2020/21 Formula E Champion Nyck De Vries was fastest in session five of the 2024/25 pre-season testing at the Circuit Del Jarama, that took place on Thursday afternoon.

The Dutchman would shine and after finishing the day's earlier session four in 22nd place and last, it was the complete opposite result at the end of the afternoon session, that like the morning had also lasted three hours.

This would be the final full day of the main grid competing in pre-season testing as the final day on Friday, would see one test with the main group competing with the afternoin session being reserved for the all-women test that is set to happen for the first time ever in an FIA world championship.

De Vries would top the timing of the session, while the afternoon running saw a mock race for the drivers to get up to speed with the cars and for teams and drivers to practice effective racing with things such as the attack mode.

The actual timing session saw a great session for Mahindra as they had both cars inside the top three with Swiss driver Edoardo Mortara in third behind his teammate De Vries who fastest. Jaguar's Mitch Evans was second splitting the Mahindra pair.

Envision Racing's Sebastian Buemi was fourth ahead of the Lola Cars Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi who rounded off the top five. The two Porsche cars would be sixth and seventh in the testing session, with Pascal Wehrlein being ahead of his teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa.

David Beckmann would be eighth in the order for Kiro Race ahead of the second Envision of Robin Frijns was ninth with Jake Dennis completing the top 10.

In the mock race itself, it would be the reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein who would head home to take the victory to start racing off in 2024/25 in the best possible way and he would receive a decent confident boost from it as would be expected.

It would be a really positive outlook for Porsche as they secured a 1-2 in the mock race with Da Costa coming in second behind his teammate and the reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein. Jaguar's Nick Cassidy was third ahead of Andretti's Jake Dennis and Mitch Evans, who completed the top five.

Not all cars would make the finish with Lola Cars' driver Zane Maloney failing to get off the start line at the very beginning of the mock race. Only the top 14 would take the chequered flag with the other drivers ending the race in the pits.

The end of afternoon running would be completed with just one more day to go at the Circuit Del Jarama circuit which would see one of the three-hour sessions being the all-female test.

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Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

On Thursday morning in Madrid, Kiro Race and David Beckmann set the fastest time in the three-hour morning session on the penultimate day of pre-season testing. 

Kiro Race cars had shown great pace on Wednesday and in the afternoon session they had two drivers inside the top four. Beckmann, who has made his first appearance in Formula E, at pre-season testing this week was quickest and has impressed many with his performances.

Beckmann was fastest at the end of the three hour session at the Circuit Del Jarama with the best lap time set being a 1:27.755, which was clearly the fastest lap set of pre-season testing for the 2024/25 season with three full-time driver outings left.

The German driver was top of the timing sheets ahead of both Porsche drivers who would complete the top three for the morning session. Reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein would be in second place ahead of Antonio Felix Da Costa - having both topped a pre-season test session at some point over the times completed.

It would be Wehrlein who would be the pioneer in getting into the lap times of 1m27s but not long afterwards he would be beaten by just eight thousandths of a second as Beckmann would go to the top of the times.

Session three's top man Maximilian Gunther would finish in fourth place for DS Penske  after he topped session three the day prior. Maserati's new Brit Jake Hughes would complete the top five positions.

Jaguar's Mitch Evans would be the only one from his team to get within the top 10 as he would finish in sixth place. Norman Nato would be just behind him in seventh place for Nissan. NEOM McLaren's Taylor Barnard was in eighth place as the sole McLaren in the top 10. 

Oliver Rowland in the other Nissan would finish session four in ninth place with the second DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne completing the top 10 positions of the three hours.

Session four would be complete with pre-season testing for the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Circuit Del Jarama in Madrid. Attention would then turn to session five which would get underway on Thursday afternoon.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Wednesday saw day two of pre-season testing in Madrid ahead of racing action in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Pre-season testing would be crucial for the teams and drivers as they looked to prepare for the 16-round championship, which sees the first race commence on December 7 - at Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

Jake Hughes in his new Maserati machine was top in the morning with a time that eclipsed Antonio Felix Da Costa's time of 1:29.220, which was the fastest lap time in Tuesday's only testing session.

