DRIVER MARKET: Silly season's in full swing, here are all the whispers

Jun 25, 2023

The rumour mill has been churning away for quite a few months but with the season all wrapped up, now is the time we’ll start seeing things come to fruition. So, here’s how things stand based on the findings of our man on the ground, Saunders CB.

There have been rumours about standings runner-up Nick Cassidy’s departure and potential new team from as early in the season as Cape Town. The Kiwi's performances have sparked interest across the paddock and it's likely that interest has only crystalised further after assembling a title challenge that took the Drivers' World Championship right to the wire in London.

The likely destination feels to be common knowledge at this point, certainly on the ground at the ExCeL over the finale weekend, that a deal with Jaguar TCS Racing has been done and dusted and we're now just waiting on the official announcement from Envision that he'll be moving on, and from the Big Cat that he'll be joining their fold with Sam Bird departing.

It's seemingly likely that Robin Frijns will make his return to the team after ABT CUPRA announced he'd be moving on.

Frijns and Sebastien Buemi would form one of the most experienced pairings on the grid. That said, with the FIA World Endurance Championship clashes next season that will likely already affect Buemi, is Robin able to do both, having now confirmed his BMW Hypercar drive next season? That could cause a big headache for Envision if Frijns does indeed return - they could end up with race weekends where both their drivers aren’t available for selection. All eyes on Frijns and who the team will select as reserve, then.

The questions around Sam Bird's future started to swirl not long after the infamous incident in Hyderabad, with the Brit coming together with his title-challenging teammate - and not, as it turned out, the only time it happened in Season 9. Cassidy's name was one touted early on as a potential replacement and that second intra-team shunt in Jakarta caused the rumours to swirl about Jaguar's plans for its Season 10 line-up.

Cassidy's impressive performances, three wins and multiple podiums, make him an attractive prospect for any - and justify those early-season whispers. This is helped further, no doubt, by the three occasions Kiwi drivers stood together on the podium, one-two. Team Principal James Barclay has clearly had premonitions of the same next season, this time in matching race suits - a New Zealand super team?

Jaguar like consistency, and in terms of that - with longstanding driver leaving and Evans now confirmed on a fresh multi-year contract extension - their line-up makes sense. It does in terms of overall performance, too. The pairing would form Jaguar's best chance yet of finally getting a Drivers' or Teams' title over the line.

Although unconfirmed by the team, a few cheeky glances and "time will tell" hints to me on broadcast in London from both Cassidy and Barclay helped keep this promising prospect alive and exciting.

There was a rumour, entirely unconfirmed and possibly just hearsay, that after Brazil, Bird was in discussions to renew his contract at Jaguar, with these discussions coming to a quick halt. The second shunt between the Jaguars then appeared to put paid to any chance of a Bird return with the team in Season 10.

There was a bit of chat earlier in the season about the potential of Jake Dennis taking on a WEC program last year, given that he was doing tests with BMW. Like with all of the drivers taking on both Formula E and a drive in WEC, there’s a bit of doubt around potential clashes and if doing both is a viable path to success. I think now he’s a World Champion, Dennis position in the Andretti family isn’t coming to an end anytime soon - and, he says, Formula E as opposed to any move to the American team's IndyCar operation.

The second seat however is one that is seemingly up for grabs. It’s been known for a while that Andre Lotterer wouldn’t be holding onto the drive beyond this season. A largely disappointing campaign for the German, who mentioned a few times about his confidence being knocked by frustrating results and his struggles in getting up to speed with the GEN3 car, making momentum and form hard to come by.

With a car capable of winning a Drivers' title and the same hardware being used across the paddock next season, this is one of the hottest seats available and Andretti will be in the driving seat in attracting talent, either new or existing.

There were murmurs of Dan Ticktum enquiring about the seat earlier on in the season but I think after the coming together with Jake in Brazil, he may have become persona-non-grata with Andretti. As it stands, Felipe Drugovich is a strong potential for the second Andretti seat. He impressed the paddock greatly in both the Rookie Test in Berlin and Rookie Free Practice in Rome - topping the times. The team he tested for, Maserati MSG Racing, looks a dead end in terms of available race seats next year, so the reigning FIA Formula 2 champion could be a great fit for Andretti who have a history of giving rookies a chance and it paying off… cough… Jake Dennis.

As far as I’m aware, there are no changes at Porsche, and why should there be? The Stuttgart outfit were the only team in which both drivers achieved a race win this season and they battled for the Teams' and Drivers' titles right until the very end. They'll likely be looking for consistency to get them over the line in the fight for titles in Season 10.

There hasn't been much noise coming out of either DS PENSKE or its drivers, so it's easy to conclude that their driver line-up will stay the same in the hope that any upgrades to software they make can be capitalised upon quickly with drivers experienced with the both team and its setup.

The team were sort of best of the rest in Season 9 with one win and a few podiums for Jean-Eric Vergne and a handful of good qualifying sessions for former champion Stoffel Vandoorne. The ingredients are all there - including two champion drivers - they just need the confidence back and to be more consistent and competitive during the races as GEN3 heads into its second season.

This is the team with the biggest headache, or perhaps the opposite. They're in an enviable position of being able to pick and choose between four drivers that all come with their own strengths.

Edoardo Mortara was signed on a multi-year deal and although the points table doesn’t reflect it, he has been instrumental in improving the car on both sides of the garage. The Swiss-French-italian driver has buckets of street racing credentials - ideal for an Italian marquee brand and not easy to turn your nose up at - especially considering the success he brought the former Venturi outfit, with title runs that he took to the season finale on more than one occasion.

