As Formula E heads towards its second season, official testing has begun at Donington Park. We’ve detailed the drivers and teams below to help you get to grips with what’s new and who’s using what car and motor. AutoVolt will be following the action live at Donington Park during the test days, which are free to attend. You can follow the Donington Park Formula E Testing Live Timing here: http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/live.aspx
ABT Scaeffler Audi Sport
At the end of season one, ABT stated they intended to keep on the same two drivers for season two, Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt. The duo saw Lucas come within grasp of the overall championship, only to be left with third place after an exciting London ePrix finale.
CAR: ABT Schaeffler FE01
Amlin Andretti Formula E Team
Latecomer Swiss racing driver Simona De Silvestro drove for Andretti in the final race of the first season and brought with her a very orange colour scheme for the car too, thanks to sponsor TE Connectivity. The second driver is yet to be announced and at the first day of Donington Park testing, there is an empty driver slot beside Andretti’s car #28.
CAR: Andretti ATEC-01
Dragon Racing
Loic Duval and Jerome D’Ambrosio will lead the charge for Dragon Racing in season two; both highly capable drivers with the latter having scored very well, finishing in 4th, in season one. Expect great things from D’Ambrosio in season two, provided the Venturi powered car is able to keep pace.
CAR: Venturi VM200-FE-01
DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team
Sam Bird continues to fly the Union Flag at Virgin Racing, now partnered with Citroen’s DS arm. Replacing Jaime Alguersuari is Jean-Eric Vergne.
CAR: VIRGIN DSV-01
Mahindra Racing Formula E Team
Mahindra have kept Bruno Senna on for season two but replaced Karun Chandhok with Nick Heidfeld, who leaves Venturi after an arguably disappointing first season. Senna displayed moments of greatness in season one, as did Heidfeld so it will be interesting to see how they get along with the new motor in the Mahindra.
CAR: Mahindra M2ELECTRO
NEXTEV TCR Formula E Team
Having won the first ever Formula E title championship, NEXTEV TCR quickly snapped up Nelson Piquet Jr for season two. The second seat was much less organised, however, but it looks like Oliver Turvey is a strong candidate. Turvey raced for NEXTEV TCR in the London ePrix and is testing for the team on the first day at Donington Park.
CAR: NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001
Renault-e.dams
Renault are both the name on the side of the car and the name on the motor for the season two Renault-e.dams team, which replaces the emphasis on e.dams-Renault from S1. There is no change to the drivers from season one, with Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost being kept on. Buemi came within one point of achieving the inaugural championship win, while Nico Prost showed immediate pace in the opening round at China and at several other times throughout the year, but was ultimately inconsistent. However, he managed to accrue enough points along with Buemi to earn e.dams-Renault the team title by a huge margin. They’ll be looking to capitalise upon their success for Renault-e.dams.
CAR: RENAULT Z.E.15
Team Aguri
Aguri may have lost their premier sponsor, Amlin, but they’re keeping their top driver Salvador Duran Sanchez, who will be joined by Tom Dillmann during the first official Donington Park test day. He hasn’t been officially signed, but if things go well during testing, he might be made an offer.
CAR: Spark-Renault SRT01-e
Trulli Formula E Team
Jarno Trulli is the only confirmed racer in the team that he heads up as both name and driver. The Italian Formula One veteran is likely to be joined by Vitantonio Liuzzi, who frequently raced alongside Trulli after Michela Cerruti had to drop out of the competition in season one.
CAR: Motomatica JT-01
Venturi Formula E Team
The big announcement here is that Jacques Villeneuve replaces Nick Heidfeld for the Monegasque team, while Stephane Sarrazin retains his seat for a second season. The latter showed great pace at the London ePrix, and many other tracks throughout the season, but was never able to capitalise on his own qualifying success. Villeneuve brings with him his wealth of F1 experience as the 1997 World Champion and has already tested in the electric racer in France, this year powered by Venturi’s own electric motor. Contrary to rumour, Heidfeld was not pushed out of Venturi, but instead chose to drive for another team.
CAR: Venturi VM200-FE-01
