Formula E: 2017-18 season driver lineup confirmed
By Alex Herbst
The 2017-18 Formula E season is fast approaching. But before the cars take to the grid in Hong Kong, the driver lineup must be set for the all-electric series.
The Formula E world championship is one of the most unique in the world, with a winter to summer calendar and mid-race car switches in the all-electric series. Ahead of the lights going out and racing resuming on the streets of Hong Kong, the driver lineup for all ten Formula E teams were confirmed by series officials this week.
Starting with the leaders in the paddock, Renault e.dams and championship-winning Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler will keep the same lineups as last year. Title runner-up Sebastien Buemi will pair with Nicolas Prost for the French team, while Lucas di Grassi returns to defend his series championship with Daniel Abt joining in once again. The only changes for these teams come on the manufacturer front, with Audi making the team a factory operation, while Renault will exit the sport at the end of 2018.
Meanwhile, the other two winning teams from the 2016-17 season will field very similar lineups. Mahindra Racing will keep their team intact with Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld. DS Virgin Racing will retain Sam Bird, while bringing Alex Lynn aboard full-time after a one-off appearance at New York.
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For the remaining teams, there will be five new drivers joining the series across the squads. Among the high-profile changes over the offseason was former champion Nelson Piquet Jr. moving from NextEV NIO to Panasonic Jaguar Racing. Replacing Piquet with the team will be Luca Filippi. Mitch Evans and Oliver Turvey will remain with Jaguar and NextEV respectively.
Venturi and Dragon poached new drivers from the sports car racing ranks, with the former bringing in Edoardo Mortara to race alongside Maro Engel. Meanwhile, Loic Duval is gone at Dragon, replaced by former WEC driver Neel Jani. Jerome d’Ambrosio returns to the American team, while Faraday Future departs as part of the team’s namesake.
The final two teams, Andretti and Techeetah, each kept half of their lineups heading into the 2017-18 season. The American squad by Michael Andretti keeps Antonio Felix da Costa while adding Tom Blomqvist ahead of the team’s partnership with BMW. Techeetah, meanwhile, adds Andre Lotterer to partner with Jean-Eric Vergne.
Here is the full list of entries for the 2017-18 Formula E world championship:
| Number | Team | Car | Driver |
| 1 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE04 | Lucas di Grassi (BRA) |
| 2 | DS Virgin Racing | DS Virgin DSV-03 | Sam Bird (GBR) |
| 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type II | Nelson Piquet (BRA) |
| 4 | Venturi Formula E Team | Venturi VM200-FE-03 | Edoardo Mortara (CHE) |
| 5 | Venturi Formula E Team | Venturi VM200-FE-03 | Maro Engel (DEU) |
| 6 | Dragon | Penske EV-2 | Neel Jani (CHE) |
| 7 | Dragon | Penske EV-2 | Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL) |
| 8 | Renault e.dams | Renault Z.E. 17 | Nicolas Prost (FRA) |
| 9 | Renault e.dams | Renault Z.E. 17 | Sebastien Buemi (CHE) |
| 16 | NIO Formula E Team | NextEV NIO Sport 003 | Oliver Turvey (GBR) |
| 18 | TECHEETAH | Renault Z.E. 17 | Andre Lotterer (BEL) |
| 19 | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M4Electro | Felix Rosenqvist (SWE) |
| 20 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type II | Mitch Evans (NZL) |
| 23 | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M4Electro | Nick Heidfeld (DEU) |
| 25 | TECHEETAH | Renault Z.E. 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) |
| 27 | Andretti Formula E | Andretti ATEC-03 | Tom Blomqvist (GBR) |
| 28 | Andretti Formula E | Andretti ATEC-03 | Antonio Felix da Costa (PRT) |
| 36 | DS Virgin Racing | DS Virgin DSV-03 | Alex Lynn (GBR) |
| 66 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE04 | Daniel Abt (DEU) |
| 68 | NIO Formula E Team (GBR) | NextEV NIO Sport 003 | Luca Filippi (ITA) |
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The Formula E world championship gets their season underway in just under a month from the streets of Hong Kong. Coverage of the all-electric series can be seen in the United States on FOX Sports.