At the Circuito de Madrid Jarama last month, six drivers made their debut appearances in Formula E machinery, all of whom came from the world of junior single-seaters. Feeder Series spoke to the debutants ahead of and during the rookie test to get their thoughts on the experience. 

By Seb Tirado

Along with Joshua Dürksen at Citröen Racing – with whom Feeder Series spoke at length – Théophile Naël, Freddie Slater, Richard Verschoor, Cian Shields and Bryce Aron all tested the Gen3 Evo for the first time. Formula 3 drivers Naël and Slater were the only debutants to appear in the top 10 of both sessions, with the former topping the morning session with a 1:29.216. Not only was this enough to put the French driver at the top of the overall classification, but it was also the fastest lap of the entire weekend in dry conditions. 

Théophile Naël, Mahindra Racing

Théophile Naël has been on a searing run of form in the past six months. In November, the Frenchman won the Macau Grand Prix from third on the grid, while he also scored pole position for last month’s F3 season opener in Melbourne. A week later, he was announced to be participating in the Formula E rookie test for Mahindra alongside Kush Maini, the team’s reserve driver.

“[Thursday] was my first day in the paddock, it was really fun,” Naël told Feeder Series on Saturday. “I’ve been watching the whole team work really hard today. It was a bit of a non-stop day! Now I’m excited to jump in the car and see how it goes.

“The sim [preparation] was alright. I did one complete day [and] I think I have more or less all the info necessary to start the test.”

After leading a Campos 1-2 in qualifying in Melbourne, Naël finished ninth in the sprint race. In the feature race, which ended under the safety car, he received a five-second penalty for a jump start, which dropped him from third to 12th after crossing the finish line. 

Even though the weekend didn’t end the way he would’ve wanted it to, Naël was now solely focused on the next F3 round, now in June after the cancellation of the championship’s visit to Bahrain, which was originally set to happen last weekend.

“It’s a long wait to Monaco,” he said. “The next month will be just doing a lot of sim [with] Campos. We know it’s one of the hardest tracks in the calendar, and two months with no driving, no F3 testing, nothing [else] at the moment makes it just a really simple [decision].”

After topping the morning session by 0.206 seconds, Naël spoke to Feeder Series about how the Gen3 Evo compared to the F3 car.

“There’s less downforce, it’s a bit heavier, but it’s so powerful that it complements it really well,” he explained in the media pen. “This track is really abrasive for the tyres, so we only had one push lap this morning.

“I was going step-by-step and I was feeling really good since the first lap in the car.”

Naël finished third fastest in the afternoon session with a 1:29.418, 0.088s behind Mahindra stablemate and reserve driver Kush Maini, who finished second. At the end of the day, Feeder Series spoke with Mahindra Racing team principal Frédéric Bertrand, who was quick to sing the praises of his countryman.

“He was quick in action and then he delivered a really nice morning, and then this afternoon again,” Bertrand said. “Very satisfying, and very good work with the engineers and the team in general, very nice driver. I shouldn’t give so many compliments because someone will try to steal him!”

Naël is not currently affiliated with any driver academy or professional racing team. Could his rookie test performance lead to future opportunities with Mahindra?

“Of course,” Bertrand said. “And he’s French! And having [also] won Macau, we love the winners of Macau in the team!” 

Mahindra driver Edoardo Mortara – whose car Naël drove in the rookie test – won the Macau Grand Prix himself in 2009 and 2010, as well as its GT equivalent on four other occasions. In previous years, Mahindra have also fielded Macau GP winners Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Lynn.

Freddie Slater, Andretti Formula E

Freddie Slater moved up to F3 full-time for 2026 after a highly successful year in FRegional machinery. Along with winning the FR Europe title, the British driver finished runner-up in FR Middle East, took three wins and two second-place finishes in three GB3 outings with Hillspeed, and narrowly missed out on victory at Macau after a late-race crash.

For the Formula E rookie test, Slater took over the Andretti car driven by 2022–23 world champion Jake Dennis. The two Britons are both members of ADD Management.

