Formula E rookie test pits women alongside the men in Berlin

Find out what’s new on ST website and app.

Formula One F1 - British Grand Prix - Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain - July 2, 2022 Racing Xs Abbi Pulling celebrates with a trophy after finishing third in the W Series race REUTERS/Molly Darlington

Formula E would love to have a female driver back on the starting grid but, on times alone, the all-electric series rookie test in Berlin on Monday suggested that it remained some way off.

Four women took part in the test after weekend races at Tempelhof but the highest in the overall classification was Abbi Pulling, last years F1 Academy champion and current GB3 competitor, in 17th with the Nissan team.

Fellow-Briton Ella Lloyd, who competes in British F4 and F1 Academy, was 18th for McLaren and Jamie Chadwick, three-times winner of the now-defunct W Series and a Williams F1 development driver now racing in European Le Mans, was 19th for Jaguar.

Bianca Bustamante of the Philippines, a GB3 racer with 1.7 million followers on Instagram, was 22nd and last for the Cupra Kiro team although the entire grid was separated by just 1.550 seconds.

Italian Gabriele Mini was overall fastest for Nissan in a field that included former F1 racer Daniil Kvyat, Charles Leclercs younger brother Arthur and leading Formula Two drivers.

Formula E chief executive Jeff Dodds told Reuters ahead of the test that he was optimistic a woman would make it back onto the grid before too long.

We went from no women testing really, to 20 women in