Here's the thing about a brand-new manufacturer arriving in a world championship: it always shakes the foundations. Opel is officially diving into the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, bringing its decades of motorsport pedigree across rallying, touring cars, and endurance racing straight into the all-electric single-seater arena. The Rüsselsheim-based manufacturer made the announcement at a press conference ahead of the 2026 Madrid E-Prix, marking a stunning new chapter for the legendary German brand.
To lead this charge on track, they have signed none other than Pourchaire. The 23-year-old Frenchman steps into a full-time race seat after building one hell of a résumé across junior formulae and sportscars. His junior single-seater rise kicked off with the French Formula 4 crown in 2018, followed swiftly by the ADAC Formula 4 title in 2019. Then came his masterclass in the FIA Formula 2 championship, where he claimed the 2023 title underpinned by one race victory and 10 podium finishes. Beyond open-wheelers, his CV boasts outings in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), alongside factory development and test roles with Sauber/Stake Formula One Team, Alfa Romeo, and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.
Pourchaire's electric experience is far from a blind jump into the dark, either. He first sampled Formula E back in 2022 during a three-day test in a GEN3 car for Spark. Since then, he has stacked up more mileage with rookie free practice runs in Jeddah and Berlin alongside Maserati MSG Racing, before Citroën Racing handed him free practice outings in Miami and Madrid in January 2026. That Miami run showed his immediate speed to the world, as he finished the session in second, just 0.093s off the pace.
Now, he faces the beast that is Formula E's next-generation machinery. The new car represents a massive performance leap, delivering 50% more power in race mode than the GEN3 Evo, with peak outputs hitting up to 600 kW (816 hp) in qualifying and ATTACK MODE. It is, by all accounts, a wild machine.
"My first impression about this car is that it's so powerful. The power is crazy. I think it's the race car that accelerates the most that I've tried in my career. It’s also much quicker than the GEN3 in the corners, and it's better looking. It 's going to be a real pleasure to be part of this championship," Pourchaire said.
Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show alongside the stunning Opel GSE 27FE livery, the project has already put the Frenchman through endless simulator work, cockpit fittings, and engineering debriefs behind the scenes. And while the brand-new car and brand-new championship structure will present a steep learning curve for everyone on the grid, the driver is relishing every second of it.
"Working with the Opel family has been a real pleasure so far. I've met a lot of people, the mechanics and engineers, but also the marketing and communications team. It's a lot of new faces, but I'm really enjoying it," he added.
