Formula E and their Diamonds in the Rough: The Berlin Rookie Test

 

The penultimate race weekend of the 2024/2025 Formula E season, a Berlin double header, just wrapped up, which saw Jaguar drivers Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy take home one win each. But the biggest talking point: Nissan's Oliver Rowland became the world drivers' champion of Season 11 on Sunday following a season of real dominance.

However, the action at Tempelhof didn't end there. On Monday, 14 July, the Berlin Rookie Test followed.

What is a Rookie Test?

A Rookie test is an opportunity for drivers, who have never taken part in an official Formula E Race before, to test Formula E machinery. During two three-hour sessions, the drivers got to take the wheel of an actual Formula E car. The same cars that were driven on Saturday and Sunday.

The 2025 Berlin Rookie Test featured a wide array of talent: current and former F1 Academy, F2, F3, and F4 drivers, F1 reserve drivers, endurance racers, and DTM competitors all took part.

The Aim of These Tests

These tests are not just a way for the drivers to prove their talent to the teams. And no, it is not just about fast lap times!

During Saturday’s press conference, Nissan Team Principal Tommaso Volpe explained that they’re looking for performance, but in a broader sense:
"Performance isn't just the time on track. It's also the quality of feedback they give, the moment we test new features, different way of setting up the car. So, performance 360 degrees."

Porsche’s team principal Florian Modlinger echoed this sentiment:
"It is always a good chance to evaluate the complete package of a driver. [...] For some drivers we know very well from other cars, put them in this car, or the young guns checking first time out the complete attitude, working style and also performance on track."

LOLA’s Motorsport Director Mark Preston explained, that the day of the rookie test is meant for testing safety-critical updates ahead of the season finale in London. For LOLA, Alessandro Giusti and Hugh Barter stepped into the cockpits of full-time drivers Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi. Preston shared with The Racing Brain before the test:
"Barter, he’s been doing a lot of the simulator development with the other drivers. Part of it is for him to get used to the real car. [...] So he’ll be doing some of the validations during the day."


What Happened During the Test?

The Berlin Rookie Test was characterised by a dominant performance of Nissan rookie Gabriele Minì, who was piloting newly crowned World Champion Oliver Rowland's car. On a sunny Monday, the Italian managed to showcase his capabilities by setting the fastest time of the (extended) race weekend, a 0:57,439. In comparison: the fastest time before this was set by season 10 world champion Pascal Wehrlein, who had managed a 0:57,756.

Another standout performer for the second running, though: DTM star Ayhancan Güven, who managed to put his TAG Heuer Porsche in second position. An impressive achievement from someone not used to a single-seater car.

All the rookie drivers managed to get a good taste of the Gen 3 Evo on the Berlin circuit, as the only interruption of the running was a short-lived red flag interruption, caused by stones on track.


Formula E: A Viable Option

For the drivers, Formula E certainly seems like a viable option, as expressed during the press conference on Monday. "Me taking the role with Nissan, it is a really viable path", explained Nissan's Abbi Pulling, as she was recently announced as their simulator and rookie driver. She explained that "it would be nice to join the grid one day. We still have a lot of work to do, there is a lot to learn with these cars."

A sentiment shared by Dino Beganovic, who drove for Mahindra, who explained just how different it is driving a Formula E car compared to other Formula cars: "In driver technique, how you're breaking, how you apply throttle, and especially for the races, how you are coasting, saving the battery.[...] It is a big change." Fred Vesti, who got to drive one of the Andretti, further explained the complexity of Formula E cars: "What really is quite special in Formula E is all the systems. You can play around with so many things as a driver, it feels like you need to be half a driver, half an engineer to run this car and maximising it."


Rookie Test Graduates

Looking at the current Formula E grid, there is proof that these tests can actually lead somewhere in the future, as season 11 rookies David Beckmann, Zane Maloney and Taylor Barnard all have found a place on the grid at the start of this season following their rookie test performances. In fact, more than half of the current drivers have made their first steps in the electric series in a rookie test. Experience they can certainly share to help the rookie test drivers. In an interview with The Racing Brain, NEOM McLaren driver Taylor Barnard shared:

"They [Ella Lloyd and Alex Dunn] have both driven the car before, [...] they had time to prepare themselves with the team properly. Done simulator. I believe the team know what they are doing to preparing drivers, because I was the driver at some point." But this valuable experience is something the two rookies could also benefit from, as Barnard shared his planned presence trackside for the test, and teammate Sam Bird was also in attendance. "I have Sam with me today, helping and giving some advice on what I can do", Lloyd shared during the press conference.

The Future Looks Bright

We leave Berlin with a new world champion crowned and some exciting new talent showing interest in the series. Could one of the rookies, who drove in the German capital during the test, be a future world champion? After the impressive performances showcased by the rookies today, we might!