The team principal for the Citroen Formula E team, Cyril Blais, died suddenly last week.

His passing was confirmed by Formula E Operations to all teams on Sunday morning, with the all-electric world championship's promoter then stating publicly on Monday: "Monaco Sports Group (MSG), operator of the Citroen Racing Formula E Team, Citroen, Stellantis Motorsport, the FIA, and the entire Formula E community are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Team Principal Cyril Blais."

Blais, the head of the Monaco Sports Group company that operationally ran the Maserati and Citroen teams over the last three seasons, was a popular and well-respected member of the Formula E paddock. He had worked in it for almost a decade, having previously worked at Mahindra between 2019 and 2021 before joining the MSG organisation as an engineer.

Prior to his work in Formula E, Blais was a well-known face in the junior categories, having worked for Manor Motorsport and Arden in Formula 3 and Formula 2 after gaining a masters degree in vehicle dynamics at Kingston University.

It was in F2 that Blais engineered his future Formula E driver, Maximilian Guenther, during his one F2 campaign with Arden.

Blais was made team principal of the Maserati MSG operation in the autumn of 2023, replacing the outgoing James Rossiter after a difficult first Gen3 season.

Though Guenther won a race, in Jakarta, three cars were also destroyed that campaign in Cape Town, Diriyah and Rome, in what was the start of Maserati MSG's difficulties and uncertainties in ownership and management.

With Blais at the helm, Guenther added another win with victory in Formula E's first ever race in Tokyo - one that was repeated last May in remarkable circumstances, when the Maserati MSG team gambled on pitting Stoffel Vandoorne early for his PitBoost stop and then capitalised on a red flag to pull off an unlikely strategic victory.

Blais led the MSG team through the Maserati to Citroen change this season and was believed to be overseeing the preparations for the majority of the operational side of the business ultimately moving from its existing Monaco base to the Stellantis facility in Satory, France.

Formula E's Jeff Dodds was among those to pay tribute.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our colleague and friend, Cyril, and our heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with his family, loved ones and all those who knew him," said Dodds.

"Cyril's passing is a devastating loss for his family, for MSG, Citroën Racing, and for our entire Formula E community.

"We have lost an extraordinary colleague, and someone many of us were proud to call a friend.

"The entire Formula E paddock is supporting one another through this incredibly difficult period.

"To honour his immense contribution to the sport, the Citroën Racing Formula E Team and the wider Formula E community will pay tribute to Cyril’s memory and incredible legacy during this weekend’s Tokyo E-Prix."

A quietly impressive leader

The wryest of smiles and a calm, quiet intent and focus were among the memorable traits of one of Formula E's most universally liked and respected figures.

You could tell that Cyril Blais was a talented engineer simply by his manner. That calm, authoritative and unflappable demeanour was never forced, practiced or honed.

Blais was a rock of a man, one who held steady in some very challenging scenarios over the last few years in his time at the helm of the MSG operation.

As an engineer, Blais was often praised to the hilt by his drivers, who not only appreciated his forthright approach, but also shared his inherent passion for motorsport.

A racer and genuine enthusiast of the sport, Blais loved nothing more than just the pure competition within all aspects of his chosen vocation, which had deservedly taken him to one of the most senior positions in Formula E.

As a team principal, Blais had a huge baptism of fire at Maserati MSG, which had massive complexities within its ownership and even just pure survival. But Blais was exactly what was needed at that stage of the team's history, and by September 2025 it had matured into Citroen Racing. He remained in charge, leading the team to a wonderful victory with Nick Cassidy at Mexico City in January of this year.

While Blais tasted great success in motorsport, it was his overall easy-going manner that shone through much more.

This writer had a particularly challenging encounter with Blais at the Jeddah E-Prix in February 2025, regarding the aborted takeover of the Maserati MSG team. Some heated words were exchanged that day. But within an hour we'd shaken hands on the grid and had accepted each other's apologies.

That was all part of the nature of Cyril Blais. You always got the impression that it was the sport rather than the inevitable politics and business of the paddock that he was really there for.

Blais will be very much missed in the paddocks and pitlanes of the world. That's because it was precisely in these places he so thrived, and where he gained maximum respect for those he interacted with.