The reigning F1 Academy Champion added participation in Formula E’s Rookie Test to her busy schedule. Just this weekend, Marta García raced in the season opener for Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) with Iron Dames, alongside her teammate Doriane Pin. Though not scoring any points, it was certainly a valuable experience for the 23-year-old.
Moving from Hockenheim to Berlin, García then got the chance to drive the all-electric car of the popular racing series. ERT Team chose her as one of their two rookies for the testing, the goal of the whole event being to give the best young talents with little to no experience in Formula E a pathway to race at the very top of motorsport. An opportunity for them to get a taste of the series and potentially impress sponsors and teams.
After her first time in the car on Monday morning, García summarized her feeling: “It was the first time, so it’s always a bit tricky, I was racing with the Formula Regional so we could switch from that car to this car. But yeah, I think it was a positive morning, we familiarized ourselves with the first session, and then we had some free for sessions just to improve, you know, and then get to know a bit more how all of the procedures for the car.
“I think it was quite okay, obviously there’s room to improve a lot, which I’m happy with because we’re not so far. But yeah, I wouldn’t say happy with it, it’s just, I think, trying to improve from where I am.”
Of course, transitioning from FRECA’s car to Formula E’s electric one in such a short amount of time would be challenging for any racing driver. Plus, this was the first time ever for García having to deal with a FE car. Throughout the session, she made some observations — about the vehicle, and even her own important skills and experience.
“I think at the end of the day it’s adaptation, so if you’re used to driving and you go to another car, you adapt quickly.
“But yeah, I think it’s just different in general, like this car, when you go to the power it just feels like a boost, you know, it’s quite heavy, so you have to control it more, but from another car it’s completely different. And adjusting the brakes as well is quite different, and I would say it’s not so difficult to get adapted, I think as a driver you just drive a lot of cars and then you start getting adapted to them,” García said.
However, it’s not only about the mechanical and technical aspects of things. Mentality and mindset play a vital part in such extreme sport.
“Obviously there’s a big difference, so in the morning also I struggled a bit to change the mindset in that sense, but I think in the last session already I was just already in the mindset of this car, right.
“But yeah, I still need to improve, still need to learn from it and try to understand it, but yeah, adaptation as I said I think is key, and it goes there,” she concluded.
Although in the Monday morning session, García ended all the way back in 21st place, she lost only 1.212 seconds on leading Robert Schwartzman. In the second session, she moved up to 18th.
Marta García is one of the most noticeable women in motorsport, inspiring and showing other girls and the whole world the impact of giving females equal opportunities. For example, through F1 Academy — the all-female series promoting talents and giving them the much needed on-track time and exposure to fans, which the Spanish driver experienced last year.
In 2024, she races in the mentioned Formula Regional, competing against the majority of male contestants. After the first round in Hockenheim, she’s 28th in the standings, but a long path is yet ahead of her this season with nine more race weekends to go.
If she got into Formula E in the future, it would be a unique chance to not only gain more experience, but to race against some former Formula 1 drivers and other big names from the world of Motorsport.
