Formula E All-Women’s Test: Chambers tops the timesheets for Mahindra

Written by Maahika Banerjee and Vyas Ponnuri

Edited by Grace Hobson

Chloe Chambers ensured yet another day's running went in favour of Mahindra Racing, as the American F1 Academy racer swept the two sessions of the all-women's Formula E test on Friday. 2024 chart topper Abbi Pulling would settle for second in both sessions.

Chambers topped the test for Mahindra | Credit: Alex Bierens de Haan/LAT Images

The Formula E Women’s Test returned for its second edition during Season 12’s pre-season testing in Valencia. The final day of testing saw 14 female drivers take to the track at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

The first session began at 9 AM on a cloudy morning in Spain, as 12 of the 14 drivers headed out on track. DS Penske’s Lindsay Brewer and Jessica Edgar remained in the pits during the session’s opening moments.

Shortly after the green light, Jamie Chadwick was leading just seven minutes into the session. A brief yellow flag was displayed at Turn 7 when Tatiana Calderón pushed her car a bit too hard and spun after the back straight — she swiftly managed to rejoin after a quick visit to the pits.

12 minutes into the session there was a yellow flag at Turn 7 once again with Calderón; meanwhile, Gabriel Jílková took over the lead from Chadwick. As the session progressed, Jamie Chadwick put on a commanding performance, setting the fastest lap at 1:25.660 — an impressive 0.991 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

Chadwick, who finished second in the first Women’s Test, showcased her skills by demonstrating both speed and consistency.

Pre-season testing has been quite an optimistic time for Mahindra Racing, as the Indian team showcased strong pace throughout, securing a 1-2 finish with Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries on Tuesday. Chloe Chambers only built on the hardwork put in by the two regular drivers, initially leading with a lap time of 1:25.180.

However, her time was deleted due to going off track at Turn 12, moving her down to third place. Chambers continued to display the team’s impressive momentum excellently throughout the first session.

Just past the 30-minute mark, Chadwick maintained her dominance by setting the fastest times in both sectors one and two, eventually clocking a blistering lap of 1:24.004. Marta García from Lola held her ground in third, closely followed by Calderón in fourth, and Abbi Pulling, who secured the final spot in the top five.

Calderón had a brief off during the morning session | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

The Colombian racer had an off in the gravel in her Citroën Racing car, spinning off into the gravel at Turn 7. Although this was only brief, and she managed to keep going, continuing in the session.

Like several female drivers, Pulling returned for second Women’s Test here in Valencia; in 2024, she topped the timesheets with Chadwick in second place and Bianca Bustamante in third.

The grid was buzzing with support, as familiar faces like Jaguar racer Mitch Evans joined Juju Noda who was representing the team in the test. Towards the end of the session, Alice Powell claimed the top position with an outstanding lap of 1:24.134 for Envision as she took over Chadwick’s lead by half a second.

In the final ten minutes, Pulling lost too much time at the second sector while Bustamante jumped to fifth place from eight — pushed out by Ella Lloyd. In the final moments of the session, Chloe Chambers managed to secure an excellent time of 1:23.584, making her the fastest woman on track as session one draws to a close.

Results from Women's Test (Morning Session)

1. Chloe Chambers (Mahindra Racing): 1:23.584 (45 laps)

2. Abbi Pulling (Nissan): 1:23.866 (51 laps)

3. Jamie Chadwick (Jaguar): 1:23.974 (51 laps)

4. Alice Powell (Envision Racing): 1:24.134 (48 laps)

5. Ella Lloyd (Envision Racing): 1:24.188 (44 laps)

6. Bianca Bustamante (Cupra Kiro): 1:24.481 (39 laps)

7. Tatiana Calderón (Citroën Racing): 1:24.501 (50 laps)

8. Nerea Martí (Andretti): 1:25.008 (39 laps)

9. Marta García (Lola Yamaha ABT): 1:25.222 (38 laps)

10. Juju Noda (Jaguar): 1:25.750 (47 laps)

11. Gabriela Jílková (Porsche): 1:26.079 (29 laps)

12. Jess Edgar (DS Penske): 1:27.799 (32 laps)

13. Lindsay Brewer (DS Penske): 1:31.165 (21 laps)

14. Janina Schall (Porsche): 1:31.796 (38 laps)

Afternoon session: Chambers continues dominance, Powell finds the gravel

It was all about Pulling vs Chambers in the afternoon session | Credit: Alex Bierens de Haan/LAT Images

It would go on to be more of the same for Chloe Chambers, as her pace continued from the morning session into the afternoon. Having settled in at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the American initially set a scorching lap time of 1:23.233, before lowering the benchmark to 1:23.161, sitting upto half a second ahead of the rest.

This was already much quicker than the times set by drivers in the morning sessions, a big factor pointing to the drivers getting all the more comfortable with their Formula E Gen3 Evo cars and the confines of Valencia.

Pulling would then become the first driver to go into the 1:22s, setting a 1:22.831, an hour and 15 minutes into the session. Chambers, though, would better the 2024 Women's Test topper, setting a 1:22.767 shortly after, a time that would stand unchallenged for the rest of the session.

There was an early red flag period in the session, as Powell stopped in between Turns 4 and 5, her Envision Racing machine encountering a suspected issue with the battery. Thankfully for the British racer, the team were able to rectify the problem and send Powell out late in the session, allowing her to jump up to fourth in the classifications.

Powell had an electrical problem, but still set the fourth fastest time | Credit: Alex Bierens de Haan/LAT Images

It was double joy for Envision Racing in the afternoon session, as Ella Lloyd also set a time good enough to secure fifth place, matching her result from the morning session.

Another driver who backed up her pace in the morning session with a strong afternoon was Cupra Kiro's Bustamante. The Filippino racer set the third quickest time, albeit some distance off the leading duo of Chambers and Pulling.

Jaguar's Jamie Chadwick set the sixth quickest time in the session, while Tatiana Calderón in seventh banked the most number of laps in the session, with 47 laps across the three-hour test session. It was a solid day all round for Jaguar, as Juju Noda made it to the top 10 in both sessions of the test.

All in all, the female racers set times close to their male counterparts, with Chambers time only four tenths slower than Envision Racing's Joel Eriksson from Thursday afternoon's test.

The final classification for the afternoon session of the Women's Test was as follows:

1. Chloe Chambers (Mahindra Racing): 1:22.767 (32 laps)

2. Abbi Pulling (Nissan): 1:22.831 (38 laps)

3. Bianca Bustamante (Cupra Kiro): 1:23.537 (31 laps)

4. Alice Powell (Envision Racing): 1:23.657 (20 laps)

5. Ella Lloyd (Envision Racing): 1:23.676 (29 laps)

6. Jamie Chadwick (Jaguar): 1:23.692 (41 laps)

7. Tatiana Calderón (Citroën Racing): 1:23.838 (47 laps)

8. Nerea Martí (Andretti): 1:24.428 (23 laps)

9. Juju Noda (Jaguar): 1:24.442 (32 laps)

10. Marta García (Lola Yamaha ABT): 1:24.615 (38 laps)

11. Gabriela Jílková (Porsche): 1:25.986 (16 laps)

12. Jess Edgar (DS Penske): 1:26.060 (25 laps)

13. Janina Schall (Porsche): 1:28.854 (19 laps)

14. Lindsay Brewer (DS Penske): 1:28.919 (15 laps)