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REPORT: Naël and Maini provide Mahindra 1-2 in Morning Madrid Rookie Test

REPORT 22 Mar 2026 2 Mins

Here's how the grid of rookies got on during the morning session of the Rookie Test in Madrid.

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Théophile Naël seriously impressed in his Formula E debut, topping the first session of the Madrid Rookie Test with a time of 1m29.216s. The Mahindra pilot, who currently competes in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, was the best of the rest at the Circuito del Jarama.

He was closely followed by his rookie teammate, and Mahindra’s official Reserve Driver Kush Maini, with the team taking a one-two result in the opening session. Behind them was the duo of DS PENSKES, with Nikita Bedrin the quicker of the two with Daniil Kvyat fourth for the team.

Zak O’Sullivan was fifth for Envision Racing, despite him having a small off at Turn 3 and taking a trip through the gravel, with Théo Pourchaire sixth for Citroën Racing. Reigning DTM Champion Ayhancan Güven was seventh for Porsche, with Abbi Pulling eighth for Nissan.

Richard Verschoor looked quick for Lola Yamaha ABT in ninth, with Freddie Slater rounding out the top 10.

The first session of the day started at 09:00 local time, with the sun shining down on the Circuito del Jarama. Teams and drivers were keen to head out as soon as possible, and make the most of the extra day of running these GEN3 Evo machines.

Abbi Pulling set the benchmark in the first few minutes, the Nissan driver very familiar with the car and this track having participated in the inaugural Women’s Test in 2024.

There were red flags shown ten minutes into the session, after a spin for Andretti’s Callum Voisin. His car was recovered and returned to the garage, and he made it back out again later in the morning.

Porsche’s Elia Weiss also had a stoppage on track, once again resulting in a red flag, as he stopped down at Turn 1. The German driver had another off at the end of the session, finding his car in the gravel at Turn 3 with minutes left on the clock, which ended the morning with a red flag.

The session now stops for lunch, but will resume at 14:00 local time and can be followed live on the Formula E Race Centre and our socials.