Hughes would set a 1:28.604, which would be a far better time than Da Costa's best time of session one. It would be a British 1-2-3 with Jake Dennis in second with 0.081s separating the 2023 champion from the top spot Kiro Race's Dan Ticktum was third.

Pascal Wehrlein was fourth for Porsche and the reigning champion was above Stoffel Vandoorne who made it two Maserati cars inside the top five. NEOM McLaren's Sam Bird was sixth ahead of the DS Penske of Maximilian Gunther was seventh, with session one's fastest man Antonio Felix Da Costa in eighth for Porsche.

The second DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne was ninth with the second Andretti of Nico Mueller completing the top 10.

Unlike session one, all 22 cars were out on the circuit with the Jaguars of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans as well as the two Nissan cars of Norman Nato and Oliver Rowland who made their first appearances in pre-season testing for the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E Campaign.

Track action would return in the afternoon for session three of pre-season testing in Madrid.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

Track action for the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E Championship got underway on Tuesday afternoon, as Porsche's Antonio Felix Da Costa finished top of the time sheets in day one of pre-season testing at Madrid.

In a three-hour session, the 11 teams got to test and prepare for the upcoming 16-round season that will see the very first race happen on December 7.

Testing has been taking place at the Circuit Del Jarama in Madrid after tragic and severe flooding had swept in on Valencia, where pre-season testing was originally supposed to take place between 4-7 November. Instead, in a very swift change of events, the pre-season testing was moved to Madrid and to the Circuit Del Jarama for between the 5-8 November. 

Antonio Felix Da Costa of Porsche ended the three-hour test fastest at the end of the first day as the Portuguese driver displayed a time of 1:29.220 which was just short of two tenths faster than the Andretti of Jake Dennis, who was second on the board. 

German driver of DS Penske, Maximilian Gunther was third overall with a best time of 1:29.661, which was over four tenths away from Da Costa's fastest time. Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara would finish in fourth place with the Maserati of Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top five.

It was a three-hour session and it kicked off the track action as many drivers saw themselves setting laps and getting towards the top of the time sheets. Across the session, it was a busy circuit but unfortunately not all 22 drivers would make an appearance on day one.

Just 18 of the 22 cars that will participate in the 2024/25 championship made an appearance of day one of pre-season testing in Madrid, with both Jaguar drivers (Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy) missing out as well as the two Nissan drivers (Norman Nato and Oliver Rowland). 

Kiro Race, who are newly re-branded team from ERT are yet to confirm their full driver lineup for the 2024/25 season. They have entered former Formula E racer, in previous seasons, Dan Ticktum alongside David Beckmann. Both drivers will complete testing for Kiro and both have competed together previously in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Day one saw the first hour have many drivers getting up to speed with their cars and for many it was discovering a new circuit for the very first time in the Spanish capital. It was rookie of NEOM McLaren Taylor Barnard who would have a slim advantage at the top of the time sheets,

Barnard, who has graduated from FIA Formula 2 permanently, after the British driver made three E-Prix starts in the previous season pf 2023/24 in place of his teammate Sam Bird, who missed the most of Monaco and the double-round in Berlin due to having a broken hand.

It was a very narrow margin for Barnard one hour in, four thousandths of a second to be precise as the NEOM McLaren driver had a time of 1:30.230, which was just about faster than reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein who was second for Porsche. ABT Lola Cars driver Lucas Di Grassi would sit third.

It was a strong start for McLaren with Sam Bird, Taylor Barnard's teammate in fourth with the Mahindra of Nyck De Vries completed the top five with still two hours of the three remaining.

Many more lap times would improve and many drivers would be constantly changing positions on the timing pages. The Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa would find himself with the fastest time of the first test, provisionally,

Da Costa would be ahead of Gunther and Jake Dennis who would complete the top three positions with Dennis' Andretti teammate Nico Mueller and Maserati's Jake Hughes rounding off the top five.

