Formula E veteran Sebastien Buemi confirmed to RacingNews365 that talks have taken place with Envision surrounding a new contract, with the introduction of Gen4 being of interest.
The Season 2 FE champion had been heavily linked with a potential exit from the all-electric series ahead of the approval of the Season 12 calendar, due to fears of clashes with the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
However, FE and WEC have managed to avoid a clash for the 2025/26 season, meaning the upcoming clash between the Berlin E-Prix and the Six Hours of São Paulo is the last for the foreseeable future.
For Buemi, this is a crucial moment, given his commitments to Toyota in WEC. Now, the Red Bull simulator driver is open to remaining in FE, particularly due to the arrival in 18 months of Gen4.
"Yeah, there is some good discussions, and I cannot deny that obviously doing well lately it's been a very big boost," Buemi told RacingNews365 during a recent podcast episode.
"And also, the fact that, the Gen4 coming in, with everything I know about it, I'd be really happy and tempted to drive that car if I could."
The introduction of Gen4 at the end of 2026 will see FE move to its fastest and most powerful car yet, expected to be much faster than Formula 2 and potentially very close to F1.
Whilst Buemi is keen to race in the next generation of the all-electric series, it is the FE and WEC calendars not clashing in the upcoming years which remains key to his future.
"If we could have a bit of continuity with the calendars and not have any clashes, that would be, obviously, extremely important, because regardless of how many clashes we have, if we have one, it's already too much," he explained, ahead of both FE's and WEC's calendars being approved.
"People are not willing to have drivers that will have to miss races. And of course, I have to agree with that."
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Gen4 versus 2026 F1 regulations
Next year marks a fascinating period for motorsport, given the start of 2026 will see the introduction of the new Formula 1 power unit regulations, before FE's Gen4 in the final months.
Not only has Buemi seen major details of the Gen4, he is also working on the new F1 regulations with Red Bull.
The big question surrounding the new regulations for both championships is the lap time difference, with initial suggestions being that very little will split the two.
"Yeah, the Gen4 will be a huge step, because it's going to be a lot of power, and it's going to be four-wheel drive, and it's going to be bigger tyres and more downforce," said Buemi.
"So it's just difficult to know exactly how much faster that will be. Formula 1, even though there is a very strong development, it's difficult to predict because the development is hard. You never know what the teams can do.
"Many times it looks like it's going to be a lot slower, and then by race one it's nearly as fast as the previous car. So it's difficult to predict, but it still looks like 2026, will be quite a bit slower.
"So let's see where those two cars end up being. But I'm looking forward to it, I'm obviously very interested to see it."
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