Five things we learned from an important Jarama Formula E test
Ever wondered if a Formula E rookie test is merely a box-ticking exercise? This year's one proved that is emphatically not the case.
Here's what we learned about the drivers looking to unseat some of the current Formula E crop, those being evaluated for futures in the electric series, one junior sensation who lived up to their reputation and more from the six hours of running at Jarama.
Martins adding to Nato pressure
Norman Nato's 11th-place finish in the Madrid E-Prix last Saturday meant that the Nissan driver has scored three points across the last 12 races since he finished sixth in the first Shanghai race last June.
Pressure has long since mounted on Nato, amid several difficult races in which combined team and driver errors have mounted up alarmingly.
Nato though has been quick and sometimes outpaced team-mate and reigning champion Oliver Rowland. But with his run of non-scores now extended to four races, Nissan will be evaluating its options in the six-week break before the Berlin double-header in early May.
Those options include experienced reserve and test driver Sam Bird and sometime tester and current Alpine World Endurance Championship driver Victor Martins. The Race understands that Martins's inclusion in the Jarama test could have influenced whether Nissan is inclined to make an immediate change for the second half of the season.
The test was a strong one for Martins, who set the fourth-fastest time overall of 1m29.888s on Sunday afternoon. But it was his consistency at 300kW running that really pleased the team, which used the test to try to get on top of several issues that have affected its recent results.
Martins was the fastest of the 300kW runners across the day, setting a 1m31.881s, a time that just shaded the best from Formula 2 race winner Richard Verschoor, who also impressed for Lola-Yamaha Abt.
"We have had races where we didn't score any points but even with Oliver too and he's the world champion," Tomaso Volpe, Nissan team principal, told The Race.
"Because Norman had a precedent last season it is easy to point fingers at him but I think overall the team this season is not doing a great job and yesterday [Saturday] was disappointing for everyone."
When asked whether or not the team may look at making a change in-season, Volpe said that at present he "cannot give a definite answer".
"We will look at the data and what went wrong after the attack mode and PitBoost window with Norman," he said. "I'm not very inclined in changing things during the season and I don't see us doing it but we will evaluate everything at base."
Audi junior Slater wows Andretti
There were many approaches to the final rookie test of the Gen3 era across the Formula E pitlane.
Some teams were clearly using it to blood in rookies but also to practically assist a rare chance to test because of both limited allocation and also because manufacturers have now exhausted their Gen3 allowances. Others meanwhile had more commercial-, partner- or specific-territory awareness agendas in running drivers.
Andretti was firmly in the first of those camps as it recruited Audi Formula 1 junior Freddie Slater.
To say that Slater impressed Andretti with his dedication to the test and his interaction with the engineers would be an understatement.
"His approach from the outset was extremely professional, everything from the way he prepared himself ahead of getting in the car, his approach, working with his engineers, and in particular, his feedback," Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths told The Race.
"You can see why he's on this fast-track programme to potentially F1 at some point in the future. I'm super-pleased with the way he handled himself, didn't put a wheel wrong, and had a really strong day of testing."
Slater - who is racing for Campos in Formula 3 this season - was consistently at the sharp end on the timing screens and ended the test with the eighth-fastest laptime.
Meanwhile, 2023 GB3 champion Callum Voisin made a late cameo appearance to replace the injured Louis Sharp in the other Andretti-Porsche seat.
With limited preparation time, Voisin had a morning excursion at Turn 6 which damaged the right front of the car, but ended the day with the 10th-fastest time.
Race seat evaluations continue
Two of the more likely drivers to get an actual race seat chance for the start of the Gen4 era at the end of 2026 are Theo Pourchaire and Ayunchan Guven, who represented Citroen and Porsche respectively.
Stellantis factory driver Pourchaire, who was also recently announced as a Mercedes F1 development driver, had another strong showing - this time driving for Citroen, having previously driven for the Maserati MSG team Citroen has succeeded.
Opel, another Stellantis brand, announced a new Formula E programme via its own bespoke factory team last Friday and Pourchaire is a contender to race there alongside an already established driver. The Race revealed that Nyck de Vries and Mitch Evans are among those that Opel is interested in, with both contractually available later this year.
Pourchaire, who set the fourth-fastest 300kW lap in the morning running and then topped the afternoon 300kW laps on a 1m32.194s lap, told The Race that his morning session was conducted on carry-over tyres from the race weekend before using his actual test allocation in the afternoon running.
On a potential Gen4 racing opportunity, Pourchaire confirmed he had tested the Stellantis development car, and also acknowledged how important the Jarama test was to show that he is ready to make the jump into a race seat for next season.
