Andretti, Porsche patching up their relationship in Formula E

Andretti Formula E team principal Roger Griffiths says his team’s relationship with powertrain supplier Porsche has never been better following tensions in the last few seasons.

Andretti won the Season 9 drivers’ title with Jake Dennis in what was the first season of the GEN3 regulations, but that success proved somewhat counter-productive, with Porsche reportedly wanting more input with its customer and Andretti wanting to remain as independent as it could.

Those tensions coincided with a downturn in form for Andretti, which failed to defend its title in Season 10, then went winless last year, while Dennis and Porsche factory driver Pascal Wehrlein – who succeeded Dennis as champion – coming together multiple times on the track. This season, it won the first round, with Dennis triumphing in Sao Paulo, and Griffiths says the two sides have been able to come together once again in a way that benefits both.

“Obviously it's been fairly public knowledge about the breakdown in relationship part-way through Season 9 and into Season 10,” he told RACER. “I think we found a way to work together last year, and I would say the relationship that we have now is probably as good as it's ever been. 

“We recognize that we need each other, particularly when Porsche hadn’t got off to the best start and we've been scoring a significant number of the points that have been awarded towards the manufacturer trophy. We're helping them as best we can.

“The relationship is, I wouldn’t say, where we originally intended it to be, but it's at a point where we can coexist together adequately.”

As a customer, Andretti doesn’t play a role in any of the drivetrain development and can’t participate in any related private testing, which means having less knowledge to work from. That’s something that has been remedied over the course of the relationship, though.

“They have the inherent knowledge about how control systems work, for example, which we don't know,” said Griffiths. “So as we've had the chance to get up to speed and understand it, we're now playing that catch-up game. We have reached out and said it would be great if we could have a bit more help, and they've been very accommodating in that. 

“I think we understand each other a bit better. You know, we're both massively competitive, but all through that. They never sort of took things away – we had Nico [Mueller] with us last year, a Porsche driver – but for whatever reason, we were unable to unlock the performance of the car. And we've seen Nico's really strong this season, matching Pascal, but I think that's because he's gone into an environment where some of these tools are now available to him, or a better understanding.”

Andretti is expected to switch to Nissan next season when GEN4 arrives, filling the void left by previous customer McLaren which exited the series at the end of last season, while Porsche will supply its two factory teams – adding a second from next season – and is also likely to continue supplying Cupra Kiro, while there has also been speculation that Penske Autosport, currently competing is DS Penske with drivetrains from Stellantis, could also pivot to the German manufacturer.

Griffiths wouldn’t be drawn on the reported Nissan links.

“As far as our future plans, that's not something that we're going to talk about during Season 12,” he said. “There's some contractual obligations that we have to be mindful of. And our focus is on this season. So we're going to do the best job we can with Porsche, and when the time is right, we'll talk about what the future is.”