Junior single-seater stars picked for latest Formula E rookie test

Photo: LAT Images

Formula E’s latest rookie test will take place at Jarama tomorrow, and will feature a roster of junior single-seater talents.

Porsche, which won the teams’ title in the 2024-25 FE season, has picked 16-year-old Elia Weiss for the second year in a row.

He drove in the 2025 Berlin test while still a car racing rookie, and now he has a year of Formula 4 experience behind him. The German began 2026 by coming 16th in UAE4 with a best finish of fourth.

Jaguar will run IndyCar aspirant Bryce Aron, who has had a poor start to the 2026 Indy Nxt season with a struggling Chip Ganassi Racing team. As an Indy Nxt rookie in 2024 he claimed two podiums en route to ninth in the standings, but switching to Ganassi for 2025 left him 11th in the table with one top-five finish.

Nissan is utilising its designated rookie test driver Abbi Pulling, who has a multi-year deal with the team, and Victor Martins. He drove in the 2023 rookie test and 2023-24 pre-season testing for the team, and this year will race for Alpine — a fellow brand in the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance — in the World Endurance Championship’s top Hypercar class. He graduates after three wins over three seasons in Formula 2.

Current F2 racer Kush Maini will be active with Mahindra as part of his reserve driver duties, and will be joined in the team’s garage by Theophile Nael. The 2025 Macau Grand Prix winner began 2026 by taking pole for the FIA Formula 3 Championship opener and sits 12th in the standings after round one.

DS Penske is calling up its development driver Nikita Bedrin, who is switching from FIA F3 to GB3, and fellow American-registered team Andretti Global will run Audi Formula 1 junior and reigning Formula Regional Europe champion Freddie Slater alongside Callum Voisin. After two seasons in FIA F3, which featured one win, the 2023 GB3 champion is headed to sportscars with the backing of Porsche GB.

McLaren junior Ella Lloyd, currently sixth in F1 Academy, will test with Envision Racing. She drove for McLaren’s now closed down FE squad in 2024-25 pre-season testing and the 2025 rookie test, and with Envision in FE’s women’s test later that year.

Bianca Bustamante was McLaren’s pick for the 2024 women’s test, then last summer was signed by the Cupra-partnered Kiro Race Co. team (formerly known as Team China Racing, NIO and then ERT) as its development driver and for rookie tests. She will therefore be in action tomorrow, with Kiro also calling up F2 racer Cian Shields.

Hugh Barter drove for Maserati in FE’s 2023 rookie test in 2023, then for the Abt-operated Lola Yamaha team in 2025. He joined them again for the 2026 Miami E-Prix’s rookie-only practice session, and now makes his second test outing with the team. Richard Verschoor will pilot the second Lola Yamaha car. Having come third in F2 last year, he is soon embarking on a sportscar switch.

FE newcomer Citroen’s first ever rookie test entrant is Joshua Duerksen, who recently began his third F2 season with victory.

Entry list [junior single-seaters drivers and graduates-only]