Formula E can supply F1 with drivers and engineers

Six of the current 24 FE drivers have contested at least one grand prix, including Lucas di Grassi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sebastien Buemi plus Porsche FE team-mates Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer.

However, the all-electric championship - which has also notably featured 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve and 13-time GP winner Felipe Massa - has increasingly moved away from signing ex-F1 drivers.

Teams are now tending to favour lower-profile racers and sportscar drivers who have instead completed extensive simulator runs and private testing evaluations.

James believes as FE gains FIA World Championship status for its seventh season, the series is nearing a point where its drivers and team staff can now move directly into F1.

"I think, FE as a series, is getting to a point now where we're going to see the flow in both directions [between FE and F1], said the Mercedes team principal.

"I don't mean just from a drivers' perspective. Take a look at the whole of the team personnel. The engineers, the mechanics, the team management and the drivers.

"I see an opportunity there where from year to year you'll see people moving between the two series. There are some very sound reasons for that.

"It just goes to show again as we come into season seven, our first season as a world championship, that status is well and truly deserved and serves us well for the future."

As Mercedes starts its second season in FE as a factory team, it has already benefitted from ex-F1 personnel.

Former McLaren driver Vandoorne finished second in the standings last season after leading team-mate and 2019 FIA Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries for a 1-2 in the final Berlin race.

Similarly, the team's operations are split chiefly between the same Brackley and Brixworth High Performance Powertrains sites as the Mercedes F1 team.

Tony Ross, race engineer to Nico Rosberg when he won the 2016 F1 title, also joined the HWA Racelab squad - the forerunner to the full Mercedes FE team entry - in 2018 and remains with the concern.

Meanwhile, the Mahindra Racing FE outfit enters the new 2020-21 season having recruited former Mercedes HPP head Josef Holden.

Double FE champion Vergne has also revealed that he was approached by an F1 team about a series return, while DS Techeetah team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa secured an IndyCar test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after his 2019-20 title success.