Jarno Trulli, the 39-year-old Italian racing driver and former F1 hotshot, is now supporting the Formula E Championship as a member of the Drivers’ Club. He recently got to spend a whole day at the wheel of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E car, and emerged from the experience thoroughly impressed.

Seeing as all Formula E cars are virtually similar in terms of the technicalities and aerodynamics, you can expand that view to the other cars as well. The car Trulli drove featured the final, race-approved 200kw (270bhp) battery pack that will be used during the season.

The Spark-Renault Formula E car features a chassis by Dallara, McLaren electric motor, gearbox and electronics, Williams batteries, Renault systems integration and Michelin bespoke 18” treaded tyres. One thing that stands out about these Formula E cars is the impeccable reliability. The SRT_01E has completed more than 1,500km of trouble-free testing so far. An F1 car would break down 10 times covering the same distance!

Trulli, one of the most experienced drivers in the history of F1, competing in 256 Grand Prix and lying third on the all-time entry list, behind Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and joint with Riccardo Patrese, describes his Formula E experience as such:

“From inside the cockpit it feels like driving a proper Formula One car, the sound is different but you still hear the sound of the electrical engine and gearbox, so in terms of feeling it’s perfect for a racing driver. Maybe from the outside it seems different but inside you don’t notice it. So far I have enjoyed it because it’s a nice car to drive. As a first day I expected something different and it certainly is, but having a feeling of a racing car was the most important thing. I have been racing for 30 years, 15 in Formula One, so I have seen more or less everything so I anticipated finding something unlike anything else but it gave me the same feeling of the old days.”