Formula E's Women's Test is back: will it lead to real change on the grid?

This week, the all-electric Formula E World Championship is in Valencia, testing ahead of the new season. It’s an annual event, often hosted at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but there’s a unique event at the end of the week: the ‘Women’s Test’.

Debuted last year, the test is an opportunity for the best female talents to get behind the wheel of the current Gen3 Evo Formula E machinery. Back for another season, the test has doubled in length, giving the drivers six hours of track time and will be happening on Friday 31 October.

All 10 teams are allowed to run two drivers, with individuals like three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, and both F1 Academy title winners Abbi Pulling and Marta García on the entry list. The championship defines the test as a change to help “accelerate diversity and equality in motor sport” as part of its long-term commitment with the FIA.

However, in the same week that nine different rookies took part in Formula 1’s first free practice in Mexico City, all being men, is this a step in the right direction or another publicity stunt for the championship about to enter its 12th season?

‘Motor racing is one of the only sports where men and women can compete alongside each other’ is a statement we hear time and time again when the topic of women in motor sport is brought up. It’s a fact, and it’s happening right now across many championships – from karting to endurance.

However, in single-seater championships governed and certified by the FIA, there are zero women on the grid above Formula 4 level. The talent is there, but why aren’t they reaching that next level?

This is where Formula E wants to help, and the Women’s Test is a great place to start.

Since its inaugural race, the 2014 Beijing E-Prix, Formula E has had three women take to the starting grid. Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro and Michela Cerruti all competed across various races in the first season, but it’s been nine years since any of them entered a race.

Of course, the championship has survived since then, and the world’s kept turning, but for a racing series that has taken big steps to help improve diversity across the workplace – including removing maternity pay from the cost cap – it’s a shame there’s not been that change reflective in the race seats.

Now, I am a firm believer that drivers should be given opportunities based on their talent alone and not by the gender they identify with. It’s one of the reasons many were also sceptical of the W Series, with Formula E purchasing the intellectual property rights for the series last year, as it separated men and women and felt an unconventional idea, and one I didn’t see a need for.

That was until I attended my first event and saw how influential it was for young girls to see women driving the cars, but also the level of talent on offer that had previously been let down in their careers or the money had run dry.

Lack of financial backing impacted the futures of Alice Powell, a multiple W Series race winner, and Abbi Pulling, the reigning F1 Academy champion, both of whom will be taking part in the Formula E test this Friday. Thanks to the ‘women only’ series they competed in, they were able to continue their passion for racing and have been given other motor sport opportunities as a direct result.

Both now have their own roles in Formula E, working with Envision Racing and Nissan respectively, and have been able to get behind the wheel of the electric cars over several different tests.

Over the entry list of 14 drivers, it is fair to say Pulling would be the favourite to secure a full-time race seat in Formula E. As well as her proven track record, she holds the role of rookie and simulator driver on a multi-year agreement with Nissan, and during last year’s maiden Women’s Test topped the timesheets. Pulling was three seconds off the best time of the week, set by Mitch Evans, who has been racing full-time in the championship since 2016, after just three hours in the new machinery.

Nissan also gave Pulling more seat time during the annual rookie test in Berlin earlier this year, and will return to the cockpit in Valencia. The team, home to current world champion Oliver Rowland, maintained its driver line-up for the 2025/26 season, keeping Norman Nato despite some rather underwhelming results last season.

However, as well as her natural speed and skill, the future of Formula E’s technical direction could also be in Pulling’s favour. Next’s seasons’ Gen4 technical specification, despite not being officially released, is thought to be a major step up performance-wise with one crucial difference. Much more speed, with the current cars going 0-60mph in 1.82sec, rumoured permanent four-wheel drive and, most importantly for women, power steering.

“There are a lot of differences between men and women, one of them is strength and we all acknowledge that,” Bianca Bustamante told me last year, as she returns to the Women’s Test with CUPRA KIRO in 2025. “It’s biology. I think removing those disadvantages can help women excel but also maybe exceed men more. It’s the same as Formula 1, that runs power steering. This new advantage in the Gen4 car would definitely help both men and women and I’m looking forward to it.”

It’s hoped this addition will be a game-changer in getting more women involved in full-time race seats, and help level some of the playing field when it comes to the genetic differences between men and women.