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