2024 F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling has described the difference between racing in Formula E cars and the GB3 Championship.
The 22-year-old driver is preparing for her second season in GB3 with Rodin Motorsport while also serving as the rookie and simulator driver for Nissan in Formula E.
After taking part in the rookie session during the 2026 Miami E-Prix, Pulling explained that while she did not have to adapt too much to the car, the championship is much more "cut-throat".
“It’s really different,” she explained to F1 Academy. “Thankfully the team, they’ve got a really great simulator set with Dynisma. Now I’ve driven the car a few times, so I know what to expect a bit more. As I said, I felt right at home as soon as I jumped in.
"I didn’t necessarily feel like I had to adapt too much as I knew what to expect and already quite comfortable. I think it also goes to show you why the start of the session was so positive, but it’s a completely different beast than anything I’ve driven to be honest.”
Pulling added: “It's super important. It's a different weekend. I feel like Formula E is very unique in the fact that it's very cutthroat and you don't get many opportunities or much opportunity to do consecutive laps. You go into the Duels and if you get to that point, you get one lap and that's it. I kind of felt that in that FP0. Although necessarily, the stakes weren't that high. There's no margin for error and it's so close across the grid and it teaches you a lot.”
Reflecting on the rookie practice sessions as a whole, Pulling continued: “It was a really great start to the session. I felt right at home. Obviously back with Nissan, we did a lot of prep beforehand and out of the box it was I think really comparable. 300kW is what we ran for the majority of the session, so it’s the lower power mode.
“In that (I was) comparable to my teammates and the other rookie drivers who have some great names. Obviously Gabriele (Minì), Théo Pourchaire — he’s an F2 Champion — Dennis Hauger, he won in F3. Huge names, so it’s nice to be brushing shoulders with them.
“I think the deficit was four or five tenths in 300kW. Then I did some race running and worked on my technique and that for the team, that was the most important part of the session. I had a mistake on my end, I damaged the tyres a bit and then got traffic. So the one or two laps we do get to qualify, I never actually got to do it, so it was a bit unfortunate.
“On the timesheets, it looks less pretty, but you know what, it’s part of racing and it happens. At the end of the day, everyone that it matters to can see everything and all the positives from that session. It was a lot learnt, a great experience being back here in Miami after being with F1 ACADEMY and having such a great weekend.”
