DS Techeetah

**DS Techeetah** is a Chinese racing team owned by China Liberty Media. The team debuted in 2017 after they bought the remnants of the departing Team Aguri and won the 2019 Formula E title. In 2020, with the restructuring of the motorsport ladder, the team quickly established as a great front-runner team, scoring several wins, but from 2027 to 2035 experienced a stagnant period without any notable results. Also, most notably they had the two longest-serving drivers in one team in Formula International, Li Sin and Xi Zao, who raced for the team in two separate stints, from 2022 to 2024 and later from 2027 to 2034, thus racing for the Chinese outfit for 11 years in total. From 2035 onwards, Techeetach had put a unique transfer policy which is signing only drivers from the Asian continent, which has been something unheard of in motorsports in general and from 2036 onwards they have been competitive again, battling for titles in 2036.

## Origins and Formula E History

DS Techeetah was formed when China Media Capital bought the struggling Team Aguri in 2017. The team quickly became competitive, scoring a win on the last race of their first season. In 2018, they formed a technical alliance with French manufacturer DS, which holds on until today. In 2018 they finished second and 2019 made an even bigger step and won the double with Jean-Eric Vergne and Andre Loterrer

## 2020-2021: In the front again

With the restructuring of the motorsport ladder by FIA, Techeetah entered as reigning champions with a new lineup, Billy Mathman and Sake Okasas. However, the team was unable to defend either title and finished way down in 9th. While Mathman impressed by scoring 3 podiums, Okasas woefully underperformed and scored just a single point, thus resulting to his ousting. For 2021, the team kept Mathman and signed Andelko Peric from arch-rivals Geely Nio. 2021 was a year of improvement, with both Mathman and Peric scorin one win each and finishing 5th and 7th, with Techeetach finishing 3rd in the final standings.

## 2022-2024: The first Sin-Zao era

For 2022, the team signed two of Asia's biggest prospects, Chinese Li Sin and Macanese Xi Zao. The talented duo had a very good first season with the team, despite failing to score a win as they finished 4th in the team standings. 2023 was an even bigger season, with Sin scoring the team's only win of the year. Sin finshed 5th and Zao 6th and Techeetah managed to improve and finish 3rd in the standings. However, the 2024 season was a setback as the team finished 4th in the standings and was unable to reach Racing Point, Nissan and Tesla Dragon and only scored a single podium. Still, the talent of Sin and Zao did not go unnoticed and in 2025 they both moved to Formula Earth team Alpha Tauri, having both joined the Red Bull academy.

## 2025-2026: The last years without Asian drivers

For 2025, the team signed two former FE drivers, Felix Neurether and Rock Hils from Nissan. 2025 was a difficult season as the team had fallen down in the midfield and failed to score a single podium. Both drivers would exit the team in the end of the year. 2026 saw another new lineup, Kevin Buffon and Jarvan Lightshield. This season saw better results as Buffon scored 3 podiums and most notably the team's only win of the year.

## 2027-2034: The second Sin-Zao era

In 2027, following their contract expiry at Alpha Tauri, Sin and Zao returned to the team. The following year were notable as the duo would make history as the longest-serving drivers in the history of any FI team, driving for 8 succesive seasons, adding up to their previous 3 years at the team. 2027 saw the team again in the midfield, but this time failing to score a single podium and in 2028, Sin managed to outperform Zao by scoring double the points, 42 for Sin and 21 for Zao. In 2029, the roles changed and Zao managed to score the only podium for Techeetah in 2029 and scored a total of 50 points compared to Sin's 24. In 2030, the team was again stuck in the midfield with Zao scoring 19 points. Sin had a horrible crash in Berlin and missed the entirety of the second half of the season. He was substituted by 16-year old Abelone Ulf, who last year broke the record for the youngest ever FI driver. Ulf failed to score points and would ultimately become the last European driver to race for Techeetah.

2031 was a major setback for the team as they fell down in the backmarker group and finished last with no points at all. They did manage to bounce back a little for 2032 by scoring 14 points. 2033 saw the team again in backmarker group, scoring only 3 points. Sin picked up another injury and was replaced by Vietnamese Truong Nhan Nguyen, who failed to score points. In 2034, the team finished 11th and it was announced that both Sin and Zao would exit the team at the end of the year, thus ending their 11-year stint at the team.

## 2035-present: Asian driver policy and resurgence

From 2035 to present day, the team has put an Asian driver signing policy, thus being unable to sign any driver from other continents. For 2035, they got Chinese prospect Liang Jin and former Indycar driver Kaumi Suzuki. The beginning of the new era was a transitional stage and as a result the team was in the backmarker group again, with Jin being the most impressive from the two new drivers.

For 2036, Suzuki was demoted to reserve driver and Jin was drafted by Alpha Tauri. The team, who had made a very competitive car, signed two Asian drivers with Formula Earth experience, Suresh Bhandari from Aston Martin and Shawn Yong who had won titles at Indycar. Despite being tipped to win the title, Yong finished 4th and Bhandari 5th, finishing 2nd behind double winners Geely Nio. Both drivers lef tthe team as their contract expired and got Burhan Tekin on loan from Red Bull and Raviraj Kudmal who was surprisingly ousted by Toyota. The team fell to midfield again, but managed to score a few podiums from Tekin and Kudmal. Suzuki also raced briefly when Kudmal was injured, but only scored 2 points.

Tekin moved to Alpha Tauri for 2038 and the team signed Roy Assulin on a free transfer from HSBC Nero. Kudmal improved on his results, finishing 5th on the standings and scoring the team's only win of the season. Assulin scored a podium on his debut, but faded out on the following races and fell down to 14th on the standings. Kudmal left the team in the end of the year and Lee yong-Gensoon moved in on loan from Red Bull. Lee scored the team's only win and finished 9th and Assulin improved on his consistency and finished 10th. The duo was retained for 2040, but results worsened with Lee 16th and Assulin in 18th.

## Notable Drivers

* Billy Mathman (2020-2021)
* Sake Okasas (2020)
* Andelko Peric (2021)
* Li Sin (2022-2024, 2027-2034)
* Xi Zao (2022-2024, 2027-2034)
* Felix Neurether (2025)
* Rock Hils (2025)
* Kevin Buffon (2026)
* Jarvan Lightshield (2026)
* Abelone Ulf (2030)
* Truong Nhan Nguyen (2033)
* Liang Jin (2035)
* Kaumi Suzuki (2035, 2037)
* Shawn Yong (2036)
* Suresh Bhandari (2036)
* Burhan Tekin (2037)
* Raviraj Kudmal (2037-2038)
* Lee yong-Gensoon (2039-present)
* Roy Assulin (2038-2040)