Women in Formula E

Thanks to the 2018 in-season test day that featured nine female drivers, Formula E has become somewhat associated with women racers. Carmen Jorda’s continuing association with the series, particularly the Nissan team, has helped this perception, even if her comments that Formula E cars are easier to drive for women than other single-seaters annoyed many.

The sad fact is that no female driver has competed in a Formula E race itself since 2016, when Simona de Silvestro picked up a few points for the Andretti team. This looked set to change at one point, with Tatiana Calderon impressing in the in-season rookie tests and Jamie Chadwick building up a strong relationship with the NIO team, but no new female drivers got on-track.

Another all-female test was held in 2024, moved to Jarama after flooding in Valencia. Abbi Pulling was the quickest, driving a Nissan.

2014-15 season

Simona de Silvestro (Andretti Autosport) - 27th (2 races)

Michela Cerruti (Trulli) - 29th (4 races)

Katherine Legge (Amlin Aguri) - 34th (2 races)

2015-16 season

Simona de Silvestro (Andretti Autosport) - 18th (10 races)

Test drivers:

Simona de Silvestro (Venturi 2018-19, official test driver)

Tatiana Calderon (completed 2019 rookie tests for Techeetah)

Jamie Chadwick (completed 2019 rookie tests for NIO)
Simona de Silvestro (Porsche 2019-20, official test driver)

Alice Powell (Envision Racing 2021-, official test driver)

2018 Ad-Diriyah “female drivers” test:

Simona de Silvestro (Venturi)

Tatiana Calderon (Techeetah)

Jamie Chadwick (NIO)

Carmen Jorda (Nissan eDAMS)

Carrie Schreiner (HWA)

Amna al-Qubaisi (Virgin)

Pippa Mann (Dragon)

Beitske Visser (BMW)

Katherine Legge (Mahindra)

2024 Women's Test, Jarama

Abbi Pulling (Nissan)

Jamie Chadwick (Jaguar TCS Racing)

Bianca Bustamante (McLaren)

Miki Koyama (Lola)

Lena Buhler (Mahindra)

Beitske Visser (DS Penske)

Ella Lloyd (McLaren)

Marta Garcia (Porsche)

Carrie Schreiner (Maserati)

Tatiana Calderon (Maserati)

Jessica Edgar (DS Penske)

Alice Powell (Envision)

Nerea Marti (Andretti)

Gabriela Jilkova (Porsche)

Chloe Chambers (Andretti)

Alisha Palmowski (Envision)

Simona de Silvestro (Kiro)

Lilou Wadoux (Jaguar TCS Racing)

(Image copyright Envision)