Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff sees Formula E as 'a serious motorsport player' with a bright future.

The Austrian believes the all-electric racing format enjoys many qualities which can move the "immature" series forward to a level where it is seen as a real rival to Formula One.

Mercedes and Porsche have both recently announced moves into Formula E where the two German manufacturers will join Renault, Audi, Jaguar and BMW.

As the automotive industry undergoes a massive shift towards hybrid and electric power trains, major manufacturers now see Formula E as a favourable terrain for development of their technology.

"Electrification is happening as we speak, the technology [in Formula E] is very immature and the racing series is very immature," says Wolff.

"But they have a very charismatic energised entrepreneur who runs the series, who has against all odds been able to attract all major German premium car manufacturers into the series.

"I would not be surprised if in three, four, five years Formula E is something totally different, and all of us might be sitting in a room like this and talking about the Formula E race.

"I think it's important to have that mindset that things are changing and probably we can't anticipate in which way things are changing.

"I also like the ten-cylinder [petrol] engine, but I'm not sure that in five years anybody else is going to like it apart from us."