As of the 2025/26 Formula E season, there have been 89 different drivers who have started at least one race in the world's leading all-electric race series, many of whom have raced across disciplines from sportscars to endurance racing and Formula 1.
Here's a look at six F1 drivers - including a Formula 1 World Champion - that you might not have realised competed in Formula E.
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is well known for being a Formula 1 World Champion for all of 40 seconds, amid that mad end to the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix before Lewis Hamilton emerged to topple the home hero at the last for his maiden title.
But after the Brazilian retired from F1 (for a second time), he switched to Formula E with Venturi Racing for the 2018/19 season. Massa’s first campaign in the all-electric series was modest, and he took one third-placed finish at the Monaco E-Prix, on his way to finishing 15th in the drivers' standings, only one place behind teammate Edo Mortara.
For the following season, Massa continued to partner Mortara at Venturi, but the COVID-impacted season did not go well as the team might have hoped, as they failed to score a single podium.
Massa managed only two points finishes and his three-point total placed him in 22nd in the championship at the end of the season. Following this, Massa and Venturi parted ways at the chequered flag of the Berlin finale.
Brendon Hartley
This New Zealander is mostly known for his exploits in sportscar racing, with his accolades including four FIA World Endurance Championship titles, and three wins at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 2018, he had a spell in Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing's junior team, Toro Rosso - also known as AlphaTauri and now Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
Following that stint, Hartley moved back to WEC full-time, pairing this with a drive in Formula E with GEOX Dragon - Jay Penske's team in its latest incarnation, having been on the grid since Season 1. Hartley competed in just the first five races of the 2019-20 season and his only points finish came in the second round of the season at Diriyah.
Hartley left the team in July 2020 - when the Formula E season had been scheduled to end prior to its enforced break during COVID - and he didn't make a return for the six-race nine-day Berlin E-Prix finale that comprised the end of Season 6 later on in the year.
Jerome d’Ambrosio
D’Ambrosio raced for the Marussia squad in F1 during the 2011 season and then made a one-off appearence for Lotus at the 2012 Italian Grand Prix.
In 20 races, the Belgian unfortunately scored no points, but things were about to get better in the form of a drive with Dragon Racing in the inaugural Formula E season.
He went on to race in Formula E for six seasons, the first four with Dragon and the final two with Mahindra Racing. In that time, he won three races and made it to the podium a further six times - taking a highest championship finish of fourth in that inaugural season.
Despite retiring from racing, D’Ambrosio continued his involvement in Formula E by taking up a role as Deputy Team Principal of ROKiT Venturi Racing for the 2020-21 season.
He was then promoted to Team Principal with Susie Wolff taking up the CEO role for the following season but departed the team when they rebranded to Maserati MSG Racing.
He is now the Deputy Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, as well as the head of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Antonio Giovinazzi
Antonio Giovinazzi departed Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season, but quickly landed himself a ride in Formula E with DRAGON PENSKE.
To say he had a rough season in Formula E would be an understatement - it was by his own admission - a baptism of fire. The Le Mans winner to be went on to finish only seven of the 15 races he took part in including a run of five race retirements in-a-row.
Giovinazzi withdrew from the final race of the season due to an injured thumb and was the only full-time driver that season who failed to score points.
The Italian-born racer has since gone on to find success with Ferrari's Hypercar squad, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2025. He is also the current reserve driver for the Ferrari HP Formula One Team.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly is unique on this list as he is the only driver (aside from Nyck de Vries) to have raced in Formula E before his Formula 1 debut.
Gasly’s F1 debut came in October 2017 as part of the Red Bull stable of promising junior drivers, but his Formula E debut was in July of the same year. Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi was forced to miss the New York City E-Prix due to the clash with WEC's 6 hours of Nürburgring race. As a result, the team called upon the services of 2016 GP2 Series champion (now FIA Formula 2) Pierre Gasly to pilot the #9 Renault e.dams car for the weekend.
He finished a strong seventh and an even more impressive fourth in the two races that weekend. In the second race, he was less than a tenth of a second away from scoring a podium.
Gasly has since gone on to become a Formula 1 race winner.
Jacques Villeneuve
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was the first (and at present, the only) Formula 1 World Champion to compete in Formula E. The 1997 title winner also became the oldest ever driver in the series' history on debut at the 2015 Beijing E-Prix.
Villenueve came out on top in one of F1's most memorable title battles, beating Michael Schumacher at the last after a controversial clash with the German racing legend at Jerez.
His career saw in spells at Williams - where he won that title - British American Racing, Renault and finally Sauber, with his time in F1 coming to a close in 2006.
Famous names: Senna, Prost, Piquet, Villeneuve made the Formula E grid
From there, he raced across disciplines from NASCAR to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, IndyCar and the FIA World Rallycross Championship before a stint with Venturi in Formula E's second season.
He was involved in the development of the team's VM200-FE-01 and tested at the first Donington Park test in 2015 before being confirmed alongside Stephane Sarrazin for 2015/16 after another former F1 driver, Nick Heidfeld, left the team.
Villeneuve's time in Formula E was disappointing, though, with a best result of 11th from just three starts.
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2026 Sanya E-Prix, Round 11
Formula E is back in action, and the championship fight is on! This weekend, we return to Sanya for Round 11 of the 2025/26 season. It’s been seven years since Formula E has raced on this Chinese island, and with only eight drivers on the current grid having raced here before, anything can happen.
Free Practice 1: Friday 19 June, 16:30 local / 09:30 BST
Free Practice 2: Saturday 20 June, 08:30 local / 01:30 BST
Qualifying: Saturday 20 June, 10:40 local / 03:40 BST
Race: Saturday 20 June, 15:05 local / 08:05 BST
View the full schedule in your time zone and check the broadcaster listings or tap the Ways to Watch button above to find out where to watch all the racing action where you live.
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