The day before the rookie test, Slater told Feeder Series how impressed he was by the professionalism of the Formula E paddock.

“It’s very high-level and there’s so many people behind the scenes, behind the car, who you don’t even see,” he said. “For me, I didn’t know so much about it before. It’s always been something I’ve wanted to do, but I didn’t know how much went behind the scenes. And just spending a bit of time with the team, it really highlighted that.”

The British driver arrived in Madrid after an impressive first weekend with Trident in F3 in Melbourne, where he qualified third and finished second in the feature race.

“Considering I didn’t know the track and also we’ve not had that many laps on the medium tyre in those conditions, I think it was a very positive weekend,” he said. “We built it up run by run from practice to qualifying and then put ourselves at the sharp end. And that’s the game in Formula 3. As long as you’re in the top five or top 10 every weekend, it’s going to be okay.”

Slater finished 10th of 20 drivers in the morning session with a 1:31.101, but he said he did not take too much notice of his spot on the timing sheets.

“We’re just trying to develop the car as much as we can for the team and also improve myself,” he said. “There’s obviously a part of me that wants to be fast, but it’s important to follow the [testing] plan.

“The expectation for me is to have fun, drive fast, and drive clean and consistent. And then hopefully that gives the team as much data as they need, because obviously it’s the only in-season test they get, so it’s really important for them.”

Slater was sixth in the afternoon session with a 1:30.390 and eighth on combined times. He notably also had the third-quickest lap time in the afternoon in the standard 300 kW mode with a 1:32.589. 

Richard Verschoor, Lola Yamaha ABT

Before this year’s rookie test, Richard Verschoor was actively seeking an opportunity to test Formula E machinery. The Dutchman had spent five years in F2, finally finishing third last year, before pivoting to endurance racing this year. He also earned a position in the McLaren Driver Development Programme at the end of 2025.

Verschoor’s chance came thanks to Lola Yamaha ABT team director Frederic Espinos, who got in contact with him with the Jarama testing offer.

“Once I got introduced to the plans of the team [and] also for the future, I think it was a good opportunity for me,” Verschoor said. “McLaren supported me on doing this test [and] it’s a good opportunity for me to try new things and learn as a driver because there’s a lot more to racing than what I’m used to.” 

Driving former F2 rival Zane Maloney’s car, Verschoor finished ninth in the morning session with a 1:31.015 and achieved the second-fastest 300kW time with a 1:31.911. 

“It was very nice to be in the FE car for the first time,” he told Feeder Series after the session. “I didn’t have much preparation, to be honest. I did one day of simulator, but also half that day is dedicated to all the systems and everything.

“I’m very happy that I could be on the pace quite early on. I felt comfortable with the car quite quickly [and] that’s good also for the team. We’re testing multiple things and I want to give them the best feedback that I can.”

Having driven almost exclusively F2 machinery over the last five years – an F3 appearance at Macau aside – Verschoor had a lot of adaptation to do to drive a Formula E car.

“It’s hard to explain how different it is,” he said. “Not only driving. It’s also understanding the systems, how they work, what my inputs do compared to the systems, how I can change the systems to make my life easier. It’s very different, but it brings a smile to my face because I’m very excited to work in such a professional environment.”

Verschoor, with the backing of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, is competing in the European Le Mans Series’ LMP2 Pro-Am category with Duqueine Team. Next year, McLaren will enter the World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar category. With a dual WEC/FE programme being a common arrangement in the paddock, could this be the professional career path Verschoor is targeting?

“My main focus is to race for McLaren, so I will always be talking to them [about] what’s the best for both of us,” he said. “If they would support me [and] if they think it’s beneficial for both to try out something in Formula E, then of course as a driver I’m very open to it.”

Verschoor finished 11th in the afternoon session with a 1:31.242. He was classified 13th overall in the test. In the Barcelona season opener of ELMS last weekend, he finished third in class and 11th overall.

