Discover more

news season 11

Porsche call up youngest ever Formula E driver for Berlin Rookie Test

NEWS 24 Jun 2025 4 Mins

Sixteen-year-old Elia Weiss is joined at Porsche by Ayhancan Güven for the day-long Berlin Rookie Test, 14 July.

Discover more

news season 11

It will be Turkish former Porsche Junior Güven’s first outing in a Porsche factory car. The second Porsche 99X Electric in Berlin will be driven by 16-year-old Munich-born Elia Weiss from the Motorsport Team Germany of the ADAC’s sports foundation (ADAC Stiftung Sport) and the German motorsport federation DMSB – a junior programme for talented young racers, which Porsche also supports.

Formula E's youngest ever driver, and already a champion

Elia Luis Weiss came into the world on 22 June 2009 – meaning that the teenager celebrated his 16th birthday just three weeks before this year’s Rookie Test. One of his gifts was the licence required to drive the highly efficient 99X Electric in Berlin. The international B licence is issued by the DMSB. The minimum age is 16, and a minimum level of experience in international motorsport must also be proven.

“I’m incredibly proud – no doubt everyone dreams of being able to drive for Porsche!" says Weiss. "The fact that I get to do this is insane. It’s a huge step for me, which is why I have a lot of respect for it.

"I’ve already practiced in the simulator in Weissach. It was all really positive: I was able to get to know the systems, felt right at home there, and got on really well with the engineers. Other than that, I’m preparing myself as best I can. In a Formula E car, you need a lot of strength and fitness, so I’m training particularly hard in those areas at the moment.”

Weiss, who lives with his parents in Munich, is one of Germany’s promising young racing drivers. Following in World Champion Pascal Wehrlein’s footsteps, he is part of Motorsport Team Germany.

The initiative supports talented youngsters from up to ten disciplines in car and motorcycle racing. The programme includes simulator tests in the motorsport departments of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche.

Weiss won the title in the 2024 German karting championship DKM and is racing in a Formula 4 car for the first time this year with Cram Motorsport in Italy. At the Rookie Test, he will be getting behind the wheel of the FIA single-seater with the fastest acceleration (0 to 100 km/h in under 2 seconds), making him the youngest ever Formula E rookie.

Representing Turkey

Güven made it into the Porsche squad in 2020, when he was selected for the factory junior team. He currently races for Manthey EMA in the DTM. At the end of April in Oschersleben and the start of June in Zandvoort, he secured his first two DTM victories in the Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The man from Istanbul started his career the traditional way – in karting – and went on to prove himself in sim racing, the digital motorsport – including in a team with Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen. Güven is now a sporting great in his home country, where he inspires a whole host of new motorsport fans. The Turkish Ministry of Sport even congratulated him on his first DTM win in Oschersleben.

“This is a pretty unique opportunity for me," says the 27-year-old. "As a driver with a GT racing background, driving a single-seater without a roof over my head is an experience I’m really looking forward to.

"I was at the track in Berlin four years ago – as a spectator. To be able to drive there now is, of course, fantastic. The Porsche 99X Electric has a lot of systems I’m not familiar with, which will probably be the biggest challenge. The preparation takes place in the simulator in Weissach.

"As a sim racer, however, it’s easy for me to transfer my impressions of the virtual track to the real thing as quickly as possible. These are going to be exhausting weeks: before Berlin, I’ll be competing in the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and in Spa, as well as in the DTM at the Norisring. It’s all happening in quick succession, and I’m giving it my all.”

“There are strict limits on budgets and test days in Formula E, which is why the teams are somewhat reluctant to invest resources in drivers that they find it difficult to assess because they have never driven this kind of vehicle before," says Team Principal Florian Modlinger.

"However, we do need to see external drivers in our cars: The energy management is complex, which means that the mental challenges in particular are incredibly tough in Formula E. This reduces the pool of potential drivers. So, it makes sense for the Rookie Test to be mandatory for all teams.

"Ayhancan was part of our own junior squad, is known to us, and is currently performing well in the DTM. Elia comes from the Motorsport Team Germany, which is supported by Porsche Motorsport. While he was a guest in our simulator, we were particularly impressed by how he interacted with the engineers. Elia turned 16 just a few days ago, but he comes across as a much more mature racing driver.”