It’s race day in Mexico City, but before the main event there’s still time for another practise session.
After a Friday afternoon marred by two red flags in half an hour, the drivers will have time to get more used to the layout. Three of them have already picked up grid penalties for the race, with new Jaguar duo Evans and Cassidy failing to comply with the red flag procedure and Stoffel Vandoorne awarded a one place grid penalty as well for the same reason.
An Attack Charge test was bound to happen during today’s FP2, but it was cancelled, making the new technology set to debut in the 2023-2024 season unusable for the rest of the event.
It’s cooler than yesterday, with a track temperature of 13°C. Nick Cassidy is the first driver to set a time with a , but after everyone’s first attempt his lap time have already been improved by Frijns, leader in 1:15.100s and the first driver out on track for FP2.
Former champion Nyck de Vries didn’t have an easy welcome back to the series, as he ended his first FP yesterday in P20, and holds now a P18 while learning the behaviour of the Gen3 car new to him.
Reigning champion Jake Dennis jumps to P1 but runs wide off track at Turn 1, as Bird is another driver who is testing the track limits. With 20 minutes to go, Evans is leading yet another session, followed by Wehrlein, who has always been very successful at the Mexican track, and Buemi.
Photo credits: Formula E- Simon Galloway
At the halfway point in the session many drivers head back to the pits to tweak theirrace and quali setups, including the ERT drivers Ticktum and Sette Camara, in P19 and P20 respectively.
Dennis is back in lead with a 1:14.221s, but Sam Bird’s best effort is only 0.002s off the Andretti driver’s time. Both Nissan drivers are again having a very positive session, with returning driver Oliver Rowland in P3 and Sacha Fenestraz in P4.
Maserati’s Maxi Gunther briefly stopped off track, but was able to resume his session. Sebastien Buemi bolts to the top spot, but his time is improved shortly after by his former teammate Cassidy, who has been the first driver to sign a lap in the 1:13s.
It’s short lasted however, as Cassidy then loses the time for track limits, but with ten minutes to go Evans puts in a 1:13.626s. Rowland joins him as the second driver to sign a legal lap in the 1:13s, 0.200s off Evans’effort.
A brief yellow flag was issued as Sette Camara made contact with the barriers, with Dennis running wide at Turn 6.
In the final minutes of the session many more drivers improve their lap times, with Ticktum entering the top 10 and a top 5 featuring all Jaguar-powered cars. Evans shaved off a couple hundredths on his last flaying lap, holding on P1 s his former teammate Bird slightly hit the wall with the rear of his McLaren.
After a quiet session Maximilian Gunther bolted to P2 on his last lap with a 1:13.670s, as Robin Frijns completes the Top 3 . It has been a more positive session for DS Penske as well, with the team
featuring both drivers in the top 10: Stoffel Vandoorne is fifth and Jean-Eric Vergne is eight.
Stay tuned for Qualifying up next in a little over an hour and a half!
