Citroen making its mark fast in Formula E

Citroen’s move into Formula E was a curious one. A brand known for its success on the World Rally stage, it had a brief but ultra-successful spell in circuit racing towards the end of the World Touring Car Championship’s life, but it had never done open-wheel racing.

Not that it’s been a hindrance so far. Three races into the current season, Citroen Racing leads the drivers’ championship with Nick Cassidy. The New Zealander also gave the team its first win in just its second start at the Mexico City E-Prix, etching himself into the brand’s storied competition history already – but he’s not getting hung up on the prestige of that just yet.

“It's very special,” Cassidy told RACER. “I don't really think about it like that at this moment, I think later in life, that becomes something quite special that maybe you think about a bit more. But at the moment, I’m really focused on trying to give it our best shot in the championship.”

Best shot, maybe, but with the team being in a new phase, actually going for overall glory hasn’t quite been at the forefront of the team’s mind so far.

“It's not like we're so focused on fighting for the championship,” Cassidy said. “We're just doing our best to develop and do our best every weekend. 

“Everyone's pushing really hard and doing their best. It went pretty well in the off-season, on development, and it's just been a lot of fun. It’s just exciting with a new brand coming to Formula E, a bit of a fresh start for myself, and I'm just really excited for the future.”

Cassidy made Citroen a winner in just its second Formula E start in Mexico City. Simon Galloway/Getty Images

Despite the new nameplate and fresh coat of paint, the project hasn’t been built from the ground up entirely. The drivetrain is the same Stellantis one that has been represented by DS (with Penske Autosport) and Maserati in recent years, and the team itself competed under the Maserati MSG Racing banner until last season.

And while Citroen has secured its place in motorsport history, it doesn’t quite have the prestige of the brand that came before it. It’s a change that Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds says admits has positives and negatives: Losing the prestige of Maserati will always be a downside, but bringing in the giant that is Citroen more than makes up for that.

“All of these things have pros and cons, but I've got to say, what we've seen from Citroen so far has been amazing, unbelievable,” Dodds said. “They launched a team brilliantly in Paris on the Champs Elysees, [and] it's paying off because they had their first win in Mexico with Cass, early signs are really strong.

“Maserati were a great partner of the championship, but they're a sports car brand, very low number of sales globally, and they had a limited amount of electrification in the product line-up. And, not a criticism but also probably had limited budgets around activation of the team.

“We loved having them as part of the championship. They brought prestige and a cache and a championship. Citroen have come in, they have a much bigger customer base, much bigger following, they sell many more cars, and they have a much broader powertrain portfolio, an electric powertrain portfolio, and they're activating like crazy at the moment. 

“We’re always proud when anybody wants to invest their money in our championship. They see it as a platform that they can grow their fan base off of, and grow their car sales off of.”