"It's very, very powerful. I tried it," he said of the Gen4 car. "There's power steering as well, which is something to adapt to as well. Two different aero packages. It's going to be even more difficult, in my opinion. But closer to Formula 2, Formula 1.
"Let’s see if I can have an opportunity in the near future, but the most important [thing] for me is just to show that I'm capable of going quick on the track and that I'm capable of helping the team as well, and also improving the car."
The Race understands that Opel has broadly decided upon its drivers for its first campaign. It had previously been in discussions with several drivers across the paddock, including 2023 champion Jake Dennis, who has since signed a new deal with Andretti for at least the first half of the Gen4 era.
For Guven, Jarama was a third chance to complete mileage in a Porsche Formula E car as he continues to be evaluated for a potential inclusion in Porsche's second team, which is beginning to take shape at the manufacturer's Weissach factory.
The reigning DTM champion ended the test with the ninth-fastest time and when asked by The Race how he would fare if he got a full-time seat, said: "It was not super simple to say, 'OK, I will come and perform', because even if you perform, the results are not guaranteed.
"I'm just doing my best preparation in case I have a chance to have a full-time seat to make sure I'm ready."
Surprise names lead the way
Current Campos F3 driver and 2025 Macau Grand Prix winner Théophile Naël set the pace with a best lap of 1m29.216s in the cooler morning session in track conditions that were much more favourable than the previous day's E-Prix running, which was completed in mostly wet but drying conditions. The test times were therefore significantly faster than those the regular Formula E drivers were capable of.
"I felt confident in the first push in the car," Naël, driving for Mahindra, told The Race.
"It helped a lot in terms of performance, as well as checking the data from Nyck and Edo [race drivers Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara] this weekend was quite good for me. I took it easy, but it paid off.
"I think the pace was good and I took a lot of pleasure driving this car and I'm trying to help the team as well, trying different things, so if I can help them for the future."
It was a strong test for a driver trying a Formula E car for the very time and Mahindra was impressed with Naël's approach and immediate adaptability. His time was backed up by regular tester and development driver Kush Maini, who placed second on the 350kW power running on Sunday morning, 0.2s off Naël's best and third across the whole test.
Fastest test times
1 Théophile Naël (Mahindra) 1m29.216s (am)
2 Nikita Bedrin (DS Penske) 1m29.250s (pm)
3 Kush Maini (Mahindra) 1m29.330s (pm)
4 Victor Martins (Nissan) 1m29.888s (pm)
5 Daniil Kvyat (DS Penske) 1m29,956s (am)
6 Zak O’Sullivan (Envision) 1m30.025s (am)
7 Theo Pourchaire (Citroen) 1m30.175s (am)
8 Freddie Slater (Andretti) 1m30.390s (pm)
9 Ayhancan Guven (Porsche) 1m30.398s (am)
10 Callum Voisin (Andretti) 1m30.526s (pm)
Nikita Bedrin meanwhile set the quickest 350kW time in the afternoon session in what was his second official Formula E test with DS Penske. The UK-based Russian, who races under the Italian flag, first ran at the 2025 Berlin test but also got time in the extra free practice session at Miami earlier this year.
DS Penske deputy team principal Phil Charles gave Bedrin another shot at running with the team after extensive simulator work for the team at its UK base over the last year or so.
Charles told The Race that Bedrin, who will compete in British GB3 with VRD Racing this season, "did very well" after "putting the miles in in the [remote] ops room" and said his test performance "was a good testament to the grind he has done".
"He is a great young talent and we have enjoyed seeing him improve every day," added Charles. "He is one of those kids that hasn't been born with lots of personal commercial options and it has been a pleasure to give him sim mileage to accelerate his development."
Bedrin's 1m29.250s, set in the afternoon running, was 0.034s off Naël's ultimate quickest time.
Pulling's strong impression
Four female drivers entered the test, with the reasonably experienced Abbi Pulling (Nissan) and Bianca Bustamante (Cupra Kiro) being joined by Ella Lloyd (Envision) and Juju Noda (Jaguar).
Pulling was consistently the fastest of the quartet and set a best time of 1m30.708s to end up 11th. That time was faster than those managed by the likes of F2 race winner Joshua Durksen (Citroen) and Verschoor, among others, in what was her best showing in a Formula E car so far.
Pulling also revealed that she had been carrying an injury at the Valencia test last November and that she felt much stronger during Sunday's running.
"I jumped into it and felt right at home and we went straight into race-running stuff," Pulling told The Race.
"From when I first drove here to now, it's like, I feel like a different driver. Again, the confidence, I know the team now much better and I'm much stronger."
