The 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship got underway in earnest with the official pre-season test at Madrid’s Jarama Circuit this week. All 22 drivers and 11 teams headed out on track together for the first, and only, time before the season-opening São Paulo E-Prix on 7 December later this year.
The championship’s fastest race car yet – the cutting-edge GEN3 Evo race car – is 30% faster than a current F1 car, capable of 0-60mph (100km/h), boasts all-wheel drive, new grippier Hankook iON tyres and has 600kW fast-charging capability for drivers and engineers to get their heads around.
Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) rounded out the quickest of 4,731 total laps and 18,512km completed over the six three-hour sessions across four days – the New Zealander setting a 1m27.461s. The Jaguar driver set the pace during the final morning’s running on Friday, while the field was split by a little over a second on the overall timesheet.
“Overall, it’s been an important week of testing,” said Evans. “It is still early days with the I-TYPE 7 and there is a lot to learn in terms of performance, but we’ve gathered lots of information as the week progressed and I believe we’ve got the car into the right window.
“We’ve made good progress which is the main thing, and hopefully we can continue that development as we head towards the Season 11 opener in Brazil.”
Reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein was third in the running in the latest factory Porsche 99X Electric. He split the impressive Porsche-powered Kiro Race Co pair of Dan Ticktum and David Beckmann who sat second and fourth, respectively, using the Season 10-spec powertrain.
Zane Maloney, new to Formula E this season and the grid’s only full debutant, found himself mid-pack on the timing screens – a strong showing. The Lola Yamaha ABT driver from Barbados enters the series from FIA Formula 2.
Six different drivers set the pace in the six test sessions:
Session 1: Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche)
Session 2: Jake Hughes (Maserati MSG Racing)
Session 3: Maximilian Guenther (DS PENSKE)
Session 4: David Beckmann (Kiro Race Co)
Session 5: Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing)
Session 6: Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing)
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