As the first Italian brand to enter Formula E from 2023, Maserati is not discounting a return to the pinnacle of the sport.
Maserati, The famed Formula 1 winners in the 1950s with Juan Manuel Fangio will be making a step ‘back to the future’ by going back to motorsports racing besides making fast luxury cars.
As part of Stellantis, which was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA last year, the 107-year old car manufacturer has already announced that all its models will be electric by 2025.
According to Grasso, Maserati had been collaborating with Formula E for a year on plans to return to the racetrack for the first time since 2010, when it competed in the GT1 sportscar championship. Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag called the announcement “perhaps one of the best days in the championship’s history.”
“To have a brand as iconic as Maserati, with the racing heritage… come into the electric revolution that we are pushing is really an incredible moment for Formula E,” Agag said.
Next year, Formula E will begin its ninth season with a third-generation (Gen3) car insinuated to be the world’s most efficient and capable of reaching speeds of 320kph. Nissan, Jaguar, Porsche, Mahindra, Stellantis-owned DS, and China’s Nio are the manufacturers who have so far agreed to participate in 2023, when a $13 million cost cap will be implemented.
“Formula E will be our technological laboratory to accelerate the development of high-efficiency electrified powertrains and intelligent software for our road sports cars,” said Stellantis’ motorsport head Jean-Marc Finot.
Grasso stated that racing would be crucial to Maserati’s development and that further stages would follow including a return to Formula One, where Stellantis currently works for the Sauber-operated Alfa Romeo team.
The announcement comes as Formula E lost BMW and Audi last season, and Mercedes will be leaving at the end of this year, but Agag says it is still as relevant to manufacturers as ever.
“It’s great to have an Italian team, It’s taken a few years but I think it couldn’t be a better brand than Maserati,” he added.
“We have already a great race in Rome and a great partner on the broadcasting side with Mediaset and Sky but now we have an Italian team.”