By the end of the session, Da Costa would remain top with a 1:29.220, which was just short of two tenths clear of Jake Dennis from Andretti. Maximilian Gunther, Edoardo Mortara and Stoffel Vandoorne would complete the top five as the chequered flag flew high in Madrid, 

Formula E would return back to the Circuit Del Jarama on Wednesday for day two of the pre-season testing for the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

The  ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is preparing to put on another exciting season of action, as season 11 action prepares to get underway in November.

Following the first 10 seasons that have seen nine different champions with Jean-Eric Vergne being the only multiple champion in Formula E's championship history but there is a good chance that we could have another driver to join him with potentially Pascal Wehrlein, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Jake Dennis wanting to challenge once again.

In the upcoming 2024/25 season of Formula E there will be 16 rounds of the season with trips to South America, Asia, Europe and North America. Track action will begin with pre-season testing which will take place in Spain. 

Pre-season testing would originally supposed to be taking place in Valencia but following tragic flooding, Valencia would be unfit to host Formula E testing however pre-season testing would still be able to be completed. It would just instead be taking place in Madrid.

The season will begin at Sao Paulo, Brazil and will end with a double header in the United Kingdom capital city of London with trips to China, Monaco and Indonesia in between. In this debut Formula E piece for F1 Journal, we will have a look at the season 11 calendar for 2024/25 and we will have a look at where each round will take place.

Following the tragic and horrific scenes in Valencia spain, with the severe flooding that has wrecked many people's livelihoods, it would be not fit for purpose that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship would head there at the start of November for pre-season testing in what is set to be a fantastic season of action.

Formula E will prepare to still have a pre-season testing and Spain have aided brilliantly in compensating Formula E by moving their pre-season testing for season 24/25 and the 11th season in the championship's history to Madrid - the Spanish capital.

Formula 1 are set to move the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid so it is no great surprise to see Madrid offering to create themselves a positive picture in the eyes of another FIA open-wheel world championship. Over the span of four days, Madrid is set to host the only pre-season testing for the season.

Hosting pre-season testing for season 11 of the Formula E Championship will be the Circuit del Jarama which is situated in the San Sebastian de Los Reyes region of the Spanish capital. 

The Circuit del Jarama is a circuit that motorsport fans might recognise as it has hosted rounds to the FIA Formula One World Championship in previous years gone by and in particular the Spanish Grand Prix before it moved to the infamous Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

Circuit del Jarama has also played host to the European Le Mans series, Motorcycle Grand Prix racing (MotoGP), the World Touring Car Championship and the Spanish F4 Championship.

It has certainly been a challenge for all involved in Formula E to have to move pre-season testing before the opening round of the 2024/25 season in Sao Paulo getting underway before Christmas in December. 

As it is unsafe Formula E has just simply not been able to go to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit due to safety concerns and the widespread damage that has occurred in Valencia, while the Spanish city is trying to recover from the overwhelming shock and tragedy that a year's worth of rainfall in just eight hours has caused.

Testing will run between the 5-8 November, with the first ever all-female test taking place on November 8 - a landmark day for female participation in motorsport and Formula E.

To start the 2024/25 Formula E campaign, the world championship heads to Sao Paulo for the opening round of the championship and the start of season 11, situated in Brazil.

Sao Paulo played host to an E-Prix for the first time in the 2022/23 campaign, which was season nine of the Formula E Championship and this will be third ever visit to Brazil with every single Brazilian race in Formula E taking place at Sao Paulo.

Taking place around the Anhembi Sambadrome, which is the Sao Paulo street circuit, the opening round is bound to be exciting with the 22 drivers and 11 teams looking to start their campaigns off.

The track has 14 corners and a lap distance of 2.933km with a lap record of 1:13.684 that was set by 2024 winner Sam Bird, who set the lap record in 2023 when driving for Jaguar.

