Sebastien Buemi will retire from Formula E at the end of this weekend’s London E-Prix to take on an advisory role with DS Virgin Racing, it has been announced.
The Swiss driver will bring the curtain down on a glittering stint in the all-electric championship after 12 seasons during which he scored 14 wins, 36 podiums, 17 pole positions and the 2015-16 drivers’ title.
Speculation has been rife about Buemi’s future in Formula E for several months, with the series’ original 2026-27 calendar featuring two clashes with the World Endurance Championship.
While Formula E has since rescheduled the 2027 Monaco round, leaving just one clash between the two series. Buemi will nevertheless retire from FE to focus on his Hypercar commitments with Toyota.
He will continue to remain involved with Envision, however, as he takes on an advisory and development role ahead of the start of Formula E’s Gen4 era.
The news about his departure was made official on Thursday, just 12 hours after the Chinese team revealed that Joel Eriksson will also be stepping down from his seat at the end of the current season. This means the team will field an all-new driver line-up next season.
“This has been a difficult decision, particularly given the contribution both Seb and Joel have made to our team,” said team principal Sylvain Filippi.
Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
“As we look ahead to Gen4 and an increasingly demanding Formula E calendar, we are entering an important period of development for the team. Seb’s experience will remain valuable to us, and we are pleased that he will continue to support Envision Racing in an advisory and development capacity.
“We are grateful to both drivers for everything they have given to Envision Racing and look forward to ending the Gen3 era on a high in London.”
Buemi was one of the championship’s biggest stars during his early years, becoming synonymous with the Renault e.dams operation that became Nissan e.Dams’s factory squad later.
Winning the championship in only the second season of the then-nascent all-electric championship, Buemi was also a primary title contender. But a clash with his WEC commitments forced him to miss the New York double header, and it ultimately made the difference between winning the championship and finishing second.
He remained a frontrunner with Renault/Nissan over the following seasons, but made a bold decision to leave a factory team to join Jaguar customer Envision in 2023.
Although failing to replicate his previous highs, Buemi continued to score podiums on an occasional basis and returned to winning ways last year, winning the Monaco E-Prix. The 2025/26 season marks Buemi’s fourth and last at Envision.
Buemi won’t be the only Formula E stalwart to hang up his helmet in Formula E. 2016-17 champion Lucas di Grassi, who has also been racing in the series since inception, announced his impending departure in April.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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