Women driving and testing in FE

Women in motorsport have been on the rise in recent years, so let's take a look at the women who have raced and tested in Formula E.

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To kick this list off, we will talk first about Katherine Legge. The Brit raced in the 2014/2015 season for Amlin Aguri alongside Antonio Felix da Costa. She competed in the first two rounds of the season, before ultimately deciding to leave the team. She had a collision with a fellow female Formula E driver, Michela Cerruti, who raced for Trulli at the time. Both women had to end their Formula E seasons prematurely, Legge leaving after the Putrajaya E-Prix, while Cerrutti was replaced before the Miami E-Prix. Katherine Legge however, returned to the series as a test driver at the end of 2018 alongside some pretty big names.

Keeping on track of former Formula E drivers, Simona de Silvestro had been in the 2019 season test with Venturi, finishing 10th overall, but what was her career in Formula E like? Simona was announced to be one of the drivers in the double header finale in London during the 2014/2015 season before she was announced to race alongside Robin Frijns in the 2015/2016 campaign. She finished her championship in 18th, being the first woman in Formula E to ever score points.

A Sunday test a few years back saw a lot of women in the cockpits of the cars. This year's only female F2 driver saw a Formula E test at the end of 2018. Tatiana Calderon was joined by Amna Al Qubaisi, Carrie Shreiner, and former Lotus development driver, Carmen Jorda, with appearances of W-Series stars, such as Jamie Chadwick and Beitske Visser. In 2020, two of the women in the W-Series tested for two Formula E teams in the rookie test. Alice Powell tested for Virgin Motorsport, followed by Jamie Chadwick in Jaguar. However, two years prior, Beitske Visser tested the BMWi Andretti Formula E car at the Diriyah test.

Pippa Mann, a former Indycar driver, had her test run with Dragon Racing. Although she had limited time on the track, Mann expressed how delighted she was with testing the car; "Sad not to get more time with the Dragon today, but still a cool experience to be part of an @FIAFormulaE race weekend, and the Sunday test with @GEOXDRAGON" she tweeted.

The most recent appearance of a female driver was at the end of 2023. Gabriela Jílková, a very familiar name to Czech fans, got an opportunity to test the GEN3 TAG Heuer Porsche in Valencia. She also supports the German team in the simulator. Jílková became the first woman behind the wheel of the current car generation.

With the rise of women in motorsports on the horizon, do you think there will be more women in Formula E in the future?