"Completely different to anything I've driven before": How the women's test is preparing Formula E for the future

The female drivers at the Formula E women's test in Valencia were enthusiastic about the experience behind the wheel of the electric racing cars. However, they still see room for improvement to optimise the driving experience, especially for women. With the introduction of the fourth generation of vehicles, Formula E is already on the verge of an important development step that will make it easier for women to drive the electric cars in the future.

The second women's test in the history of the series was held on the last day of the Formula E pre-season tests in Valencia. On 31 October, 14 female drivers got behind the wheel of the Formula E cars for three hours each in the morning and afternoon. For most of them, it was their second or third time behind the wheel of an electric Formula E racing car. But there were also some completely new faces, such as the American Lindsay Brewer. She had been given the opportunity by DS Penske to drive Maximilian Günther's car.

"It's definitely a completely different car to anything I've driven before. But it's incredible. It's so much fun to drive," enthused Brewer in the press conference after she got out of the car. In the end, however, the American's lap times were only good enough for penultimate place; her lack of Formula E experience compared to many other drivers was noticeable.

Brewer: "I should have trained harder"

However, there was also another aspect that made itself felt for the American: "I probably should have trained harder too," she admitted in an interview with FE Notebook. The Formula E cars are not currently equipped with power steering; this is something that will only come with the fourth generation of cars for the 2026/27 season. One aspect that the female drivers expressed their excitement about, although some did not struggle quite as much as others. The fastest driver in the women's test, Brewer's countrywoman Chloe Chambers in the Mahindra, felt she had a slight advantage due to her recent training.

"The steering weight is heavy, but I'm used to driving cars with no power steering," said Chambers. "I think maybe for some of the other drivers, who come more from a sports car background, they probably struggled a bit more than I. But I've been training for heavy steering weight anyway, so this shows me kind of the level that I need to be at in terms of my physical performance." Chambers is currently racing in F1 Academy, where the cars also don't have power steering.

When asked by e-Formula.news about the Gen4 race car, Beth Paretta, Vice President of Sporting at Formula E, said: "The Gen4 car has so much power and so much torque that power steering in this is a necessity for all the drivers. So if you look at the car, it's all-time all-wheel drive and power steering, the development of this car dictated that those elements had to be in the car. So I want to make sure that everybody's clear that these weren't just added to widen the driver pool, but this car is such a beast to drive because it's so powerful that this is a necessity just so that all of the drivers can get the optimal out of the car and that we can have a great race and that people can actually control it."

Garcia: "It's about connecting with the teams"

It is in the nature of all female racing drivers to want to be the fastest. However, this is not the ultimate goal in tests such as the women's test. Rather, it's about completely different things, as Marta Garcia, who drove for Lola Yamaha ABT, emphasised: "I think it's mainly about connecting with the teams. Abbi (Pulling) is with Nissan, Jamie (Chadwick) is also with Jaguar. I think it's a lot of opportunities long term that you can have with the team, which I think that's the best."

For Garcia, it was the third Formula E team she had been linked to after driving for ERT in the rookie test in Berlin in 2024. This was followed in the same year by the first women's test in Madrid, where she got into the cockpit for the Porsche works team. Even if it can be an advantage to have already familiarised herself with the way different teams work, Garcia seems to have a desire for consistency. The Spaniard is already looking forward to the first Madrid E-Prix: "I will try to go there (Madrid) as well, hopefully working with Lola."

The test was also a great learning experience for Super Formula driver and Formula E rookie Juju Noda, who drove Mitch Evans' Jaguar: "I think the best thing about doing this test with Jaguar TCS Racing was that the technical understanding of all the mechanics and engineers was so high, and even just by watching the tests (the days before) I was able to learn a lot. When it was my turn to drive, the information from the engineers and the way the team communicates was a really good learning experience."

Speaking about the car's performance, she told FE Notebook: "I did practice starts several times during the test, and the acceleration is really fast, so that was also a surprise. I think the acceleration is so quick that you could overtake the entire Super Formula grid! It made me realise how amazing electric cars are."

The top speed of the car is lower than that of Super Formula, she adds, "but the acceleration is faster, so I was trying to adjust my driving on the fly to be able to take full advantage of that."

Pulling: "Everyone comes from different walks in motorsport. So a feeder series would make sense"

From the Formula E side, there is a desire to get a woman back on the grid of an official Formula E race, which is why test drives such as the women's test were launched. The topic of an electric junior series would also be another way to achieve this goal.

"There's not really a specific feeder series for Formula E. Everyone comes from all different walks in motorsport, whether it's GTs, Hypercar, Formula 1, even F2, F3. There's lots of different ways people come into it. So a feeder series, I think, would make sense," says Nissan development driver Abbi Pulling. But it shouldn't be a junior series just for women, Pulling believes: "it should be all to enter. And I think that would be quite an exciting kind of avenue to take."

The second Formula E women's test at the end of the pre-season test drives has thus been successfully completed. The next official stop of the electric world championship is the season opener in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 6 December 2025.