What could have been: The brief Techeetah loan of a Formula E nearly-man

Just 0.4kW is all that officially keeps Stephane Sarrazin out of the Formula E race winners list, which comprises 22 names in its eight seasons so far. The versatile Frenchman crossed the line first in the inaugural London E-Prix of 2015, but was denied victory by the smallest of margins for overuse of energy that resulted in a 49-second penalty. Yet, had his mid-season move to the future title-winning Techeetah squad in 2017 been made permanent, he believes that statistic could have been righted.

Then a Toyota LMP1 driver in the World Endurance Championship, Sarrazin had been in Formula E from the beginning in 2014, approached by Venturi boss Gildo Pastor to join his startup Monaco-based team.

“We started from zero,” the 46-year-old one-time grand prix starter says, “and we brought the team in a very good position in the championship. We were many races in the points, 11 races in a row and sixth overall in the drivers championship [in 2015-16].”

But after taking Venturi to a podium for the first time at Long Beach in 2016, the following 2016-17 season was a struggle as the squad slipped down the pecking order.

“We had some issues with the gearbox in Season 3 and it was really difficult, not many points,” Sarrazin recalls. “And Techeetah was really interested…”

Sarrazin was hired by Techeetah as a mid-season replacement for Esteban Gutierrez in 2017

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The former Team Aguri had agreed a deal for customer Renault powertrains, which made Techeetah a very attractive proposition, even though results had been mixed. Jean-Eric Vergne took second in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, while eighth place in Monaco was the best result mustered by the second car which Formula 1 refugee Esteban Gutierrez had taken over from Ma Qinghua after three races. When the Mexican headed for IndyCar to replace the injured Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing, Sarrazin was Techeetah’s number one target.

Racing director Leo Thomas had worked with Sarrazin on Peugeot's LMP1 project, while Vergne's race engineer - the late Pascal Tortosa - had run Sarrazin to victory on his Formula 3000 debut in a wet-dry race at Oschersleben in 1998.

Sure enough, a deal was agreed with Venturi that allowed him to join Techeetah for the final three rounds, beginning in Berlin.

"I was disappointed at this time when they said that they cannot continue with me, but it’s a part of the game" Stephane Sarrazin

Without testing to familiarise himself, Sarrazin's debut proved disappointing as he was outqualified for both races not only by Vergne, but also by former Venturi team-mate Maro Engel - scoring no points. But it was a different story in New York, where Sarrazin joined Vergne on the podium for race one as a final lap battery management system problem sidelined Daniel Abt and elevated him to third.

“We had a very strong pace and for sure it was I think the best car at this time,” says Sarrazin. “It was for me a good chance and a very exciting time to drive with this very high-level team.”

Next time out in Montreal Sarrazin repeated the result, qualifying second and following Vergne home by holding off the attentions of title contender Sebastien Buemi. But it wasn't enough to stay on for the final season of the Gen-1 rules in 2017-18, where Vergne and Techeetah emerged as the dominant combination, winning four times to secure the drivers’ title.

Sarrazin was a good foil for team leader Jean-Eric Vergne, but Techeetah elected to replace him with Andre Lotterer for the 2017-18 season

Photo by: Olivier Delorme

Rookie team-mate Andre Lotterer finished second to Vergne in Chile, but the three-time Le Mans winner only mustered one further podium in Rome as Techeetah missed out on the teams’ title by just two points to Abt-Audi. Asked if he thinks he could have got a win on the board in the same car, Sarrazin is unequivocal.

“I think so,” he says. “For sure I was thinking that I was at my place and it was great to stay on this team. Unfortunately it didn’t happen and in the end I didn’t continue with them.

“We were two French drivers and it was better to have drivers from two different countries. It was like that. I was disappointed at this time when they said that they cannot continue with me, but it’s a part of the game. It’s racing, and I really enjoyed it with them, we had a very good time.”

Sarrazin is clear that there are no bad feelings and concedes that his opportunity last year to race for the Veloce Extreme E team, in which Vergne is a partner, stemmed in part from their time as FE team-mates. But his Techeetah exit also spelled the end of Sarrazin's time as a permanent fixture on the Formula E grid.

With Venturi signing Sarrazin's replacement Tom Dillmann to partner Engel for 2017-18, the French veteran had to wait until the final four races of the season to find his way back into a race drive. But his temporary deal at BMW Andretti in place of Tom Blomqvist was never going to amount to the same success he'd enjoyed with Techeetah, the team bringing up the foot of the team's championship table at season's end despite the efforts of Blomqvist and future FE champion Antonio Felix da Costa. In his four race starts alongside future Techeetah driver da Costa, Sarrazin never finished higher than 12th.

“It was more difficult at this time,” he says. “I jumped in the car for the last few races of the season, the same as Techeetah, but not [with] the same level of performance of the car. It could have been better, but it’s like that.”

Sarrazin's final FE appearances came with Andretti, but it was not a competitive proposition

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Today Sarrazin retains an involvement in Formula E as a test driver for Nissan e.dams, a position he has held for the past three seasons alongside running his own rally team and racing in XE for Veloce - although he split from the team prior to the final round of 2021 after a second big shunt of the season in Sardinia.

“I try to help drivers and to bring my experience also in my side,” he says of his Nissan e.dams role. “It’s very exciting to be a part of this team and it’s a great job to do.”

"Formula E is an incredible level of drivers, so I know I had the level to fight on the front" Stephane Sarrazin

But Sarrazin maintains he's not frustrated about losing his chance of putting his name amongst the list of Formula E race-winners.

“Honestly no,” he says. “I really enjoyed to fight on the front row. With Venturi we ‘won’ in London but I was 0.4kW over the limit. It was the beginning for Venturi and for us in strategy, but we were very fast, I did a pole position [in London in 2015] also.

“Formula E is an incredible level of drivers, so I know I had the level to fight on the front. And it’s enough, I’m happy about it. I’m really happy that I can fight in rally in the front, in Formula E the same, LMP1, each category or each car I drive.”