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Dragon unaffected by Mattiacci Faraday Future departure

Faraday Future Dragon Racing insists that former Ferrari F1 boss Marco Mattiacci's departure from the technology company will have no bearing on its Formula E effort.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing

Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing

Andy Chan

Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Loic Duval, Dragon Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing

Mattiacci, who was Faraday Future's Chief Brand and Commercial officer, is one of several personnel to have left the Chinese-owned, American-based company, which unveiled its long-awaited electric SUV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

In addition to Mattiacci’s departure, it is believed that Joerg Sommer, who joined Faraday Future from Volkswagen America last September, also left the company last month.

Mattiacci attended both the London and Hong Kong Formula E races last year, and worked closely with Dragon Racing in forming the alliance, which is reputedly worth $60m over the next five years.

The departures from Faraday Future come after much speculation in the automotive media about the health of the company, which is owned by LeCo, a consumer electronics giant based in Beijing.

The founder of both LeCo and Faraday Future is Jia Yueting, who is reported to have already invested $300m in the latter while awaiting confirmation of additional funding from Asia.

Doubt has been cast over the company’s long-term future ever since work was suspended on its new base in Nevada last autumn.

The result of the US election last November may also have caused further disruption to potential investment for the Faraday Future business, which currently employs close to 900 people.

However, Motorsport.com understands the Formula E team will remain unaffected by any future issues Faraday Future has to tackle.

The American team is scheduled to unveil an additional commercial partner in the coming weeks. This will come after Jay Penske’s PMC concern, in partnership with Rockbridge Growth Equity, recently acquired the renowned Robb Report brand, a global leader in luxury goods and services.

The newly re-branded Formula E team appeared at the season three opening race last October with a striking livery influenced by the Faraday Future partnership.

The team has so far had a disappointing start to its campaign, with Jerome d’Ambrosio’s seventh place in Hong Kong being the highlight so far.

While nobody from the Faraday Future Dragon Racing team was available to comment directly, a source close to the operation told Motorsport.com: “Things will continue to move forward as planned, and the team is unaffected by any of the reported issues.”

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