Chloe Chambers and Abbi Pulling were among 11 drivers to take part in the Formula E Miami E-Prix Rookie Free Practice on January 30, using the 40-minute session to gather data and build experience.
Chambers headed out on track at the Miami International Autodrome with Mahindra Racing before securing P10 with a time of 56.857. While Pulling claimed P11 with the Nissan Formula E Team. However, in the final results, the fastest time of the practice, 55.810, was set by Envision Racing’s Zak O’Sullivan.
Chambers on her second FE session
This marked Chloe Chambers’ second Formula E run in Mahindra Racing’s all-electric car. She previously participated in the 2035 FE Women’s Test in Valencia, where she topped the timesheets, despite it being her first time in FE machinery.
Speaking after the FE Miami Rookie Free Practice, Chambers reflected on the session’s strengths while emphasizing its importance for the team.
“For us, the session was just about getting through their typical FP1 run plan,” Chambers explained.“It’s a new track for the team, so I think it was more so about the feedback that I gave back to the team. I did kind of a little bit of everything.”
“I did a couple of 350kW laps, then some coast laps and then 300kW laps. So I was able to get a feeling for everything, plus a practice start at the end. I was able to hopefully give back some valuable feedback to the team and hopefully we’ll be back in the Formula E car again sometime in the future.”
She concluded: “For a young driver, getting to drive any type of car is going to be valuable. Any seat time that you can get is definitely going to aid in your development as a driver, but also especially in the Formula E cars, which require a very unique type of driving style compared to most other open wheel or GT cars. It’s definitely important to get experience in a different type of car and get used to that style of driving as well.”
From Pulling’s preparation to track time
Abbi Pulling, on the other hand, carries more Formula E experience as she participated in both 2024 and 2025 Women’s tests, along with last year’s Berlin Rookie Test. In 2025, she also took a Rookie and Simulator Driver role within Nissan.
Additionally, her two years in F1 Academy also gave her experience for the session, as in 2024 she claimed two wins at the Miami circuit before becoming the season’s Champion.
However, despite her experience, the session proved challenging. The British driver finished last, suffered a spin at Turn 11 after going high over the kerb, and flat-spotted her tyres.
“It was a really great start to the session,” she shared. “I felt right at home. Obviously back with Nissan, we did a lot of prep beforehand and out of the box it was I think really comparable. 300kW is what we ran for the majority of the session, so it’s the lower power mode.”
“In that [I was] comparable to my teammates and the other rookie drivers who have some great names. Obviously Gabriele [Minì], Théo Pourchaire — he’s an F2 Champion — Dennis Hauger, he won in F3. Huge names, so it’s nice to be brushing shoulders with them.”
“I think the deficit was four or five tenths in 300kW. Then I did some race running and worked on my technique and that for the team, that was the most important part of the session. I had a mistake on my end, I damaged the tyres a bit and then got traffic. So the one or two laps we do get to qualify, I never actually got to do it, so it was a bit unfortunate.”
Beyond the results
Despite saying that her runs didn’t represent her real potential, Pulling further focused on the positives: “On the timesheets, it looks less pretty, but you know what, it’s part of racing and it happens. At the end of the day, everyone that it matters to can see everything and all the positives from that session. It was a lot learnt, a great experience being back here in Miami after being with F1 ACADEMY and having such a great weekend.”
When asked about the difference between FE and the GB3 Championship, where she competed, she highlighted that FE cars demand a unique driving style.
“It’s really different, thankfully the team, they’ve got a really great simulator set with Dynisma. Now I’ve driven the car a few times, so I know what to expect a bit more. As I said, I felt right at home as soon as I jumped in. I didn’t necessarily feel like I had to adapt too much as I knew what to expect and already quite comfortable. I think it also goes to show you why the start of the session was so positive, but it’s a completely different beast than anything I’ve driven to be honest.”
Pulling further stressed the value of these opportunities in a young driver’s development: “It’s super important. It’s a different weekend. I feel like Formula E is very unique in the fact that it’s very cutthroat and you don’t get many opportunities or much opportunity to do consecutive laps. You go into the Duels and if you get to that point, you get one lap and that’s it. I kind of felt that in that FP0. Although necessarily, the stakes weren’t that high. There’s no margin for error and it’s so close across the grid and it teaches you a lot.”
