The Miami International Autodrome around the Hard Rock Stadium is a new track for Formula E, and the drivers that took part in Friday afternoons Rookie Free Practice Session. A shortened version of the F1 track, todays aim was to obtain as much data as possible for the teams ahead of the weekend.
Envision rookie Zak O’Sullivan topped the times at the Miami International Autodrome around the Hard Rock Stadium with a peak lap of 55.810s in Friday’s extra Free Practice session.
The Super Formula driver joined Envision Racing in 2025 as their simulator driver and has experience with the team from Jeddah and Berlin Rookie tests last season and set his lap on 350kW power.
Citroen Racing’s Theo Pourchaire finished second with a time of 55.903s, less than 0.1s off O’Sullivan’s best lap. Pourchaire, who was the original Gen3 test driver, has also been well embedded in Citroen’s Gen4 testing programme over the recent months and has a chance of driving for the new Opel team next season.
In preparation for the session, Pourchaire earlier told Formula E Notebook that “we did a lot of simulator work and of course it’s colder than expected, so tyre warm-up will be the key to go quick straight away.
“I think everybody expected the weather to be a little bit better, and I think tomorrow there is a chance of rain, so that’s not ideal” he added.
“Tyre warm-up is the key and just learn as much as possible the track configuration. There is a long back straight and that’s going to be the chaos for the race, so they just want to try, as I said, energy-save laps and those kinds of things.”
Aside from the grey skies and light spots of rain, Pourchaire explained how with a new track, “it’s important for me to give them some feedback on that.
“I think we have big question marks in the kerb riding, for example, in the chicane, in the turn 6-7-8 chicane. The main target is to help the team.”
Nissan were the only team to run two drivers in the session, with Gabriele Mini finishing third with a strong 55.921s lap and Abbi Pulling on 57.230s.
Around halfway into the session Pulling caught the kerb on entry to T11 causing a spin but managed to keep it out of the wall and continue.
CUPRA Kiro’s Pepe Marti was able to take part in the Rookie Free Practice Session thanks to a change in regulations for season 12 as first reported by FEN. He finished in fourth with a 56.133s lap.
A big topic of conversation for this weekend is the T13-T14 hairpin which may have good opportunities for overtaking but has the likely potential to cause flashpoints. Marti told FEN that, “It’s definitely easier to overtake in this spot on the track.
“I think given the lifting on the straight in the race; it’s probably going to be quite a good spot to try to go for a move late in the race. I think it’s probably going to be a place where we can spice it up.”
One of the drivers who has driven a different iteration of the track is Mahindra Racing’s rookie Chloe Chambers, who has raced here before in F1 Academy.
Ahead of the session, Chambers said that she “thinks it’s not too dissimilar to what it was in Valencia during the test. It’ll be just kind of getting back used to driving the Formula E car. I think that’s the main thing.
“The Formula E car requires a very specific type of driving style that is not really what a lot of drivers are used to coming out of pretty much any other category. But especially for me coming out of more low horsepower open-wheel cars, it’s definitely a bit of a learning curve.
“And for me, this free practice session is just for helping the team. I think doing it in a test is one thing, but doing it as part of a race weekend, it definitely kind of amplifies how much you’re able to give back to the team.”
For results of the session click HERE.
