Formula E legend 'clock was ticking' as Envision prepared for fresh start

Paysafe Envision team principal Sylvain Filippi has revealed the squad had long anticipated Sebastien Buemi's departure from its full-time Formula E line-up, with the Swiss driver's World Endurance Championship commitments making his exit all but inevitable.

Buemi, who spent twelve years in the all-electric series, stepped down from his race seat at the end of the 2025/26 campaign to focus on his programme with Toyota Gazoo Racing in WEC. 

He has been retained by Envision in an advisory and development capacity heading into the Gen4 era, and tested Jaguar's Gen4 car earlier this year.

Filippi said the timing had become unavoidable given the growing demands of both championships, with each announcing longer calendars than in previous years.

"We knew with Seb the clock was ticking," Filippi told RacingNews365 during an interview. "There was only a point up to which Formula E could keep adding races, and even WEC is adding races now, so we knew that at some point this wasn't going to last forever because it's just not possible, really. 

"To my sadness, because it is so easy and great to work with Seb. So, yeah, we've been preparing for this for a while, really. And there's also this kind of rhythm every few years where you need fresh blood coming into a championship, right? 

"It might stabilise for a few years, but there are phases where some drivers retire, leave or do something else, or typically WEC or Formula E becomes too much, so at some point you need fresh blood. 

"So, when you do, you want to make sure you're as well prepared as possible, which was basically our thinking. We wanted to avoid putting someone new in a car who is kind of new to everything."

Envision not embarking on complete 'new chapter'

That preparation came in the form of Zak O'Sullivan, who joined Envision as a simulator and development driver back in January 2025 and has since completed rookie and test outings at Jeddah, Berlin, Miami and Madrid. 

The Briton, a 2021 GB3 champion who also claimed feature race wins at Monaco and Spa-Francorchamps in Formula 2 last year, has now been signed to a multi-year deal alongside Maximilian Günther who has joined from DS Penske.

To welcome two new drivers, Envision also said goodbye to Joel Eriksson after one season.

Filippi insists the arrival of two new drivers does not amount to a full reset for Envision, pointing instead to the stability built around them.

Asked if the upcoming season feels like a new chapter for Envision, Filippi replied: "Yes and no. It does in some respects. Having said that, the rest of the team is so stable. 

"The drivers are really the new faces. Apart from that, the team is growing slowly but surely, but not at a crazy rate. We have a cost cap anyway, so we can't really do much more. 

"We are cost-cap limited now, but the rest of the team is very, very stable. So, in a sense, it's very much continuity. But, yeah, in terms of drivers, it's really the ideal time to bring new drivers in, right? Because everybody starts from scratch."

Envision recently completed a successful shakedown at Silverstone, with both cars and drivers being used.