be of interest as a development and marketing platform with its own drive system - but development for season 13 should already have been underway for several months. After all, the five registered manufacturers Jaguar, Lola, Nissan, Porsche and Stellantis already completed their first test on the Monteblanco racetrack this week.

Who has acquired the twelfth licence is expected to be announced shortly.