McLaren will enter Formula E by purchasing a racing Mercedes-EQ team, McLaren confirmed in a press release.
McLaren will join Formula E for Season 9, which runs from the end of 2022 to 2023. The company signed an alternative to it in January 2021, when Mercedes announced that it was leaving Formula E later that year.
The purchase of the Mercedes-EQ team is expected to be completed by the end of this year. It is currently the factory Mercedes team, as well as the championship winning team of ruling drivers and constructors. The team started out as HWA Racelab, competing in the 2018-2019 season before being rebranded as Mercedes-EQ.
Nyck de Vries of Mercedes-Benz EQ at the 2021 Formula E Berlin e-Prix
Ian James will remain as head of the team, but McLaren said the driver lineup will be announced at a later date. So the fate of current drivers Nick de Vries and Stauffel Vanduron is unclear. Note that Vandurn previously drove for Formula One McLaren in the 2016-2018 season.
Season 9 will also see the introduction of the Formula E Gen 3 car, which is lighter and faster than the current Gen 2 car. The weight was cut from 848 pounds to 626 pounds, while the maximum speed increased to 200 miles per hour. The front and rear motors produce 335 hp and 470 hp, respectively.
Formula E Gen3 race car
McLaren has not announced a powertrain supplier, but has been confirmed for Season 9 of Automaker DS, Jaguar, Mahindra, Maestro, Neo, Nissan and Porsche.
In addition to Formula E, McLaren recently joined the Extreme E Electric off-roading racing series. It is currently fifth in the championship position.
Add McLaren’s existing Formula One and Indica campaigns, and England’s Oaking race team will soon be really busy.