Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag insisted that the all-electric series' "technical roadmap will not be altered by the arrival of new manufacturers," according to Sam Smith of MOTORSPORT. With Mercedes and Porsche due to join Formula E in season six, "some fears have been voiced" about the potential for a technological "arms race" in the championship, "especially if teams were to be granted the freedom to design their own batteries or aerodynamic parts." However, Agag said that the series' "roadmap contains specifically-designed safeguards that prevent escalating costs," and that these will "definitely remain in place for the foreseeable future." Agag: "We designed Formula E for this and when we went to the drawing board on day zero we designed a championship for what is happening today. We will not accept any change of that framework by anyone. ... You either accept the rules or you don't come here. Manufacturers themselves are telling us don't change anything because we like it as the way it is: don't allow the costs to go high, don't change the fact we have to provide a powertrain at a set price to a privateer team. I'm not worried at all that the manufacturers are coming, I am encouraged and I am happy that they are a great addition to the championship" (MOTORSPORT, 8/28).