The opening round at Sao Paulo will be the only round of the season 11 2024/25 championship to happen in 2024 - the other 15 rounds will take place in 2025.

For the second round of the season and the first of the season to be held in the calendar year of 2025, round two of the 2024/25 season of the Formula E Championship will be held at Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.

The Mexico City E-Prix, which takes place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez opened the 2023/24 season campaign as eventual champion Pascal Wehrlein went on to take victory.

Formula 1 fans may recognise the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as this is the venue that hosts the Mexican Grand Prix but the Formula 1 and Formula E track layouts are entirely different.

The current Mexico City E-Prix layout is made up of 19 corners and has a lap distance of 2.628km, which is equal to 1.633 miles. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has seen four different layouts and this current layout has been used from the 2022/23 season to date. The lap record was set in 2023, by that year's eventual champion, Jake Dennis. The British driver holds the record with a 1:14.195.

Mexico City will just see one round of the season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and it will play host to round two of 16 and the first after Christmas.

For rounds three and four of the 2024/25 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be heading to the Saudi Arabian capital Jeddah for the first double-header weekend of season 11.

It is not unusual for Saudi Arabia to host a double header in the Formula E Championship, it has been done ever since the start of the 2019/20 season, which is over five years prior. However, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has done all of the Saudi Arabia double-round weekends at Diriyah.

This time it will be a change of location as the Formula E championship will have its first double-round weekend of the season in Jeddah, at a shortened version of the Corniche Circuit, which has the full-version used for the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The short layout of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit that has been raced on before is one of 12 corners and has a lap distance of 3.45km which is equal to 2.144 miles. There is no Formula E lap record as this is a brand new circuit for the championship to encounter.

This will host the third and fourth rounds of the championship for season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E season and that will marker a quarter of the 2024/25 campaign complete.

Formula E will head to the sunny state of the United States of America, Florida, and specifically to Miami for round five of the 2024/25 World Championship.

This will be just the one round of the season in the United States and it will be the only trip Formula E will make to the United States for season 11 and it will be a return to Miami after they have raced there in previous years gone by.

Formula E first raced at Miami 2015 but that is the only ever time the championship has raced in the city but it will be a different circuit for the 2025 Miami E-Prix as opposed to the Biscayne Bay Street Circuit that was used in the inaugural season of the championship 2014/15.

In 2025, Formula E will head to the Homestead-Miami Speedway for the year's E-Prix and it is a circuit that is made up of 15 corners and has a lap distance of 3.512km. As Formula E has never raced at the circuit before, there is no lap record.

This will be the second brand new circuit Formula E will visit out of the two brand new ones added to the championship calendar. It will play host to round five of season 11

For the second double-round weekend of the season, in May, Formula E makes its first trip to Europe for the 2024/25 season as the world championship heads to the principality of Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Monaco is the first of three European visits on the 2024/25 season calendar with trips to Berlin and London to come before the season reaches its conclusion in July and it is a circuit that often produces great drama whenever Formula E rolls into Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo is world-renown for its motorsport legacy with the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix being one of the most famous Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar for the prestige and the narrow, twisty and challenging turns on the Monte Carlo street circuit. Grand Prix racing first began back in 1929.

Formula E will use the Grand Prix circuit for the E-Prix itself which is made up of 19 corners and has a lap distance of 3.337km. The world championship first raced in Monte Carlo back in 2015 and there has been three different layouts that Formula E has encountered in the last decade.

The lap record is held by Jake Dennis after he set a 1:31.119 in 2023 as he would go onto win that year's championship. This famous race track will play host, in May, to rounds six and seven of season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (2024/25). 

For the third double-round weekend of the 2024/25 Formula E championship season, the world championship heads to the far east of the globe, which is more specifically the Japanese capital of Tokyo for rounds eight and nine.

Formula E made its first ever visit to Tokyo in the most recent season of 2023/24, which was season 10 in the championship's history.

