When the racing stops, the game of musical chairs commences. That’s as true in Formula E as it is in any other category of motorsport, and this week has already seen two driver changes announced.
First up is Maro Engel, who joins the Venturi team. The 30-year-old German has competed in such disciplines as Formula 3, DTM and Australia’s V8 Supercars series. A longtime Mercedes works driver, he’s won the GT Cup at the Macau Grand Prix the past two years running in the SLS AMG GT3. Engel tested for the Venturi Formula E team already, and will fill the seat previously filled by Jacques Villeneuve and Mike Conway to partner Stephane Sarrazin for the coming third season.
Meanwhile, Andretti has poached Antonio Felix da Costa from Team Aguri for next season, just as it did with sponsor Amlin. The 24-year-old Portuguese driver has already amassed a wealth of experience, winning races in Formula Renault, Formula 3, GP3, DTM and Formula E, taking victory in the 2015 Buenos Aires ePrix. In shifting to the Andretti team, he replaces Simona de Silvestro and partners with Robin Frijns.
Aguri returns next season as Techeetah, with Jena-Eric Vergne and Ma Quing Hua behind the wheel. With most of the teams now having confirmed their lineups for next season, there are only four seats still open: one at Mahindra (alongside Nick Heidfeld), one at NextEV (alongside Nelson Piquet) and two at the new Jaguar team.
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