Because of the new calendar: Are Sebastien Buemi's days in Formula E numbered? "It's extremely unfortunate"

The new race calendar for Season 13 could spell the end of Sebastien Buemi’s Formula E career. The reason for this is two clashes with the World Endurance Championship (WEC). These could force Buemi to miss four races - something his team, Envision Racing, naturally wants to avoid. Buemi wants to fight to stay on. However, Formula E has other priorities.

Last week, Formula E unveiled its race calendar for the start of the Gen4 era. Shortly before that, the World Endurance Championship also published its race dates for the coming year. Looking at both calendars, it is clear that there will once again be clashes between the two championships.

Firstly, this affects the double-header in Monaco, which is scheduled to take place on 15 and 16 May 2027 – the WEC is racing at Spa-Francorchamps that same weekend. The next clash is at the double-header in Shanghai, scheduled for 10 and 11 July. The WEC, for its part, will be racing in Sao Paulo on those dates.

Several drivers affected again

This affects a number of drivers who have so far been competing in both racing series. Whilst Stellantis – which competes in the WEC with the Peugeot brand – is granting its drivers greater flexibility to compete in Formula E races, Sébastien Buemi could be particularly hard hit. His WEC employer, Toyota, is likely to take priority in such cases.

The situation is similar for Nyck de Vries, who races alongside Buemi as his team-mate in WEC. The Formula E teams are handling the situation differently: unlike Envision, Mahindra appears to be taking a more accommodating approach. According to information from our colleagues at The Race, it is expected that Mahindra Racing is planning to retain de Vries for the coming season.

At Envision, the preference would be for the drivers to focus exclusively on their Formula E commitments, even though they have assured Buemi of their support. Initially, the plan was to extend the drivers' contracts – both with the 37-year-old Swiss driver and with his team-mate Joel Eriksson.

Buemi: "I'll be fighting hard"

For Buemi, this could now spell the end of his Formula E career. Speaking to The Race, he said: "Obviously it is extremely unfortunate. I'm going to fight very hard in trying to do anything I can to be on the grid next year, and then we'll see. But I'm not giving up. I'll be fighting hard." The Season 2 champion couldn’t resist a slight dig at both organisations: "I'm not sure if everyone tried their best."

There could, however, be a precedent for Buemi. The last time there was a scheduling clash between the two racing series was in 2025. Back then, he raced for Envision in Berlin, whilst Toyota competed in Sao Paulo without him. The difference compared to 2024, when there was an overlap between Berlin and Spa, was that the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the WEC's season highlight – had already taken place, meaning the teams no longer had to prepare for the race. In 2027, the two scheduling clashes will affect the WEC races immediately before and after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Dodds: "Our priority is growing our fanbase"

Formula E has taken a clear stance on this matter. CEO Jeff Dodds said the following during a media briefing, which was also attended by e-Formula.news: "Our priority is to look at what clashes have the lowest impact on fan attendance, viewership for TV broadcast, for growing our fanbase. Unfortunately, our top priority isn't trying to ensure that drivers can race in multiple series at the same time. It's nice if they can do that, but that's not our top priority.”

"We meet with WEC, we talk with the leadership of WEC," he continued. "We understand each other's calendars. There is no way of avoiding clashes on both sides unfortunately."

We are unlikely to know whether Sébastien Buemi has a future with Envision in Formula E, despite the scheduling clashes, until after the end of the current season. The series’ next double-header is due to take place in Shanghai this coming weekend.