Meet the women who have been behind the wheel in Formula E

What better day to look back at their incredible achievements than on International Women’s Day.

Katherine Legge

This British racing driver was a part of the very first Formula E event, the 2014 Beijing E-Prix. Legge, who now races in Sports Cars, lined up on the historic grid with Amlin Aguri in 16th and completed two races with the team alongside Takuma Sato and Antonio Felix da Costa. Since then, Katherine has raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the FIA World Endurance Championship and took part in the 2023 Indy500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. She made a return to the Formula E paddock when she represented Mahindra Racing at the Ad Diriyah test in 2018 and also competed in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy. 

Simona de Silvestro

The longest-serving Formula E driver in this list is Simona de Silvestro who raced with Andretti for two seasons. Swiss-Italian de Silvestro got the call up to Andretti Autosport at the end of Season 1 to race alongside Jean-Eric Vergne, where she finished both races just outside of the points on debut. She was retained for the next year of the all-electric championship, where she achieved championship points in both Long Beach and Berlin - the first and only woman to score points in Formula E to date. 

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Simona returned to Formula E as a Test Driver for the Venturi Formula E team in Season 5 before becoming a Porsche Works Driver in 2019, where she also took on the responsibility of being the Formula E team’s Test and Development Driver. 

Michela Cerruti

The third and final woman on this list that competed in an E-Prix is Michela Cerruti. Much like Legge, Michela started the very first Formula E race in Beijing racing for the Trulli Formula E Team. The Italian entered four races, but only reached the chequered flag on her debut and in Punta del Este E-Prix. Following her time in the electric racing series, Cerruti joined the Italian GT Championship before retiring from racing in 2017 to start a family. However, in 2022, she returned to the world of motorsport as the Team Principal of the Romeo Ferraris FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup. 

Alice Powell 

Another amazing talent in Formula E is Alice Powell, who joined Envision Racing as the team’s official simulator and development driver in Season 7. The five-time W Series race winner is still a key part of the Silverstone-based squad, who are the reigning Teams’ Champions in Formula E. Powell also took part in the 2020 Marrakesh rookie test for Envision Virgin Racing and got behind the wheel again for the team at Valencia pre-season testing. During the second season of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, Alice finished fourth in the drivers’ title with two podium finishes to her name. 

Reem Al Aboud

This pioneering Saudi Arabian female racing driver set a new FIA single-seater acceleration benchmark earlier this year, by showcasing Formula E's GENBETA race car and highlighting the series' commitment to innovation and diversity in the lead-up to International Women's Day. Driving the GENBETA electric racing car, Al Aboud achieved a 0-100km/h (0-60 mph) time of 2.49 seconds, outpacing the 2.6-second FIA single-seater benchmark set by current Formula 1 machinery! 

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Reem Al Aboud’s relationship with Formula E dates back to 2018 when she became the first and youngest Saudi woman to sample a Formula E race car when she drove Nissan's GEN2, the same year women were first granted the right to drive in the Kingdom.

Jamie Chadwick 

The three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick had her turn in a Formula E car during two separate tests, one with NIO and the other with Panasonic Jaguar Racing. During her Formula E debut with NIO, she finished the Ad Diriyah Test in 14th after missing much of the morning's session due to technical issues on her GEN2 car. She later got an opportunity to return but this time with Jaguar as part of the Marrakesh Rookie Test in Season 6, alongside now-Nissan driver Sacha Fenestraz. Jamie also delved into the world of Extreme E alongside her responsibilities as a development driver at Williams F1, and competed in INDY NXT last season. 

Notable Mentions

During the 2018 Ad Diriyah Test, there were several incredible women who got a chance to drive the GEN2 car. There were a total of nine female drivers on the track throughout the day, the test saw the highest female participation in a Formula E event. 

Tatiana Calderon represented DS Techeetah, with the Columbian being the official test driver for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team at the time. Current F1 Academy stars Carrie Schreiner and Amna Al Qubaisi also tested for HWA Racelab and Envision Racing, respectively. Dragon called upon Pippa Mann for the sessions, BMWi Andretti used Beitske Visser and Nissan used Carmen Jorda. Spanish driver Jorda, also a development driver for the Lotus and Renault Sport F1 teams, had also tested a Formula E car in Mexico City earlier that year. 

Present on the day was the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission President Michèle Mouton, who watched the test trackside. "It is great to see so many strong female drivers testing the Formula E car," the rally legend said at the time. "I strongly believe that in order to see the potential of the best women drivers in the world, they need to get a chance to drive with the best teams, which is exactly what is happening here."

More recently, Gabriela Jílková jumped into the GEN3 machine for TAG Heuer Porsche at the official pre-season test in Valencia. The driver from Prague, who supports the team with simulator work, completed 152 km during the afternoon session and became the first woman to take to the track in the championship’s current generation of machine. 

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Formula E’s very own Nicki Shields got the opportunity to drive the DS Virgin Racing car at Donington several years ago, with supermodel Emily Ratajkowski becoming the first female celebrity to drive the Formula E car at the Berlin E-Prix in 2018 and Cara Delevingne doing the same in 2021.