Mercedes anticipates the facts. The silver arrows firm has signed an option with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) that allows it to begin development for the upcoming Formula E rules, Gen3, yet to confirm its involvement with the regulation.
Mercedes director Ian James noted that negotiations were ongoing with Formula E, however revealed that they were awaiting “clarification” on “important details about the structure of the series” and that for that reason it had been delayed registration.
Now Mercedes has made the decision to register as a manufacturer with the FIA to advance its development work with Gen3 standards.
“We have signed our option as a manufacturer for Gen3 which means we can start important development work by taking part in the meetings between the FIA, the rights holder and the manufacturers,” said a Mercedes representative.
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It should be mentioned that even with the signing of the German brand, it does not guarantee that the team will participate in the electric series in the future since they will also be evaluating the strategies of Formula E.
Consequences of not joining
The FIA introduced a registration and homologation fee of € 300,000 per season, which a manufacturer would have to pay for the remainder of the cycle if it left early.
Originally, a flexible deadline was set for March 31 for manufacturers to commit to Gen3 regulations and gain access to this data, with Mahindra, DS Automobiles, Porsche, Nissan, NIO and Jaguar all signed up. Furthermore, Audi and BMW will exit the championship at the end of the season.
That delay had prevented Mercedes from accessing FIA data from providers Gen3 Spark Racing Technology (chassis), Williams Advanced Engineering (battery) and Hankook (tires).
Suppliers ready for testing
Spark Racing Technology is ready to begin testing the new Hankook tires and installing them on a car equivalent in speed to current Gen2 machines. In addition, the body kit report has also been sent to three design houses to design the look of the new cars.
Written by | Gabriel Sayago
