Citroen Formula E team principal Cyril Blais has passed away at the age of 46.
The news of his death was communicated in a joint press release issued by Citroen, Stellantis, Monaco Sports Group (MSG) and Formula E on Monday.
No cause of death was disclosed, with the team stating that no further information would be shared out of “respect for the family’s privacy and wishes”.
“We are all so saddened to lose Cyril,” said Beth Paretta, managing director, Citroen Racing. “Many of the team have known and worked with him for several years. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues throughout the paddock.
“Cyril believed so much in this team and we will respect his family’s wishes to honour him in the best way we can, by continuing to race in his memory with the exact dedication and passion he instilled in all of us.”
Blais began his career as an engineer on the Formula 1 support ladder, initially working for Manor Motorsport in Formula 3 before switching to Arden, where he rose up the ranks to become its technical director in both F3 and Formula 2.
Nick Cassidy, Citroen Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
He made the switch to Formula E in 2019 with Mahindra, where he spent nearly three years as a race engineer.
His association with the team now known as Citroen began in 2022, as he joined the MSG operation that ran Venturi. It was there he was reunited with Maximilian Guenther, with whom he had previously worked in F2, and the two went on to achieve plenty of success together as the team morphed into Maserati.
Blais was promoted to team principal in 2024 and helped guide its transition to Citroen a year later.
Under his stewardship, Maserati/Citroen won two races, including this year’s Mexico City E-Prix with new signing Nick Cassidy at the wheel.
Citroen sits seventh in the teams’ standings with just four races to run across Tokyo and London double-headers. The Stellantis marque will continue to compete in Formula E in the Gen4 era that is scheduled to get underway at Jeddah in December.
It remains unclear who will assume the veteran engineer and manager’s responsibilities for this weekend’s Tokyo E-Prix in Japan.
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here