The reason for the extended postponement is to allow battery supplier WAE (formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering) to file its investigation into the fire which took place in its garage on Tuesday afternoon.
But a final decision will be made at 11am CET on Thursday as to whether running can resume later that day and Friday.
A statement released by the FIA and Formula E read: “Formula E pre-season testing is preparing to resume from 2pm CET tomorrow, Thursday.
“This is subject to final confirmation at 11am [CET], and will follow completion of an investigation into the incident that happened yesterday. Further updates will follow in due course.”
Three days of testing were due to be held for the all-electric championship this week at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain and a three-hour session took place on Tuesday morning, which was headed by Jaguar’s Mitch Evans.
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing , Jaguar I-TYPE 6
During the session the DS Penske of Robert Shwartzman came to a halt on circuit – the cause of the only red flag – before the car was transported back to the pitbox of battery supplier WAE (formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering).
Shortly before 1pm CET on Tuesday, a battery from the car exploded causing a fire in the garage with emergency crews immediately on the scene and the paddock evacuated, as the afternoon session was subsequently cancelled.
At the time, Formula E reported that “one person has been assessed by medics and has been transported to hospital for precautionary checks” and the individual was “released without treatment” later that evening.
The decision was taken to postpone all running on Wednesday while the FIA and Formula E investigated the cause of the explosion, while also allowing for the surrounding area to be cleared.
A team principals’ meeting was held on Wednesday evening at the circuit to discuss the situation, with the decision announced shortly after 8pm CET that there would be no running on Thursday morning.
As well as damage to the WAE garage, the Mahindra team have also been forced to move garages having been in the pitbox next door, while the team is also believed to have suffered damage to its computers in the blaze.
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