Formula E action is nearing its return as the Gen3 Evo car got its first outing on the track with day one of pre-season testing.
The new machine will be the fastest car in the all-electric series’ history and the fastest accelerating car in a championship governed by the FIA.
Pre-season testing for the 2024/25 season had been scheduled to take place at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, but after the tragic floods in the region, Formula E and the FIA consulted with the authorities to relocate proceedings.
The test is now taking place at Circuit del Jarama in Madrid from November 5-8, with the Season 11 drivers taking to the track in the Gen3 Evo car for the first time on Tuesday.
The final day of testing will see the all-female session, where all 11 teams will field up and coming female talent in Madrid as they get the chance to drive more modern machinery and potentially put their front in the door for a future opportunity.
Sebastien Buemi could not ‘extract the most from the car’ after suffering issues on the first day of testing
Season Six champion Antonio Felix Da Costa topped the first day of testing for Porsche, but not every team had a smooth outing.
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Envision Racing encountered a few issues on track, as Season Two champion Sebastien Buemi had to return to the pits after he received an alarm on his steering wheel.
Speaking with Formula E Zone, the Swiss driver revealed that it was ‘nothing special’ in the end, but stressed that the team have ‘lots to learn’ after a difficult first day in Madrid.
“Yeah, interesting day for us,” he said. “Obviously, we had quite a few issues, clearly being a customer team you do test quite a bit less in between the races. So, it was the first time really with the full crew back since London.
“So, lots of things to learn, new tyres, really first time for me I experimented the new tyres in the new bodywork. So, didn’t feel [like] we didn’t really extract the most out of the car today, but we have another two days where we can actually really focus on the details.”
“We had an issue, an alarm on the steering and because we are in testing we didn’t want to risk anything. So, we had to come back and check it and understand it.
“It was nothing special actually, but you just don’t want to take extra risk. You just look at everything in detail, everything we have on the car will be for Sao Paulo so we don’t want to damage anything.”
Envision Racing had their lowest finish in Formula E history in Season 10
Envision will be hoping for a stronger 2024/25 season after the team had their lowest finish and joint-lowest points tally in the Teams’ Championship in Season 10.
After winning the title in 2022/23, the Jaguar customer team were unable to defend their crown with Buemi and Robin Frijns. The duo achieved five podiums between them across the season – with the latter grabbing three of them – as Envision finished sixth.
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Frijns, who replaced Nick Cassidy after he moved to the factory Jaguar team, finished the season ninth in the standings, while Buemi finished 11th.
The pair will remain with Envision for Season 11 as they target a better finish in the championship, but it seems work needs to be done after a challenging first day of pre-season.