Cian Shields, Kiro Race Co

AIX Racing driver Cian Shields was another F2 racer to test the Gen3 Evo for the first time that weekend. The Scottish driver drove the car usually occupied by Pepe Martí, the most recent feeder series driver to make the leap into Formula E, but could only go out in the final hour of the morning session after he suffered mechanical issues in the opening minutes.

“We just had a bit of an error with the rear of the car, bit of an issue,” he explained to Feeder Series after the session. “But the guys got it fixed as soon as possible and it was good to get a few laps at the end.”

In the morning, Shields completed 15 laps and was classified 19th with a 1:33.690. Even after the limited running, he was still able to experience just how different the Formula E car was compared to the F2 machine.

“The main difference [is] a lot less downforce in Formula E than the F2 car,” Shields said. “It’s electric, so the initial throttle out of the corners is a lot more in this car than what we have in Formula 2. But I’m enjoying driving the car and it’s good.”

Shields explained how the team hadn’t put much pressure on him in terms of expectations for the test.

“‘Don’t crash the car,’ that was the one thing I got told!” he joked. “They’ve obviously got a plan they want to get through, so that’s the main focus. Just to get through all that and give them as much data as they can for the rest of the year.”

Shields was able to complete the afternoon session in its entirety, finishing 13th with a 1:31.519. He was classified 15th overall.

Bryce Aron, Jaguar Racing 

Bryce Aron was the only feeder series debutant to have come from a non-European championship. The American driver last raced on the continent in 2023, when he competed in Euroformula Open with Motopark.

On Saturday, a ‘very excited’ Aron explained to Feeder Series how Jaguar drivers António Félix da Costa and Mitch Evans, who finished first and second in that weekend’s E-Prix, had played a part in his preparation for the rookie test at the team’s Kidlington headquarters.

“António and Mitch have been super helpful,” he said. “I flew over a few weeks ago to do some simulator prep and Mitch was there as well, so I was getting tips from him [and] comparing to his data, which was super helpful. The team has been amazing to work with [and] everyone’s super open and extremely helpful.”

Now in his third year of Indy NXT and his second with Chip Ganassi Racing, Aron finished 18th in the first two rounds at St Petersburg and Arlington. Despite the suboptimal start to his campaign, he was still confident about the rest of the season.

“It’s definitely not the start we wanted as a team,” he said. “As a package, we have a lot to work on for street circuits.

“It’s one of those things that’s just been taking a little bit of time, but it’s all part of the process. We’ll continue working hard with my teammates [on] developing the car, developing our street circuit package. We’ve got one more street circuit at Detroit, but then the rest of the season is ovals and road courses, which we know we’re very strong at.”

In Madrid, Aron finished 15th in the morning session with a 1:32.895. Given the novelty of the experience, how did he balance his expectations?

“Obviously you want to always be P1 and be quick, but considering it’s my first-ever time in one of these, it’s a lot to learn,” he said. “And it’s not only about what I learn but also about what the team learn. So hopefully [we can] get through a few good test items and give them good feedback, and hopefully we’re able to continue finding things that help the team win.”

Aron finished 16th in the afternoon with a 1:32.108 and was classified 17th overall. And when he flew back to the United States to resume his Indy NXT campaign, he scored two top-10 finishes at Barber Motorsports Park, including his career-best result at the circuit with seventh in race two.

Elsewhere, DS Penske’s Nikita Bedrin, racing in GB3 this year, finished second fastest in the overall classification after topping the afternoon session with a 1:29.250. Mahindra’s Maini finished third overall with a 1:29.330, 0.558s ahead of Nissan tester Victor Martins in fourth. The F2 alumnus and 2022 F3 champion set the morning’s quickest 300kW lap time with a 1:31.881.

Andretti’s Callum Voisin, who spent the last two years in F3, set the afternoon’s second-quickest 300kW time with a 1:32.459 and rounded out the overall top 10 with a 1:30.526. Nissan simulator driver and GB3 racer Abbi Pulling, who finished 0.182s behind Voisin overall, was the highest-placed female rookie after finishing eighth and ninth in the morning and afternoon sessions respectively.

Header photo credit: Jed Leicester / LAT Images