Today, Formula E and the FIA hosted their second-ever All-Women’s Test at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, giving 14 elite women drivers the opportunity to test the GEN3 Evo Formula E car. American Chloe Chambers topped the time sheets, driving for Mahindra Racing.
The two six-hour sessions were part of the Season 12 (2025/26) ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s Official Pre-Season Test schedule. The second iteration of the All-Women’s Test, following a successful debut last season, provided elite women racing drivers the opportunity to develop their skills in the same cars as the official drivers.
Across the two testing sessions, nine of the women drivers set lap times that were within just tenths of a second in each sector compared to the official drivers after the first day, once again proving how valuable track time is in developing experience and confidence in this machinery.
Chloe Chambers (Mahindra Racing) set the best overall time of 1:22.767s in the second afternoon session, amid the field of 14 elite women drivers. Chambers, who currently competes in F1 Academy, has a successful racing resume, and has been working closely with the team ahead of today’s test.
Abbi Pulling (Nissan Formula E Team), who was quickest in the inaugural All Women’s Test last year, was just 0.064s behind Chambers’ time, with Bianca Bustamante (CUPRA KIRO) setting the third fastest time. Alice Powell (Envision Racing), who missed a large part of the afternoon due to a battery systems error on her car, finished fourth, ahead of her teammate Ella Lloyd in fifth. Jamie Chadwick (Jaguar TCS Racing), Tatiana Calderon (Citroën Racing) and Nerea Martí (Andretti Formula E) followed in sixth, seventh and eighth.
Juju Noda (Jaguar TCS Racing), finished ninth in her first Formula E experience, while Marta García (Lola Yamaha ABT) rounded off the top ten. Gabriela Jilkova (Porsche Formula E) was 11th, with her teammate Janina Schall (Porsche Formula E) in 13th. Jessica Edgar (DS PENSKE) and teammate Lindsay Brewer (DS PENSKE) finished 12th and 14th, respectively.
The All-Women’s Test is part of Formula E’s broader long-term strategy to remove barriers and expand opportunities for women within the all-electric championship. In addition to two test sessions, the drivers also played an important role in team preparation for the upcoming season. The drivers contributed to engineering meetings and debriefs, as well as taking part in press conferences, broadcast interviews and social media content capture, giving them experience of all areas of the team, with the aim of raising their profile in top-level motorsport and the wider sports industry.
Chloe Chambers, No.21, Mahindra Racing, said: “Today overall was a very positive day. I made a lot of improvements from last year in terms of my driving and driving to what’s needed from the car to go fast. We worked a lot on one lap pace, I was having to improve my driving every time and it was definitely a good test overall and I really enjoyed working with the team.”
Abbi Pulling, No.23, Nissan Formula E Team, said: “I’m really pleased with the way the test went, and to set the second-quickest time in both sessions is a strong result. My target was the break into the 1:22s and I’m pleased we did that, along with completing our entire program. One of my targets, after my previous outings in the car, was to improve my technique during race simulation, which I definitely achieved.
“It’s a physically demanding track, but we made good progress as a team and I hope what we did today will be beneficial for the squad moving forwards. I feel more comfortable in the car every time I drive and it’s been great to be here with the team in Valencia as I continue my development.”
Bianca Bustamante, No.3, CUPRA KIRO, said: “I think we left quite a lot of potential on the table in the morning session. I couldn’t really optimise new tyres and made a mistake here in there so all in all I was just happy to put a lap together.
“Obviously, there’s still so much room for improvement; I wasn’t able to optimise sector one and I did end up doing on the second run on the older tyres. There’s still much more in there and I think with more running in this car and more laps and working more with the team I will definitely be able to get my pace up there. But all in all so, so happy, the team has done brilliantly preparing me for this test in the sim, giving me onboards during track walk and giving me all the information that I can have to be able to really optimise this test.
“They have done a brilliant job and a huge thanks to Dan and Pepe who stuck around for this test and gave me as many tips and advice to improve my driving. All in all the team is brilliant and amazing and I had so much fun which is the important bit and had fun with everyone on the team.”
Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, said: “Today, 14 of the world’s best women drivers took to the track here in Valencia in the GEN3 Evo Formula E car for the second-ever All-Women’s Test. Following a successful inaugural test last year, I’m very proud that we’ve been able to continue giving women drivers track time and the chance to develop their skills in equal machinery as our official drivers.
“This time, we have been able to give the drivers a whole day on track - double the track time compared to last year - totalling six hours split across two sessions. During this time, we’ve not only seen impressive consistency but also rapid development, with lap times falling quickly as the drivers got to grips with the complexities of the GEN3 Evo. Nine of the women drivers have posted times that were within just tenths of a second in each sector compared to the official drivers after the first day, once again proving how valuable track time is in developing experience and confidence in this machinery.
“The drivers today have also provided their teams and fellow drivers with valuable data as they prepare for the first race of the season, the 2025 São Paulo E-Prix, in a few weeks.
"This test has been an important milestone in our goal to provide more opportunities for women drivers, and an important first step towards greater equity at the top level of motorsport. This is only the beginning of our plans, and I’m excited for what the future holds."