This year will be the first time that the Tokyo E-Prix will be a double-round weekend as the inaugural Tokyp E-Prix that happened last year was just a singular round. The action impressed that much, Formula E was invited back for a double-round.

The Tokyo E-Prix Circuit which is named simply the Tokyo street circuit and is one that is made up of 20 corners and it has a lap distance of 2.585km. The lap record which was the fastest lap set last season, was set by McLaren's Sam Bird who walked away with a 1:19.731. He wil be hoping to replicate some of that speed in this coming season.

Formula E will complete the first half of the season fully as the double-round crosses over into the second half of the season as Tokyo will oversee rounds eight and nine of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

For just the second time in the championship's history, Formula E heads to the Shanghai International Circuit for rounds 10 and 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship 2024/25 season.

Formula E first visited Shanghai for the 2023/24 season and it is a different variation of the Shanghai International Circuit that is used for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. 

Last season in Formula E there was so much great action that had many on the edge of their seats and it is set to be another great round at the end of May and start of June. Shanghai will be the third successive double-round of the championship 

Formula E's variation of the Shanghai International Circuit is made up of 12 corners and has a lap distance of 3.051km. The lap record held across the two rounds held last year was Norman Nato of Andretti in race two. The Frenchman set a 1:15.358

Shanghai International Circuit will see its second ever visit from Formula E for another double-round just like the last season.

Formula E is finally returning to Indonesia as it heads to the Indonesian capital Jakarta for a sole round in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for the 2024/25 season.

Jakarta has hosted Formula E races many times before but had to miss out in the 2023-24 season due to the presidential election taking place in the country on the same week that Formula E was heading to Jakarta.

The world championship first came to Jakarta in 2022 and therefore it is one of the most recent additions to the championship and has had double-round weekends throughout the hosting of Formula E races.

Jakarta International E-Prix circuit is where the Formula E races will occur and it is set to be an exciting event. The circuit itself is made up of 18 corners and has a lap distance of 2.37km. The lap record was set by Andretti's Jake Dennis in 2023 race 2. The British driver has the record of a 1:09.171.

Round 12 of the championship will be held at Indonesia and this will be the final single-round weekend of the season and the final non-European round too.
 

For the penultimate weekend of action of the season, Formula E will head to Berlin for a double-round weekend as the first double-round of two in July.

Berlin in Germany is a staple to the ABB FIA Formula E calendar and has enjoyed so much racing and seen huge and significant moments in the championships gone by. With the 2024/25 season of Formula E having two of its final four rounds of the season at the German capital, it promises to have an impact once again.

The Tempelhoff Airport street circuit had a change of layout for 2024 and they will be continuing to use that layout for the 2025 season and it was a layout of such high intensity and thrilling drama.

Formula E's newest layout of the Tempelhoff Airport circuit is made up of 15 corners and has a lap distance of 2.343km. The fastest lap set across the races in 2024 was by Andretti's Norman Nato, who in the first race displayed a lap time of 1:02.972.

​The Tempelhoff Airport circuit in Berlin will play host to rounds 13 and 14 of the 2024/25 ABB Formula E World Championship.

To conclude an exhilarating season in prospect, at the end of July, the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E Championship will conclude in the UK capital, London, for a double-round weekend.

The past two seasons of the championship have both concluded with a double-round weekend at London and both of them have seen the drivers' championship go down to the final race - with Jake Dennis being crowned champion in 2023 and most recently Pascal Wehrlein being crowned in July 2024. 

London's venue for the E-Prix in modern times is based at ExCel London and it has been since the 2022/23 campaign. The venue has held the final round of the season ever since it was brought back onto the calendar.

It is a very unique circuit as half of the track is indoors and half of it is outdoors. The circuit is made up of 20 corners and has a lap distance of 2.086km. The lap record of the latest variation of layout is from Jake Hughes, who set a 1:11.331.

This will be rounds 15 and 16 which will conclude the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (season 11).

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal