Former Dragon and Mahindra driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio has announced that he is retiring from competitive racing in order to assume a role as Venturi’s deputy team principal, reporting to Susie Wolff.
D’Ambrosio has been in Formula E since the start, one of four drivers to have entered every race in the series so far. He decided during Season 6’s Berlin finale, however, to end his racing career and pursue other opportunities in racing.
“My experience as a driver over the past 26 years has undeniably shaped me as a person and, when I decided after Berlin to hang up my helmet, I knew I wanted to stay involved in motorsport in some capacity.
“I’m still a very competitive person. That hunger to win doesn’t leave you when you decide to step out of the car, and I want to put that passion to good use.”
D’Ambrosio took three wins over the course of his time in Formula E, the first two at Dragon in Berlin during Season 1 and in Mexico during the subsequent season, before winning in Marrakech during Season 5 after switching to Mahindra.
In addition to driving for Dragon and Mahindra, d’Ambrosio took on a leadership role within Formula E last season, as part of the drivers’ advisory group on Formula E circuit design – alongside Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Rowland.
He said that moving to the Venturi role would involve a lot of learning, to go from driver to team leader but that he trusted team principal Susie Wolff to guide him through the process. “When Susie and I started talking about potentially taking my first step into a management role, I knew in my gut that the opportunity was perfect for me.
“It’s time for a new challenge and I have a lot to learn, but I know that I’ll be learning from one of the best and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.”
Wolff herself said that d’Ambrosio would act both as additional leadership within the team and as her ‘right hand’ in Monaco, where the Venturi team and d’Ambrosio are based. “Jérôme taking on the role of Deputy Team Principal will serve to strengthen the team – he will play a pivotal role with our drivers and engineering team and act as my right hand in Monaco.”
She said that her own experience of moving from driver to team principal informed her about choosing d’Ambrosio as the right person for the role, saying they had similar approaches. “I know what it’s like to hang up your helmet and I also know how important the next move is at any pivotal stage of a person’s career.
“Like Jérôme, I’m someone who follows their gut instincts and I think that we’ll make a fantastic team moving forward.”
D’Ambrosio added that he wanted to thank fans, family and those who had supported him during his career so far, saying it had ‘meant the world’ to him.
“I want to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to my family, to my friends and also to my fans for the incredible support and help throughout my career as a driver and also now on this next adventure.
“Their continued and unwavering belief has meant the world to me.”
