Maserati MSG Racing will field an all-new lineup in Formula E next season, with Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes both joining the team, replacing Maximilian Guenther and Jehan Daruvala.
Both drivers arrive at the team ahead of the introduction of the GEN3 Evo formula, and will make their debuts during pre-season testing in Valencia on the week of November 4-7 before Round 1 of the 2024-25 campaign, Season 11, in Sao Paulo a month later.
Vandoorneโs signing means he remains within the Stellantis brand, having moved over from DS Penske โ the anticipated destination of Guenther โ after two years. He also races for the companyโs Peugeot brand in the World Endurance Championship.
โIโm very happy to be joining Maserati MSG Racing next season and Iโm proud to be associated with such an iconic name within motorsport as Maserati,โ said the Season 8 champion. โIโm excited to start working with the team โ although I havenโt worked directly with them before, I know the team well, both from my time at DS Penske but also from my time with Mercedes when we shared a powertrain with Venturi.
โThey are a great bunch of people, very skilled, very determined and Iโm really looking forward to working together moving forwards. Hopefully weโll have a lot of success and fight for victories and championships together.”
Hughes was announced at Maserati a couple of hours after his exit from NEOM McLaren was confirmed. Hughes had been with McLaren since it entered Formula E, having taken over the former Mercedes entry for which he was a reserve driver for โ a position which he also served his new team in Season 7 when it was in its guise as Mercedes customer Venturi Racing.
Hughes joins Maserati after two strong seasons with McLaren. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
โIโm over the moon to be joining Maserati MSG Racing,โ said Hughes. โThe success that the team has had, as one of the founding teams in Formula E, speaks for itself.
โOn a personal level, I have worked with the team previously so I know them well and Iโm genuinely looking forward to going back. I know that the season has only just finished but I honestly canโt wait to get over to the HQ in Monaco and start working with the engineers, get on the simulator and really get cracking with our prep for Season 11.
โThis marks the start of an exciting new chapter in my career, and I know that the best is yet to come.โ
RACER understands that McLaren had attempted to retain Hughes but both sides couldnโt come to an agreement. As well as Maserati, he was also linked with a move to Nissan, which supplies drivetrains to McLaren.
โLeaving the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team will feel very strange for me in the coming weeks, based on the fact this team has been my home for the last four and a half years,โ Hughes said. โI have a lot of thanks to give to so many different people within the team for what they have given me, and how they have prepared me and allowed me to grow into the racing driver I am today.
โEverything I am in Formula E is down to this team, and for that I am extremely grateful. I wish the team all the best, and I have no doubt that weโll have some good times racing on track against each other in the future.โ
McLaren team principal Ian James paid tribute to Hughes upon his departure, saying, โJake has made a significant contribution to this team over the years, both on and off the track, and we are incredibly grateful for his input and dedication throughout.
โDuring this time, he has flourished into a proven talent in Formula E; particular highlights being his four pole positions โ of which one came in only his third ever event in Formula E โ and his P2 finish in Shanghai this year.
โOn a personal note, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Jake. Alongside his natural talent as a driver, he is a consummate professional and yet has an easy sense of humour which has endeared him to all in the Formula E paddock.โ
Similarly to how Hughes joined the race team, McLaren is expected to promote current test and reserve driver Taylor Barnard to race alongside Sam Bird for the team. Barnard starred with two points finishes earlier this year filling in for Bird when he was out injured.
Guenther delivered Maserati its first Formula E win โ and its first single seater victory since Juan Manual Fangio at the 1957 German Grand Prix โ in Jarkarta in 2023. Sam Bagnall/Motorsport Images
Meanwhile, although Guenther is expected to fill the vacancy created by Vandoorne at DS Penske, Daruvalaโs Formula E future is currently unknown.
โAt the end of an intense Formula E Season 10, Maserati would also like to extend its sincere thanks to Max and Jehan for their incredible passion and commitment to the team,โ said head of Maserati Corse Giovanni Tommaso Sgro. โIn the last two years, Max has provided us with some of the most significant moments in Maseratiโs modern history on the track: with his victory in Jakarta last season, he was the first driver to bring a Maserati single seater back to the top step of the podium since Juan Manuel Fangio.
โThis year, he won in Tokyo and took a podium placing two years running in the Trident’s home race, in Rome and Misanoโฆ These memories will forever remain indelibly imprinted on this brandโs history on the track and weโre really proud of these results.โ
