The wait since summer is finally over – Formula E is back! Season 12 started off immediately with chaos as FP1 yesterday was cancelled, to the disappointment of drivers and fans alike. Today we were finally able to see some action on the track as the boys hit the circuit for an extended Free Practice 2.
All Eyes on the New Kids
Season 12 says hello to three fresh faces on the grid. Pepe Martí has come from a great F2 season where he had 4 wins to join the Cupra Kirk team alongside Dan Ticktum. His first free practice session in FE showed him getting used to the car and the circuit. Marti took his opening slow, spending the first 20 minutes of Free Practice with his engineers.
Also holding experience from F2 is Felipe Drugovich, who races this year for Andretti. Having taken part in many rookie tests, he is no stranger to the electric series. His early laps matched the pace set by those with much more experience, finding himself within a second of drivers like Oliver Rowland and Pascal Wehrlein.
Joel Eriksson racing the green Envision car also joins the grid as a full time driver. His early push laps looked solid. He has experience in a formula E car being a reserve for Jaguar TCS Racing. 10 minutes into the session and he was running about 7 tenths behind the fastest lap at the time. His later laps showed continuous green sectors.
Surface is Rather Bumpy
Most of the drivers gave feedback on their grid walk that the track surface looked rough, and in practice that was apparent. As the laps came rolling in, they were more noticeable, leading the guys on a bumpy ride.
Despite the early roughness, it was Nyck de Vries who held the fastest lap for the first part of the session. A 1:12.372 set by him in the early stages was the initial time to beat. His teammate Edoardo Mortara sat 0.088 seconds behind him at the time.
25 minutes into the session saw Marti and Di Grassi setting benchmark times. Martis first push lap was 3 seconds off the pace. Di Grassi had a very unfortunate start. On his flying lap, he suffered a technical issue and had to roll his car slowly towards the pit entrance. He remained the only driver at the time to not set a flying lap.
Flying laps come rolling in
Mitch Evan’s set came storming in beating the previously best lap time set by De Vries. This was quickly beaten by the reigning world champion Oliver Rowland, who went faster still. At the 30 minute mark, a 1:10.302 was the time to beat.
Pepe Martí continued to struggle a bit with his car, having to take to the escape road on one of his runs. He sat towards the bottom of the grid order, but still found himself ahead of both Lola Yamaha drivers. His teammate Dan Ticktum seemed to be battling a technical issue for a large part of the session, but his push lap shot him up to P3.
With 20 minutes remaining, the Mahindra duo found themselves back at the top of the table, Nyck de Vries leading the duo. Just 0.011 seconds separated them. Di Grassi was finally able to get a solid lap completed, 0.86 seconds behind De Vries at the time.
Final Push – Quick enough for Quali
FP2 began to draw to an end, so the flying ‘Quali-simulated’ laps began to roll in, showing some of the true potential in the cars. Dan Ticktum flew early to the top with a 1:09.945. He finished FP2 third fastest as Pascal Wehrlein stole the first place spot. Behind him De Vries.
Nissan looks relatively fast today with Oliver Rowland edging out his teammate. The two of them finished this session 5th and 6th. The reigning champion had some great laps in this session which will give him and the team a confidence boost going into qualifying.
The rookie Felipe Drugovich finished this extended free practice 9th fastest, a great result considering his teammate was only 14th fastest. Jake Dennis had a pretty calm session today and seemed not to be pushing too much.
Those on the Back Foot
Concern comes in the direction of Pepe Martí. He finished the session 19th but continued to have small errors and issues throughout. It was a disappointing first session for him, as he tried to get used to the car in the very limited number of runs that he had.
Also unhappy after this free practice will be Lola Yamaha, who see their drivers Di Grassi and Maloney in 18th and 20th respectively. The duo would have liked to have been higher in the standings. Di Grassi struggled with car issues and was not able to improve much. Maloney was considerably off the pace – he will be hoping for a stronger season and to score his first points in Formula E.
With all this being said, it is still early days. It is only practice and we are only at round 1 of what will be a very exciting season. There is plenty of time and work to be done by all 10 teams.