Before Jakarta it seemed like Maximilian Guenther's future was in question. His contract being up at the end of a season and there had been more disappointment than success for him up to that race weekend. Reigning F2 champion Drugovich had just put in a timesheet-topping performance in Guenther's car in the Rookie Test in Berlin, piquing the interest of Team Principals up and down the paddock - not least at Maserati MSG Racing, potentially putting Max’s future in doubt.

Come the halfway point of the season - the time where many start looking across the grid for potential new drivers or teams to race for - Max was in dire need of a chance to show his team what he can do. Boy did he do that. The back-to-back Julius Baer Pole Positions then a podium and race win in Jakarta, and another podium in Rome came at just the right time. He switched it on and that looks as if it has saved his future with the Monaco-based team.

So, it's looking likely that the pairing of Mortara and Guenther will remain for 2023/24.

Formula E World Champion and former Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Nyck De Vries was an outside rumour for a seat at Maserati, mainly due to the fact that this was where he was heading before his Formula 1 opportunity came about. It is an easy connection to make but the reality was seemingly different.

Yes he’s a champion, but his last season in Formula E didn’t set the world alight and his confidence may have been knocked by that unceremonious exit from F1. De Vries also has next-to-no experience in the GEN3 car, a car that is drastically different to drive than the GEN2 he last wielded.

All of those factors combined make de Vries less of an appeal behind the wheel, this was the feeling I was getting from a variety of Team Principals in the paddock towards the end of the season. It could be seen as more of a risk than an opportunity.

Despite getting the team’s only podium and embarking on a six-race scoring run towards the end of the season, Frenchman Norman Nato looks to be on his way out at Nissan. But who could replace him?

A few names have been thrown into the mix… The return of Yorkshireman Oliver Rowland, who is currently out of a race seat but is rumoured to be keen to return to Formula E, looks a possibility. Someone like Lucas di Grassi could also be a shout if life at Mahindra Racing isn’t fully capturing his imagination? Or is this the last chance for de Vries to find his way back onto the Formula E grid?

Over on the other side of the garage, French-Argentine Sacha Fenstraz enjoyed an impressive rookie season all-in-all. A Julius Baer Pole Position, good points and a fairly consistent run of things caught the eye and Nissan would be wise to keep a hold of him - his trajectory is an upward one.

Rene Rast is rumoured to be set to hit the sportscar and endurance world with a BMW Hypercar entry in the FIA WEC, and isn’t interested in trying to juggle the commitments as it stands - despite being happy to run multiple programs in the past. Although has this come into question since Frijns has confirmed he will be in the BMW Hypercar entry for next season’s WEC? They could be teammates or has Robin pipped Rene to the same seat?

Rumour has it that Bird was tapping up McLaren early on in the season for 2023/24 campaign when things weren’t going well at Jaguar. It seems as if that early interest may have paid off and Sam could now have a seat to make his own at McLaren after Rast’s exit. As far as the rumours go, this looks done but I did wonder whether Vandoorne might want to put his name in the mix for the seat given it would be with the same race team that he won his title with in Season 8, under the prior Mercedes-EQ guise. Perhaps there’s a clash with brands and F1 responsibilities that doesn’t quite work?

Jake Hughes had a great rookie year he can be proud of by all accounts. There'll be no change for him and the young Brit could be one to watch next season if the team can make the improvements needed to make the car more competitive across more of the races.

No changes suspected here - Sergio Sette Camara and Dan Ticktum should be here once again in Season 10.

There was noise that he'd be scouting out other opportunities on the grid for next season with good one-lap pace not being converted into points thanks to a less competitive car during the races.

McLaren and Andretti were two teams he was rumoured to have sounded out as, unlike other drivers, he manages this side of his career himself rather than via a manager or agent. This more direct approach may seem a cleaner way of doing things but at the same time, there's no experienced representative there putting Ticktum in all the right places for the best seats and deals available.

Is a more direct approach preferred by team bosses or seen as breaking procedure?

This is another quieter team this silly season - other than the chat around Jehan Daruvala, their current reserve. If this was to come to fruition, though, why would the team not give him time behind the wheel instead of Roberto Mehri - particularly with the mid-season seat change as Oliver Rowland left the squad.

There is a rule that a race seat can’t be occupied by more than two people in a season and with Daruvala not available due to his FIA Formula 2 commitments the race after Rowland stepped away, the team needed a driver to step in. Merhi doesn’t seem like a viable option long-term, so will they take the risk with Jehan and promote him to a full-time seat?

No noise on Lucas di Grassi, but he won’t be enjoying driving an uncompetitive car. - that's for sure. How much can Mahindra improve during the off-season? Is there even anywhere for the Season 3 champ to go if he wants out? Perhaps to ABT CUPRA where Frijns' seat could be now available?

Frijns is out, as we've mentioned, so who will replace him? Kelvin van der Linde seems like a great shout given he has GEN3 race experience and a history with the team. But the South African driver has a busy DTM schedule that often clashes, so could he do both or would he be open to dedicating a full season to Formula E?

Nico Mueller had a promising end to the season despite the team's lack of ultimate pace and efficiency. There doesn't look to me much danger of him being let go and there have been no whispers to that effect either.

Interestingly, team boss Thomas Biermaier told German TV that the phone hasn't stopped ringing.

"The nice thing about us was that we received a relatively large number of inquiries," Biermaier said to ProSieben. "That surprised us but it also shows that our standing here - although we're at the bottom of the table - the interest is relatively high. That was nice feedback. Maybe it's going to Switzerland!

"There are former racing drivers there who care a lot about use the environment and do a lot of sustainability work. Maybe one of those will be in our car soon."

People have been putting two and two together - who has recently left a top tier series and shares Formula E and ABT CUPRA's foundations in the environment and sustainability. Could ABT hook Sebastien Vettel...?