Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag sees no reason not to merge the series with Formula 1 when the performance gap is closed.
Since its inaugural championship in 2014/15, the all-electric series has gradually become at least a thorn in the side of F1, with manufacturers flocking to join its grid while the latter hasn't attracted any new carmakers since Honda in 2015.
As the electric powertrain also continues to get both more powerful and more durable, for many it is inevitable F1 will one day ditch the internal combustion engine in favour of battery power.
And with F1 also pushing to become carbon neutral by 2030, Agag is among those who predict at least greater electrification in the sport going forward.
“I am a massive fan of Formula 1, I’ve always been,” he said at the FIA Conference this week.
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“I think electric is going to be the power train or the way to move cars around in the future. And Formula E has a 25-year-long exclusive licence for a single-seaters on electric.
“So that for me puts the condition to some kind of understanding in the future. How that will happen, I don’t know.”
As it stands, F1 is bound to its current V6 turbo-hybrid formula until 2025 and the next-generation engine is tipped to only be an evolution of the current mix with a smaller combustion engine and greater emphasis on energy recovery and deployment.
But when such a point comes that all-electric racecars become a match for traditional fuel-powered machines, that is when Agag believes the 'pinnacle of motorsport' could combine both methods of propulsion.
“Once electric formula cars are as fast as combustion formula cars, I don’t really see the reason to race separately,” he explained. “But I’m guessing that’s going to take a while.
“I may not be around or maybe around but not have the responsibility I have now. Not imminent, but I think the conditions are there in the future for some kind of approach.”
