Formula E champions Mercedes to withdraw from series at end of 2022 to focus on F1

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Mercedes have announced their plans to withdraw from Formula E at the end of the 2022 season and concentrate on their F1 exploits. The decision was made public on Wednesday just days after the team won both the team and drivers’ title.

Dutch driver Nyck de Vries finished in eighth place in the series’ final event in Berlin last weekend, which was enough to ensure his victory in the Drivers’ Championship. His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne came third, allowing Mercedes to win the team competition.

Mercedes said in their press release that not only would their withdrawal aid the brand’s exploits in F1, but also be a significant help to their pledge to go fully electric by 2030- a promise that was made in July.

The press release reads: “Mercedes-Benz today announced that it will conclude its ABB FIA Formula E success story as a team entrant and manufacturer at the end of Season 8, in August 2022.

“In parallel, Mercedes-Benz made the strategic announcement in late July that the brand will be ready to go all-electric at the end of the decade, where market conditions allow. 

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“As part of the new strategic direction, the brand has deliberately chosen to shift resources for this accelerated ramp-up of electrification, including the development of three electric-only architectures to be launched in 2025. 

“Therefore, Mercedes will reallocate resources away from its ABB FIA Formula E World Championship programme and towards applying the lessons learned in competition to product development in series.

“Moving forward, the company will concentrate its motorsport activities on Formula 1, reinforcing the sport’s status as the fastest laboratory for developing and proving sustainable and scalable future performance technologies.”

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Mercedes becomes the third team to make public their withdrawal from the series recent months, after German manufacturers BMW and Audi pulled out in December.

The press release also noted that while Mercedes would not compete in the upcoming Gen3 era of Formula E, they were still keen to keep team members in the sport and were exploring sale options.

It reads: “While Mercedes-Benz will depart Formula E at the end of Season 8, the team’s leadership group has begun exploring options for the team to continue competing in the series during the Gen 3 era, including a potential sale to new owners.”

Mercedes are looking to complete a historic quadruple of winning the Drivers’ Championship and Team Championship in both Formula E and F1 in the same season. 

The Brackley-based outfit currently has a comfortable lead in the F1 team standings, while star driver Lewis Hamilton possesses an eight-point lead over his main rival Max Verstappen.

F1 returns on August 27 at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

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