A fourth iteration of a rookie free practice session will be run at the Miami EPrix in an ‘extraordinary 40-minute Free Practice session’ and will take place on Friday, January 30.
The session will be reserved for rookie drivers as per Article 32.6 of the Sporting Regulations who are in possession, at the very least, of a Free Practice Only e- Licence (eligibility set out under Article 14 of Appendix L to the International Sporting Code).
At least seven days before the event, all competitors must announce to the FIA and the Championship Promoter (Formula E Operations) the driver’s name and the race car number to be used during the Rookie Free Practice session. One driver per team is allocated for the session and the car that is used is at the sole discretion of the team itself.
This is the fourth time such a session has been run with the first coming in July 2023 at the Rome EPrix. Drivers such as Felipe Drugovich (Maserati), Daniil Kvyat (NIO 333) and Jack Aitken (Envision) ran in that test.
The Season 11 (2023-24 campaign) witnessed a session being run at Misano where the likes of Paul Aron (Envision), Matt Campbell (Porsche) and Robert Shwartzman (DS Penske) were in action.
Last season’s rookie session took place at Jeddah with Gabriele Mini (Nissan), Mikkel Jensen (Kiro), Alex Dunne (McLaren) and Theo Pourchaire (Citroen) on the entry list.
Pourchaire could again be at the test in Miami although this is believed to be dependent on his Peugeot Hypercar commitments. The team is preparing for the new season which will be the last of its current 9X8 design.
Other drivers that could be available to take part in the test include Abbi Pulling (Nissan), Bianca Bustamante (Kiro), Kush Maini (Mahindra), Leonardo Fornaroli and Hugh Barter (Lola).
The test has to be carried out using components listed under Article 28 of the Spare Cars rules whereby ‘Motors, Batteries, Gearbox of the Sporting Regulations must come from the selected race car number’s quota for the season.’
Tyre usage is not limited and any of the team’s allocated sets can be used during the Rookie Session. The number of laps is not be limited during the 40-minutes but the use of Four-Wheel Drive and the power usage limitation provided by the battery supplier Fortescue Zero specifically for the session must be ‘fully respected.’
In addition, the tyre supplier will provide one additional set of tyres for the nominated race car number. This set is to be used exclusively during the Rookie Free Practice Session and must be returned to the tyre supplier after the end of the session.
Rookie drivers are required to attend the driver’s licence and administrative checks at the competitor’s scheduled time on Friday morning. A specific e-Safety briefing and a Rookie drivers’ and team managers’ briefing will take place on Friday 30 from 12.30 p.m. and the attendance of the Rookie drivers and team managers is mandatory. Rookie drivers are also welcome to attend the drivers’ briefing for the e-Prix in the afternoon.
