The all-female drivers’ test at the Jarama Circuit in Madrid ahead of the 2024/25 Formula E season made history for motorsport.
In a huge step towards better female inclusivity in racing, 18 talented women were given the chance to run the Gen3 Evo car on Friday in what was the final session of pre-season ahead of the season opener in Sao Paulo next month.
All 11 Formula E teams ran drivers in the test, with notable names including Jamie Chadwick, Simona de Silvestro, Tatiana Calderon and Alice Powell. Following the session’s success, Chadwick is striving for better female inclusivity across all aspects of the sport.
The Brit, who raced in Indy NXT with Andretti this season, finished second in the timings for Jaguar. The session was topped by Abbi Pulling for Nissan, who carried on the momentum from her outstanding season in F1 Academy into the all-electric series.
And her impressive outing may have attracted some interest as the 21-year-old sets her sights on a possible future seat.
Abbi Pulling is ‘potentially eyeing’ a Formula E seat in 2026 after Nissan outing in Madrid
Pulling has utterly dominated F1 Academy this season in what is her sophomore year in the all-female category. With two rounds to go, the Brit is 95 points clear at the top of Doriane Pin having finished on the podium at every race with seven wins, almost guaranteeing her the title.
The Alpine Academy driver’s future beyond this season was unknown, with Pulling’s manager Alice Powell said to be working on getting her a Formula 3 seat for 2025.
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F1 Academy recently announced that the champion will be rewarded with a fully funded season in the GB3 Championship in 2025, thus confirming Pulling’s plans as she is likely to win the title at the next round in Qatar.
Speaking on the Racingnews365.com F1 Podcast Global, Ian Parkes says that Pulling is ‘potentially eyeing’ a seat in FE in 2026 following her outing with Nissan in Madrid.
“They’ve, all those females, have encountered huge difficulties to get where they’ve got to even now into F1 Academy.,” he said.
“So, for F1 Academy now to grant the winner this great funding prize and push that person forward, which almost certainly it’s going to be Abbi Pulling, into GB3, then we’ll get a better idea as to how good Abbi is.
“But, I know from what you saw on Friday Nick, in that FE test, that Abbi has potentially got an eye on an FE seat maybe on 2026 because she impressed superbly.”
What does Nissan’s situation look like in the future?
Nissan have confirmed their driver line-up for Season 11 as Oliver Rowland will remain with the team, while Norman Nato will make his return from Andretti after the Japanese outfit parted company with Sacha Fenestraz.
Rowland finished fourth in Season 10 in what was his best FE season to date with two wins and seven podiums. The Brit guided Nissan to fourth in the Team’s Championship as Fenestraz could only manage 26 points all year.
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Nato finished 15th with one podium with Andretti and the Frenchman returns to the team that gave him his best finish in FE in 2022/23. However, Nato’s move to Nissan should be viewed as ‘temporary’ as the team plot an ambitious move for either Antonio Felix Da Costa or Mitch Evans.
With seemingly a seat open at the Japanese team in the near future and if their plans to sign one of these top talents fall through, there could be a chance Pulling finds herself in FE very soon.