Tatiana Calderón was left satisfied with her contribution to the Maserati MSG Formula E team as she took part in last week’s pre-season test at the Jarama Circuit in Spain.
The Colombian was invited to test the brand-new GEN3 Evo Formula E car as part of the all-electric championship’s initiative to set aside a three-hour session for female drivers from across the world of motorsport to show their potential.
Originally scheduled to take place at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, the test had to be moved to Jarama, near Tatiana’s European base in Madrid, at the last minute due to the devastating flooding in the Valencia region.
While the thoughts of those in the paddock were occupied by those affected by the disaster, the test nonetheless marked a vital stage in the preparations for all Formula E teams ahead of the start of the 2024-25 campaign in Sao Paulo next month, with preparations made all the tougher by the switch to the faster GEN3 Evo car and new-generation Hankook tyres.
Tatiana ran among the fastest for most of the session, making consistent improvement while getting used to the characteristics of the car in different power modes, one of them featuring all-wheel drive.
An issue with her seat unfortunately compromised her run on new tyres in the final minutes of the session, when most of the fastest laps were set, but despite a lack of headline lap time (P10 1m32.815s), Tatiana was able to make a strong contribution to Maserati MSG’s preparations after turning 37 laps behind the wheel of the Maserati Tipo Folgore that ex-Formula 1 racer and Formula E season 8 World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne will drive this season.
Tatiana Calderón: “Firstly I want to thank Formula E and Maserati MSG for the opportunity to test the GEN3 Evo car. It was a great experience, especially as I hadn’t driven a Formula E car since 2019, and there have been a lot of changes since then, including the introduction of all-wheel drive. My main aim was to help the team with the challenges posed by this new car, so we did a lot of energy-saving laps like you would do in the race. We were able to get through a long run plan and I hope the team can turn my feedback into something positive for the start of Season 11 in Sao Paulo. I had been saving the one set of new tyres for the end of the test to try and get a good lap time on the board, but unfortunately my seat came loose, so I had to come in and jump out of the car while the problem was fixed, which meant there was not enough time left to make full use of the new tyres and the 350kW power mode. It’s a shame because I think there was potential to be much higher on the leaderboard, but the team can see all the sector times and corner speeds which show what I was capable of. I feel I did the best possible job for the team and now I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds in Formula E. Hopefully there’s another chance to drive for the team in future.”
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