Pascal Wehrlein topped the opening day of Formula E testing as the brand new GEN3 Evo cars took to the track for the first time. New teams and new faces were on track in Valencia but it was the German who was fastest as he looks to take back his world championship crown.
Returning with the Porsche outfit for 2025/26, the German’s lap time of a 1.21.71 put him 0.219s clear of Mahindra’s Nyck De Vries. Andretti’s Jake Dennis slotted in behind with a 1.21.98, the top three separated by just 0.271.
New faces and teams for Season 12
All eyes though were on Formula E’s latest lining up on the grid for Season 12. Citroen Racing took to the track for the first time with a line-up brimming with experience and talent with Nick Cassidy and Jean- Eric Vergne.
22 wins between the two plus an additional 63 podiums means the team enter the new season with high hopes.
Testing provided hope for the French team as both drivers finished within the top ten. Vergne led the pair, a time of 1.22.37 leaving him 0.665s adrift of top spot. The Frenchman was fractionally ahead of his teammate in tenth by just 0.001s.
Of the three rookies, Joel Eriksson was the fastest of the trio. The Swedish driver put his Envision 17th overall with Felipe Drugovich (Andretti) and Pepe Marti (CUPRA KIRO) rounding out the field.
Drama for Barnard
In a session with very ltitle drama the biggest talking point came early on as the red flag was flown for the DS Penske of Taylor Barnard.
Having made the jump from the departing NEOM McLaren team to DS Penske the British driver found himself in the gravel at Turn 12 after an hour.
Despite the hiccup, the 21 year-old made it back out on track to finish 15th overall.
That would be the only red flag of the session with green flag running for the rest. Nyck De Vries briefly bought out yellow flags after a detour at Turn 6 but the Dutchman continued.
All change at the front
It was Rowland who set the first representative time of the session with a 1.25.78 putting him clear of Barnard behind.
Wehrlein quickly relegated the Brit and found himself top before Dennis ended the first hour at the front of the field with a 1.22.30.
As the session progressed lap times improved dramatically. Wehrlein went fastest again with a 1.22.14 and remained there for the following hour.
But, with just half an hour remaining, De Vries went fastest with a 1.21.93 putting him 0.052s clear of Dennis in second.
Elsewhere, on his Jaguar debut, Antonio Felix da Costa found himself sixth with 30 minutes remaining. The Brazilian’s time of a 1.22.32 fractionally slower than teammate Mitch Evans ahead with a 1.22.22.
With 20 minutes remaining, Wehrlein took to the top of the timesheets once more with a 1.21.71. The German would finish the session top, 0.219s clear of De Vries behind.
Dennis finished third with Edoardo Mortara in fourth and reigning champion Oliver Rowland rounding out the top five.
Da Costa ended his Jaguar debut sixth, just 0.001s adrift of Rowland in front. Maximilian Gunther finished seventh ahead of Evans in eighth and the two Citroens completing the top ten.
At the end of Day 1 though it was Porsche and Wehrlein fastest. The German team will be looking to take back the championship trophy they lost last year to Nissan and Rowland.
Featured Image courtesy of Formula E