All-electric formula racing is coming soon, in the form of the FIA’s Formula E Championship. The first official test for the series and the cars was held today at Donington Park in the U.K. Above is a video showing earlier testing on a very wet day.

Fastest in the new Spark-Renault SRT_01E was Sebastien Buemi, a former Formula One driver, posting a 1:35.475 lap around Donington’s full GP circuit. Fellow former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi was also quick, but ended up more than a half-second behind Buemi. It should be noted that the track was modified with temporary chicanes to simulate a street circuit so the times are slightly slower than what the cars would post around the unchanged track.

For comparison, here are some Donington GP circuit record lap times:

  • MSA Formula Ford: 1:31.73
  • Formula Vee: 1:46.32
  • FIA GT1 (in a McLaren 12C GT3): 1:28.023
  • European Le Mans Series (in an Oreca Nissan LMP2): 1:21.336
  • BRSCC Mazda MX-5: 1:52.64


In other words, Formula E racing should be quite brisk—considerably faster than all but the fastest door-slammer race cars, and on par with some of the lower-tier formula series.

Other big names on the Formula E test grid include Jarno Trulli, Nicolas Prost, Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, Katherine Legge, Scott Speed, Bruno Senna, and Stephane Sarrazin. A complete list of final times from the test session can be found below.

A second day of testing at Donington is scheduled for tomorrow. The first race of the FIA Formula E Championship series kicks off September 13 in Beijing, China.

1. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, 1:35.475
2. Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT, +0.537
3. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, +0.895
4. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +0.910
5. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +1.223
6. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +1.232
7. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, +1.494
8. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +1.737
9. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +1.970
10. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, +2.057
11. Franck Montagny, Andretti Autosport, +2.587
12. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, +2.604
13. Jerome d’Ambrosio, China Racing, +2.611
14. Antonio Garcia, China Racing, +2.729
15. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +5.269
16. Mike Conway, Dragon Racing, +5.693
17. Gil de Ferran, Andretti Autosport, +9.497
18. Scott Speed, Andretti Autosport, +10.434
19. Katherine Legge, Amlin Aguri, +12.821
20. Michela Cerruti, Trulli, [No official time set]