Taylor Barnard will join Fortescue Zero Racing for the 2026/27 FIA Formula E World Championship season, becoming the first confirmed driver for the new team ahead of Formula E’s GEN4 era.
The British driver moves to the Australian operation after leaving DS PENSKE at the end of the 2025/26 campaign. Barnard has established himself as one of Formula E’s leading young talents since making his debut in 2024, breaking several age records before most recently becoming the youngest race winner in championship history.
His move also places him at the centre of one of Formula E’s newest projects. Fortescue Zero will enter the championship as a competing team from 2026/27, building on its existing relationship with the series as the Official PIT BOOST supplier.
Barnard starts new chapter after rapid Formula E rise
Barnard first competed in Formula E at the 2024 Monaco E-Prix, stepping in for Sam Bird at short notice while still only 19 years old. That appearance made him the youngest driver to start a Formula E race and began a rapid progression through the championship.
He has since added several more records, becoming Formula E’s youngest pole-sitter and youngest podium finisher before eventually adding the youngest race winner distinction to his résumé. Those performances helped establish Barnard as one of the championship’s most highly rated young drivers before his move to Fortescue Zero Racing.
The Norwich-born driver now leaves the outgoing DS PENSKE operation and joins a team that will build its Formula E programme from the ground up. Rather than entering an established environment, Barnard will play a central role as Fortescue Zero develops its technical and sporting operation for its first season.
His signing also gives the new squad a driver with recent Formula E experience at a crucial point in the championship’s development. With the regulations changing substantially for 2026/27, Barnard will combine adapting to a new team with learning Formula E’s most powerful car yet.
Barnard excited to build new Formula E project with Fortescue Zero Racing
Barnard highlighted the opportunity to help shape Fortescue Zero Racing from its beginning when confirming his move.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Fortescue Zero Racing and be part of building something from the ground up. This is a new team with a huge amount of ambition, and I want to help turn that ambition into results on the track.”
Fortescue Zero enters Formula E with an established background in high-performance engineering and electrification. Its motorsport roots trace back to Williams Advanced Engineering, while the company already works within Formula E through its role supplying the championship’s PIT BOOST technology.
That technical background forms a major part of the attraction for Barnard as the new team prepares to develop its own identity within the championship.
“Fortescue Zero has a strong history of developing high-performance electric technology, and I’m looking forward to working with the team and helping push that technology further and faster than ever before.”
The Briton also acknowledged that the team faces a significant challenge as it prepares for its debut season.
“We know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but that is exactly what makes this opportunity so exciting. I can’t wait to get started.”
Fortescue Zero Racing prepares for GEN4 debut
Fortescue Zero Racing will make its Formula E debut at the same time as the championship introduces the all-new GEN4 car, creating a clean technical break from the outgoing generation.
GEN4 represents the largest performance increase in Formula E history. The car can exceed 335kph and accelerate from 0-100kph in approximately 1.8 seconds, while reaching 200kph in around 4.4 seconds. Formula E expects it to lap around 10 seconds faster than the GEN3 car in qualifying specification.
The new car will also deliver 50 per cent more race-mode power than the current GEN3 Evo. ATTACK MODE increases maximum output to 600kW, representing a 71 per cent increase over GEN3 Evo’s base power, while permanent all-wheel drive will further change the way drivers extract performance from the car.
Those changes mean Barnard will join Fortescue Zero at a time when every Formula E team must adapt to a substantially different technical package. His recent experience in the championship should give the new operation an important reference as it develops the car and its working processes.
Fortescue Zero begins building first Formula E line-up with Barnard as first signing
Barnard becomes the first driver confirmed for Fortescue Zero Racing’s inaugural Formula E campaign, giving the team a proven race winner around whom it can begin building its sporting programme.
His combination of youth and Formula E experience gives the newcomer an unusual foundation for its debut season. Despite still being early in his career, Barnard has already competed across multiple Formula E campaigns and demonstrated his ability in qualifying, race conditions and high-pressure situations.
The team has yet to confirm who will partner him during the 2026/27 season. That announcement will complete the line-up before Fortescue Zero begins its first campaign in a championship entering one of the biggest technical transitions in its history.
For Barnard, the move offers an opportunity to become one of the defining figures in a new Formula E project. For Fortescue Zero Racing, signing Formula E’s youngest-ever race winner provides an ambitious first step as the team prepares to establish itself during the opening season of the GEN4 era.
