Max Verstappen's Formula E Invitation Stays Open as Gen4 Testing Nears and Ticktum Joins Fortescue Zero

Formula E's biggest open question heading into its new Gen4 era isn't about a team or a driver contract. It's whether Max Verstappen will ever actually get behind the wheel. As pre-season testing approaches, the series' chief executive says the offer still stands, even with no session yet on the calendar.

An Offer That Won't Go Away

Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds has repeated his invitation for the four-time Formula 1 champion to try the series' new car. Asked directly whether the offer remains open, Dodds said simply, "100%," and has previously said he would arrange the test "anywhere" that suited Verstappen. The overture followed Verstappen's own needling remark that F1's 2026 regulations made the cars feel like "Formula E on steroids," a line that Formula E leaned into rather than brushed off. Verstappen has since given the Gen4 car itself a positive early verdict, even as rivals' reactions have been more mixed.

Despite the public back-and-forth, there is still no confirmed date, and Dodds has acknowledged the two sides haven't directly discussed logistics. Jaguar driver António Félix da Costa, when asked if Verstappen might actually test the car, offered a simple deflection: "You have to ask him."

Gen4's Real Timeline

While the Verstappen talk continues, Formula E's actual preparations are moving fast. The series' official pre-season test for the Gen4 car, the most powerful machine in the championship's history, is scheduled for November 16-20 at the Jarama circuit outside Madrid, with teams also planning additional private running beforehand. The 2026-27 season then opens under the lights in Jeddah on December 18-19, kicking off a 21-race calendar across 13 locations that wraps up in Tokyo the following July.

Ticktum Lands at Fortescue Zero

The driver market around Gen4 has already produced real news. Dan Ticktum, a two-time E-Prix winner, has signed with Fortescue Zero, the outfit that inherited the former DS Penske entry and will race as Jaguar's new satellite team. He will be partnered by Taylor Barnard, the 22-year-old who had been left without a seat after DS Automobiles withdrew from the series. The move keeps two established names on the grid as the championship resets around its new car.

Why It Matters

A genuine Verstappen outing, even just a demonstration run, would be a significant publicity win for Formula E as it tries to raise its profile around a faster, more powerful car. For now, though, the story remains exactly what it's been for months: an open invitation, a positive word from Verstappen about the car, and no test actually on the books. Formula E will have plenty of chances to make its case once Gen4 finally turns a wheel in anger at Jarama.

Formula E has courted Formula 1 stars before without a deal materializing, so skepticism is fair. But the series has more leverage this time than in past pitches: a genuinely faster car, a marquee new calendar stop and a direct, public quote from its own chief executive keeping the door open. Whether that is enough to get Verstappen on track, even briefly, may become one of the more interesting subplots of Gen4's debut season, especially if Formula E can find a date that doesn't clash with his Red Bull commitments.

Read our earlier report on the Gen4 driver market and the original Verstappen invitation, and follow the buildup to the new season in our Formula E coverage.

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