No new investor found for McLaren team! Only 10 teams left in season 12 - end for Taylor Barnard?

In April, McLaren announced that the British brand would be withdrawing from Formula E due to new ambitions in the WEC. Since then, the team, which operated under the name Neom McLaren, has been looking for a new investor. According to a report by The Race, a takeover failed to materialise. The team's licence will be returned to Formula E before the end of this month.

The entire team is said to have been informed at the end of last week that it would no longer be going ahead. "We kept everyone in the loop, including the drivers," explains Team Principal Ian James. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was to give anyone false hope or promises, whether it be team members, drivers or partners. Taylor (Barnard) and Sam (Bird) have all the information they need to decide for themselves what is best for their future."

Smaller driver line-up for the first time since 2018

Without the team behind McLaren, Formula E will only be a world championship with 20 drivers next season. The last time there were only ten teams was in season 4 - seven years ago. In season 5, HWA Racelab joined, which first became Mercedes and later McLaren. This means that Formula E will hold two licences available for potential teams from August, as there could actually be as many as twelve teams competing in Formula E.

The premature exit of the team will also be an expensive endeavour. The contracts with Formula E and suppliers Nissan, Fortescue Zero and Spark had been agreed for one year longer. The team's forced exit is therefore a breach of contract and is likely to be penalised with a costly penalty by the suppliers concerned and Formula E.

This means that only ten teams and 20 drivers will be on the grid next season. The withdrawal of the entire team and not just the brand name "McLaren" is causing great confusion in Formula E, starting with the fact that both Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard would no longer have a place in the driver line-up next season. However, McLaren junior Barnard is said to have already secured his future in Formula E.

Taylor Barnard instead of Jean-Eric-Vergne at Penske?

According to the report, the young Briton has apparently reached an agreement with Jay Penske and signed a long-term contract with DS Penske. DS and Penske will race together one last time next season, as Penske will either go independent again for the Gen4 era or look for another supplier. This means that Jean-Eric-Vergne is likely to be the one to leave the team, as the Frenchman is primarily associated with Stellantis.

It is therefore also up to Vergne whether Barnard will even be on the grid next season. If the two-time Formula E champion is not allowed to switch to the Maserati-MSG team, which will presumably compete as Citroen next season, there would be no vacant seat at Penske in season 13. A switch from "JEV" to Maserati would also mean the end for both Vandoorne and Hughes, as the team has in all likelihood already signed Nick Cassidy.