Nissan awaiting answers after Porsche second Formula E factory team surprise

Nissan Formula E Team principal Tommaso Volpe has revealed that the Japanese manufacturer is still awaiting answers from the FIA and Formula E Operations (FEO), after raising concerns over Porsche's second factory team for Gen4.

Porsche announced in mid-November last year that it would enter a second factory outfit into Formula E at the start of Gen4, which will be introduced next season and is expected to get underway at the end of 2026.

It is set to be a junior team, representing a similar model to that seen over the past 20 years by Red Bull in Formula 1. Should he receive an e-licence, reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Güven is widely expected to take one of the two seats.

A manufacturer running two factory teams under the same car brand is new to Formula E and marks a major change in approach, putting all of Porsche's rivals on alert. In effect, it would be two teams run under the same roof.

Had the second team been entered under another Volkswagen-owned brand — of which Porsche is one — and perhaps operated from a different base, then there would likely be considerably fewer concerns in the paddock.

Remarkably, Volpe only discovered that Porsche would have a second factory team through its press release, rather than via FEO or the FIA.

Concerns have been raised not only by Nissan but also by other manufacturers, with answers to those concerns still yet to be received.

Asked for his thoughts on Porsche's second factory team, Volpe told RacingNews365 during an interview: "Well, I learned it from the press release, so I was not aware. The thing is, for me, it's a change of model in the way the championship operates, because it's never happened before, specifically because they will use the same car brand across two teams. 

"If it were a manufacturer [using] two brands, of course it's still a change of model, but less radical.

"So inevitably it raises questions and concerns — potential concerns we have shared with the FIA and FEO. Not just us, but many others, and inevitably they have to work to provide answers to these concerns. It would be naive to expect that, with such an important change, no questions would be asked.

"And so we hope — because it's not in anyone's interest, we assume, to have dominance in the championship — that all these questions will have answers. But we are also conscious that sometimes it's not easy to give answers to every single question, because there are, first of all, things that are difficult to answer and scenarios that are difficult to anticipate. 

"This is also because the overall Gen4 format is not clear yet. So many scenarios are difficult to anticipate, as we are still discussing the format of the weekend."