The third and final free practice session of the season kicked off at 9:55 local time from the London Excel Circuit in East-London. Robin Frijns was the first to put a time on the board, he clocked a 1:21.664.
Up until an hour before FP3, it had been uncertain if Frijns would be able to drive today. The Dutchman had been involved in a crash with Jake Dennis during the first London E-Prix on Saturday, after which he had to visit the hospital to get his hand checked. Luckily, the damage seemed to be minimal, and he was cleared to race.
The session had only just started when the yellow flag had to be brought out for Nyck de Vries. The Mahindra driver had come to a stop in turn 19, with a so far unknown problem. De Vries wasn’t the only driver in trouble though. Nick Cassidy had to return to the pits too, after he was shown an error on his dashboard.
At the five-minute point, Frijns was leading the standings with a 1:11.513. He was followed by António Félix da Costa and Mitch Evans on P2 and P3 respectively. The timing sheets didn’t remain like this for long, as Pascal Wehrlein jumped to the top with a 1:11.131.
Cassidy attempted to put a lap in but failed to set a time, as he had to return to the pits after receiving a brake system error; a very frustrating turn of events for the championship contender on home soil. Upon the halfway point, McLaren driver Sam Bird was in the lead; Sébastien Buemi, Jake Hughes, Oliver Rowland and Frijns complemented the top 5.
With ten minutes to go, Rowland was on top of the timings, with Nico Müller and Jake Dennis right behind him. Cassidy was still stuck in the pitlane, with his team working tirelessly to try and fix the issues. With a mere seven minutes to go, the Kiwi stepped out of his car, throwing the steering wheel on the ground whilst doing so. In the meantime, DS Penske’s Jean-Éric Vergne had clocked a 1:10.169, moving him up to P2. Frijns followed on P2, and Rowland on P3.
Rowland ended the session as the fastest driver, followed by Wehrlein and Vergne on P2 and P3. Cassidy never managed to get a lap on board, leaving him in a disappointing position for the upcoming qualifying session. His teammate finished P17, and seemed to be unhappy with the state of the car. Frijns walked off with an ice pack on his hand, which could be an indication that his hand isn’t doing as great as everyone had hoped.
Tune in at 12:20 local time for the last qualifying session of the 2023/2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
