Discover more

preview

PREVIEW: Everything you need to know about Formula E's pre-season test in Valencia

PREVIEW 24 Oct 2025 6 Mins

Pre-season testing gets underway at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Spain, next week. Here are all the details you need to know about the important five days of testing, and what to expect from Season 12.

Discover more

preview

Preview by Katy Fairman

It’s that time of year again, pre-season testing is here! All 10 teams and 20 drivers will be heading to Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo for five days of testing their GEN3 Evo machines.

There’s a heavily reshuffled driver market, as well as the return of the groundbreaking women’s test on Friday 31 October, so here’s everything you need to know ahead of Formula E’s pre-season testing for 2025/26.

When is Formula E’s pre-season testing in 2025?

The dates for your diary are as follows:

Monday 27 October:

Official Test Session 1 - 14:00 local (13:00 UTC)

Tuesday 28 October:

Official Test Session 2 - 09:00 local (08:00 UTC)
Official Test Session 3 - 14:00 local (13:00 UTC)

Wednesday 29 October:

Official Test Session 4 - 09:00 local (08:00 UTC)

Thursday 30 October:

Official Test Session 5 - 09:00 local (08:00 UTC)
Official Test Session 6 - 14:00 local (13:00 UTC)

Friday 31 October:

Official Test Session 7 - Women’s Test - 09:00 local (08:00 UTC)
Official Test Session 8 - Women’s Test - 14:00 local (13:00 UTC)

Make sure you don’t miss a moment of pre-season testing by following our live blog, that will be on-site and bringing you the latest every day of the test. We will also be posting across our social media channels, and providing reports at the end of every day.

What is pre-season testing?

The pre-season test happens every year, and is a great chance for all our teams and drivers to get familiar with their machinery on the same level playing field. They will have participated in private tests before now, but this will be the first time all 10 teams get to share the track this season.

It has to be said that testing is not totally representative of speed and performance on offer, but can sometimes be an early indicator of how the season will unfold. Teams will be wanting to use the time to test their machinery, as well as checking the cars for safety and making sure that things are running smoothly before lights out for Round 1 in São Paulo on 6 December 2025.

CALENDAR: Here's every race set for the 2025/26 Formula E season

The full-time grid will be given six separate sessions to test their respective cars, which all last for three hours each. In addition to testing the cars, it’s a chance for media opportunities, FIA briefings and filming all the graphics you see on broadcast over the season.

Where is pre-season testing being held?

Formula E returns to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, one year after devastating storms hit the Spanish region. Valencia, home to the iconic race track, holds a special place in our hearts as it’s the venue we usually test on before the season gets underway. Last year the Circuito del Jarama stepped in to host the test at the last minute, and we will be returning to the brilliant Madrid venue for a race in Season 12.

The version of the Ricardo Tormo circuit that Formula E tests on consists of 15 corners, and offers a mix of straights and corners across a lap. When we last tested here in 2023, the drivers completed a combined total of 4,960 laps over 16,745km.

Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing currently holds the best time around the track, setting a 1m24.474s ahead of Season 9 in the 2023 test. With the GEN3 Evo now at their fingertips it’s expected that time to improve, with the car being the quickest accelerating FIA single-seater race car – capable of 0-60mph in 1.82 seconds (0-100kph in 1.86s).

What is the Formula E Women’s Test and when is it?

Last season Formula E made history when they introduced a test specifically for women to show their skills behind the wheel of modern all-electric racing machinery. It was a world first, and allowed the best talents to drive the same cars that the full-time grid had been in moments before.

Back for another year, the test is now providing double the track time for up to 20 of the finest drivers with all 10 teams taking part.

The initiative is all part of the championship’s long-term commitment to accelerating diversity and equality in motorsport alongside the FIA, ranging from grassroots and up to the highest levels. Every team must field at least one woman driver for the full day session, made up of two three-hour slots.

The test will be happening on Friday 31 October and starting at 09:00 local (08:00 UTC). Much like the rest of the week, the test will be covered across all of Formula E’s channels, with Championship Journalist Katy Fairman also taking over the live blog for the day.

Who is taking part in pre-season testing?

With our Season 12 grid now confirmed, you can expect the following names to be taking part in the four-day test:

Team	Driver	Driver
TAG Heuer Porsche	Pascal Wehrlein	Nico Mueller
Jaguar TCS Racing	Mitch Evans	Antonio Felix da Costa
Nissan	Oliver Rowland	Norman Nato
Mahindra Racing	Nyck de Vries	Edoardo Mortara
DS PENSKE	Maximilian Guenther	Taylor Barnard
Andretti	Jake Dennis	Felipe Drugovich
Envision Racing	Sebastien Buemi	Joel Eriksson
Citroën Racing	Nick Cassidy	Jean-Eric Vergne
CUPRA KIRO	Dan Ticktum	Pepe Martí
Lola Yamaha ABT	Lucas di Grassi	Zane Maloney

There have been some big reshuffles in the driver market over the off-season, with only three teams retaining the same line-ups: Nissan, Mahindra Racing and Lola Yamaha ABT. Elsewhere, it’s been a big game of musical chairs.

Antonio Felix da Costa has departed TAG Heuer Porsche in favour of Jaguar TCS Racing, pairing up with Mitch Evans. Replacing him at Porsche is Nico Mueller, who made the move from Andretti and will share a garage with Pascal Wehrlein for the 2025/26 campaign.

Taylor Barnard is now at DS PENSKE with Maximilian Guenther as his teammate, with Nick Cassidy and Jean-Eric Vergne signed up at Citroën Racing – the first time the iconic French manufacturer has entered single-seater motorsport.

There are new faces in town, as Joel Eriksson returns to Formula E after 10 previous race starts. He joins Envision Racing on a permanent basis, partnering Sebastien Buemi with the Season 2 champ signing a new multi-year deal over the summer.

Felipe Drugovich also starts a new chapter of his impressive racing career, with the Formula 2 champion racing full-time with Andretti alongside Jake Dennis. Pepe Martí has also made the jump to Formula E, signing a deal with CUPRA KIRO with Dan Ticktum continuing with the team fresh from a successful 2024/25 season.

Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries remain at Mahindra, reigning World Champion Oliver Rowland stays at Nissan with Norman Nato and there’s an unchanged duo of Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney at Lola Yamaha ABT.

As for the Women’s Test, there have been several names confirmed so far but the line-up isn’t complete. You can expect to see talent like Jamie Chadwick and Juju Noda representing Jaguar, Chloe Chambers at Mahindra and Abbi Pulling back with Nissan after topping last year’s test.

What is the GEN3 Evo Formula E car?

All our teams are in the final season of the GEN3 Evo Formula E cars, the all-electric championship’s fastest machine to date. Introduced ahead of Season 11, it is the quickest accelerating FIA single-seater race car and capable of 0-60mph in just 1.82 seconds which is 30% faster than a current F1 car.

As well as being faster, stronger, more agile, upgrades have provided a huge jump in the performance gain, with some qualifying laps several seconds quicker as a result compared to GEN3. The GEN3 Evo also features an aggressive body kit designed to be stronger, more robust and more aerodynamic, delivering closer wheel-to-wheel racing.

These cars also have all-wheel drive (AWD), which was a first for Formula E when it was brought in last season. This is available during qualifying duels, race starts, and ATTACK MODE and gives drivers more acceleration and control, elevating the thrill of critical race moments!