The sharing mentality that transformed the fortunes of two Formula E teams

The 2021 Formula E season was just 27 hours old when Nyck de Vries made series history. By topping both practice sessions in Saudi Arabia, heading group qualifying before romping to pole, leading every lap on his way to victory and snaring fastest lap, he became the first driver to complete a total clean sweep.

With Edoardo Mortara crossing the line in second aboard his Venturi Racing car – the pair eventually ranked 1-2 in the final standings 14 races later – a clear warning shot had been fired. Mercedes had told its rivals that the Brixworth-based High Performance Powertrains site had developed one hell of an electric engine.

By virtue of being a customer of Mercedes, gaining the same powertrain hardware, it’s easy to think that Venturi was hanging onto the coat tails of its factory donor. But the relationship traces its roots back to 2018-19, when in fact the inverse was closer to the truth. It was the Monegasque squad that brokered the deal for its then technical partner ZF to supply its kit to the inbound HWA Racelab team, a thinly veiled precursor to the works Mercedes attack.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff explains to Autosport: “Susie [Venturi team principal and Wolff’s wife] agreed for the ZF powertrain to be utilised in the HWA entry in 2018-19. She opened the books in terms of a joint learning process. She wasn’t obliged to do that and without her OK to the ZF supply, we probably wouldn’t have had such a smooth entry. It was a smart move started by her.”

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That season was blighted by carbonfibre driveshaft unreliability across both teams, but it served a purpose in allowing Mercedes to adapt to the cut and thrust of Formula E, while behind closed doors the R&D arm of HPP was in full swing ahead of the Silver Arrow 01 machine debuting for 2019-20.

From this point on, Mercedes would supply Venturi. For what might be regarded as a premature move, given the Stuttgart manufacturer was still finding its operational feet, team principal Ian James offers his defence.

Bosses of respective Venturi and Mercedes teams Wolff and James enjoy productive working relationship

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“It was a no-brainer,” he says. “We had not two but four cars that we could learn from. That was going to be crucial because the rate of development is directly proportional to the data that you’re bringing in.

“Knowing that we needed to accelerate our learning as quickly as possible, having that opportunity was instrumental. It was always going to be an asset to have that partnership. So as soon as we knew that we had the opportunity, there was never any question as to whether that was going to be something we were going to go forward with.”

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This explains also why Mercedes, in addition to the mandated supply of its hardware, decided to grace Venturi with its regular software updates in timely fashion, rather than guarantee itself a competitive edge over at least one team on every occasion by keeping its cards closer to its chest.

“In theory, you have an opportunity to deviate as you go through the season,” continues James. “The reality of it is that because of the complexity of Formula E, it means you need to really reduce the distractions to a minimum. For that reason, it made absolutely no sense to run different standards from a software perspective across the two teams.”

"I think we’ve broken boundaries because of the way the drivers have raced, the way we’ve been able to also develop our powertrain and prove the story to success" Toto Wolff

By doubling the data that it could review for every lap with four cars rather than two, it meant Mercedes, and by extension Venturi, could more quickly identify any deficits or why one car was performing better than the others, and then revert to the optimum set-up.

“Nobody really wants to share,” says Wolff. “We’ve proven against a lot of resistance that working together within the framework of the technical and sporting regulations is a path to success. I think we’ve broken boundaries because of the way the drivers have raced, the way we’ve been able to also develop our powertrain and prove the story to success.”

There are limits to how often Mercedes and Venturi engineers convene to analyse the granular details. They remain political allies but on-track competitors after all. But there’s an open dialogue and a shared and vested interest to turn up each weekend with the fastest car.

Having four sets of data to work from helped propel both teams up the grid in 2021

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

The crowning glory of the partnership thus far arrived in Berlin on 15 August. De Vries clinched the drivers’ world championship ahead of Mortara. The Italian’s startline shunt, when he careered unsighted into the stationary Jaguar of Mitch Evans, denied onlookers the chance to see how the two teams would interact as their drivers scrapped for position when title honours were on the line. Nevertheless, the success in the points proved the merit of a customer relationship.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter is one that’s yet to transpire. With Mercedes poised to quit Formula E at the end of the 2022 campaign, Venturi must form a close alliance with another powertrain provider. Similarly, if the Wolff and James-led bid to find new investment for what will remain of the works race team comes to pass, they’ll need to secure an engine of their own in time for the advent of the more powerful Gen3 era. The teams might not be bedfellows for much longer.

But the rapid rise of their partnership from eighth (Venturi) and ninth (HWA) in 2018-19 to winning a third of all races last year is emphatic proof that the customer model in Formula E works – something its FIA architects are immensely keen to promote.

The teams remain allies going forward, but the future remains uncertain as questions linger over the Mercedes programme beyond 2023

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images