The first rookie test took place in Jeddah this afternoon in Formula E. Forty minutes of analyzing every move made by the drivers, and it came with some surprises.
The eleven rookies of the Jeddah test were all excited to test the car for the first time. Some of them had already driven there, but the track is slightly modified compared to Formula 1, with a shorter circuit and some extra chicanes.
Jamie Chadwick in the Jaguar was the first car on track and set a time. She stayed the fastest out there with a 1:20.029 time, until mid session. The first driver to hit the Pit Boost was Théo Pourchaire with Maserati. He set a time of 1:18.905 with it. When the reporter went down the pitlane, he interviewed Jakes Hugues, who was pretty pleased with the Frenchman’s work : “Theo did a good job, it’s his first time practicing that [the Pit Boost] as well and we already have some good data”.
Some drivers were really attacking in that session, like Kush Maini. He was trying to find the limit and was sometimes close to the wall. He also went a bit too much on the curves, but nothing he couldn’t manage as he set the fastest time in the end. The Indian driver was more than happy with that result : “The car felt great, and we ticked all the boxes we needed for the race team so I’m really happy with that”. Porsche seemed to struggle with a bit of oversteer, as Preining went wide in a corner.
The power of the car also surprised some old-fashioned drivers, like Daniil Kvyat. During his Pit Boost lap, he was super late on the brake, which made him go off the racing line a couple of times.
After the chequered flag, a small incident happened between Jamie Chadwick and Zak O’Sullivan. While the Envision driver was finishing his lap time, he was late on the brake while the other British driver came back on the racing line. Luckily, only the front wing of the green war was damaged, and both drivers are okay.
Results
- Kush Maini
- Gabriele Minì
- Mikkel Jensen
- Théo Pourchaire
- Daniil Kvyat
- Zak O’Sullivan
- Thomas Preining
- Jak Crawford
- Jamie Chadwick
- Tatiana Calderon
- Alexander Dunne