Peugeot has revealed the reason behind Jean-Eric Vergne’s move into a development role with its World Endurance Championship squad in 2026, ending his continuous run as a race driver since the programme began.
Ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain finale, Peugeot revealed that Vergne will be stepping down from his race seat next year, with Stoffel Vandoorne rejoining the French team to take his place after a failed move to Genesis.
The arrangement is set to last only one year, with Vergne returning to his original role in 2027.
Although it was initially expected that Vergne’s new role would involve helping Peugeot develop a potential new hypercar, subject to approval from the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the French manufacturer clarified that the decision was largely driven by the 35-year-old’s increased commitments in Formula E after Vergne joined Citroen ahead of the new season.
Peugeot decided it would be best for Vergne to concentrate on Formula E, while still playing an active role in developing the current 9X8.
“It's part of a much bigger picture we have and the discussion we had internally between all our programmes,” Peugeot Sport technical Olivier Jansonnie told reporters including Autosport.
“We know that Formula E is going to go through a complicated year next year with the Gen4 development starting now.
“We want to have JEV fully involved with that, which will keep him very busy, at least until the end of the pre-season in July 2026.
“We had a discussion together with the management, with him, and we agreed together that we would like him to focus on that and keep the development of the 9X8 as well, as a test driver, but not racing with the team for next season.”
Two-time Formula E champion Vergne revealed that the idea to step into a different role came directly from him and was mutually agreed upon with Peugeot.
“It was in coordination with Peugeot, with Citroen, with everybody at Stellantis. It was actually coming from me,” he said.
“It is certainly very demanding [to combine Formula E and WEC]. And I feel that with the first year of Citroen, where we have a lot of work within the team to be up to speed very rapidly, plus the development of the Gen4 car, plus the WEC, plus all the testing, plus all the development for the future of Peugeot, plus personal reasons, I felt that I could not do it all next year.
“So that's why it was my decision. I prefer to step down for a year, but at least do all the other things well. And then, when things settle, personal stuff settles, I can come back in 2027 fully operational on both sides.”
Vandoorne had originally departed Peugeot after September’s Fuji event in anticipation of his move to Genesis’ new LMDh programme in 2026.
However, it’s widely believed that the Belgian’s deal with the Hyundai-owned brand fell through at the last minute, leading him to return to Peugeot in place of Vergne.
The swap will take place next year, with Vandoorne sitting out this weekend’s Bahrain 8 Hours as Theo Pourchaire makes his WEC debut ahead of a full campaign with Peugeot in 2026.
“We obviously had the driver's seat available [after JEV’s move] and for Stoffel, considering his situation at the moment and after Fuji, it was making complete sense for us [to bring him back to the team],” explained Jansonnie.
“We needed to have somebody who was demonstrating his performance with us already.”
Newly-crowned IMSA GTP champion Mathieu Jaminet is now being considered for the Genesis drive previously earmarked for Vandoorne following the news that the Frenchman will leave Porsche after 2025.
Porsche Penske Motorsport is having to downsize its LMDh driver stable next year after announcing its exit from WEC’s Hypercar class. It will continue with a two-car factory programme with Team Penske in IMSA.
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