Yahoo Autos 22 young drivers set for Berlin Formula E rookie test
The full lineup for Formula E’s annual rookie test has been set, with each of the 11 teams scheduled to field two drivers in a day of running following the Berlin E-Prix.
The full day test at Tempelhof Airport comes after an initial rookie practice session ahead of the Misano E-Prix last month, and features drivers that have yet to contest a single Formula E race. The test is one of six official test days over the course of the season, and is one of the two that each team must designate for rookie running.
Andretti will field official reserve Zane Maloney and American youngster Jak Crawford in the test. For Maloney, who is also a reserve driver for the Kick Sauber Formula 1 team, it will be his fifth outing behind the wheel of a Formula E car for the team, while it will be Aston Martin junior Crawford’s debut.
DS Penske will be another team combining a Formula E debutant with someone with previous experience. Formula 3 race winner Jonny Edgar will make his testing bow for the team, while Ferrari Formula 1 reserve Robert Schwartzman will return to the cockpit after driving for the team in the rookie practice session at the Misano E-Prix.
Alice Powell will return to the Envision Racing fold in Berlin, the W Series race winner having previously tested Formula E machinery in Marrakesh and Valencia during the GEN2 era, but Berlin will mark her first full day in a Formula E car. She will be joined by Dries Vanthoor, who will be another driver getting his first taste of Formula E.
Highly rated Mercedes F1 junior Frederik Vesti will drive for Mahindra alongside its designated reserve driver Kush Maini, while Nissan will give another outing to Caio Collet after his debut in the Misano rookie free practice session, and he will be joined by F3 race winner and Alpine Academy member Gabriele Mini.
Like Nissan, ERT has opted for one driver with no previous Formula E seat time and one who drove at Misano. F1 Academy champion Marta Garcia will make her first Formula E appearance for the team, while Mikel Azcona will return to the cockpit after his run out in Italy.
NEOM McLaren has opted for junior driver Ugo Ugochukwu, and McLaren GT3 racer Gregoire Saucy. The team topped the rookie practice session at Misano with reserve Taylor Barnard, who won’t be in action on Monday because after making his race debut in Monaco in place of the injured Sam Bird, he will also be racing on Saturday and Sunday and is therefore no longer eligible.
TAG Heuer Porsche test and reserve driver Thomas Preining will be in action for the German team, having previously driven for it in the 2020 rookie test in Marrakesh. He will be joined by Formula 2 racer Dennis Hauger.
Another team running on home soil, Abt Cupra, will field Tim Tramnitz once again after he drove at Misano. DTM racer Ricardo Feller will also drive for the team.
Jaguar TCS Racing will field Sheldon van der Linde again, having run him at both last year’s rookie test in Berlin, and the rookie session at Misano earlier this season. The 2022 DTM champion will be joined by Formula 2 race winner Enzo Fittipaldi, following in the footsteps of his brother Pietro who twice drove in Formula E rookie tests — in 2018 and ’19, the former also with Jaguar.
Completing the rookie test lineup will be Felipe Drugovich and Nico Pino driving for Maserati MSG Racing. 2022 Formula 2 champion and current Aston Martin F1 test and reserve driver Drugovich was the pacesetter in last year’s rookie test, going more than a tenth quicker than anybody else on a day where he also racked up 99 laps.
Pino, meanwhile, recently joined Maserati owner Stellantis’ new young driver program. He races in the LMGT3 class of the World Endurance Championship with United Autosports and finished on the podium in the LMP2 class in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
