Should the news that Dieter Gass has left his role as sporting and technical advisor be of concern as Formula E gets set to begin a crucial phase ahead of its fourth era in 2026?
It’s a question that has some validity as he leaves his role, although the bigger picture is that the Gen3 Evo phase is effectively now complete and the Gen4 foundations are already built.
The Race can reveal that ex-Toyota and Audi motorsport leader Gass exited his job at Formula E Operations last month and that overall control of the sporting department is under the direction of former IndyCar entrant Beth Paretta.
Gass was employed at the start of 2023 by the Formula E promoter to act as a conduit to the FIA after the early phase of the Gen3 project in 2022 degenerated into an assortment of technical issues that threatened the overall health of the championship.
The management of the Gen3 project was questioned by many of the entrants and other stakeholders. A decent amount of money, time and recalibration was required to create several 'bandages', such as the introduction of a secondary braking system and the sourcing of new mirrors. Additionally, the competitive annulment of attack mode due to cars' inability to get the power down sufficiently with the hard Hankook tyres greatly affected the sporting spectacle of the first two years of Gen3.
These were all contributing reasons for why Gass was tracked down. But since that time the FIA has also invested in more experience, including former DS performance director and Stellantis Motorsport director Thomas Chevaucher and the enormously experienced ex-Renault and Nissan technical director Vincent Gaillardot.
The question now is whether Gass's absence will affect the Gen4 preparation and initial development phase, or indeed if he will be directly replaced. The Race reached out to Formula E for comment but did not receive a reply.
Formula E Teams and Association chair, Ian James, told The Race this week that Gass (pictured below) would be missed and that there was a degree of expectation that his role would be filled.
"I think he was a great hire by Formula E to bring somebody with his experience and expertise in," said James. "Moving on, it's always good to have that connection between the governing body and the expertise that they've brought on in the recent year or so, so that we've got some new expertise coming in.
"Whether they then look to replace Dieter directly or whether it's a combination of a number of different people and different experience, I don't know, but I'm confident that they'll take the right call on that one."
The search for a new manufacturer
What is clear right now is that Formula E really needs to attract a new manufacturer. Gass would not have overtly had this as part of his job remit but by proxy his experience and contacts with manufacturers should have been harnessed to help attract one.
Now that he's gone, does Formula E need to find an adequate replacement that can help it attract another manufacturer to join prestigious brands Jaguar, Nissan and Porsche in Gen4?
It's been five years since Porsche, the last manufacturer to come to Formula E, joined the electric party. Since then, there have been flirtations, notably with Hyundai, which is soon expected to announce global sportscar programmes for 2026 and beyond.
Yes, Lola with Yamaha and Maserati have joined. Yet Lola is a name recognised only in the industry and is in a state of rebirth, while Maserati is a manufacturer only in name as it feeds off the DS Automobiles technical package.
With Gass gone, the sporting arm of the promoter - which has the objective of making the series attractive to manufacturers - is being spearheaded by Paretta on a global basis and by Claudia Denni on a day-to-day one.
Paretta will be front and centre of trying to interest and convince manufacturers to go racing in Formula E. She has experience in working within a manufacturer, having been operations manager for Aston Martin Lagonda's Americas branch between 2007 and 2011.
Some see getting a new manufacturer on the grid as crucial, but McLaren boss James wasn't so sure. He said he "wouldn't use the term crucial" and instead thought that "desirable" was more accurate.
"They have to be of a calibre that adds value to the championship as a whole and be in it for the long term to provide that stability as well," added James, perhaps subconsciously throwing back to the disappointing end to Mercedes' involvement in Formula E - which lasted just three years before McLaren took over that entity.
"It certainly shouldn't be: 'we just want a manufacturer in just to tick a box'. It needs to add value to the championship.
"Whether that's a new manufacturer coming in, in time to hit the ground running at the beginning of Gen4, or whether it's a year or two into that process, I don't think it makes a huge difference."
Formula E has consistently stated publicly that it is talking to multiple manufacturers but as it stands the talk appears to amount only to that.
With several teams, such as ERT and the MSG element of Maserati, looking for additional investment to progress, and doubts circulating about DS Automobiles' and Mahindra's future as manufacturers, fresh factory faces in Formula E will likely soon morph from 'desire' to 'must'.
