Bird crash halts opening Formula E New York practice

Sam Bird brought the opening Formula E practice session ahead of the New York double-header to a premature end after crashing at the final corner with 15 minutes of the session remaining.

Bird was in dire need of a strong weekend to haul himself back into championship contention, having scored in just one of the last six races after leading the championship after Rome.

The Jaguar driver stuffed his car into the barriers on the exit of the left-hand final corner, after clipping the inside wall.

His stricken car brought out the red flag and the clock ran to zero, with no opportunity for the session to be extended.

Bird’s Jaguar team now face a race against time to be ready for FP2 and qualifying later today. There was significant damage to the front-right of his car.

FP1 has been red flagged after @sambirdofficial hit the barriers! He's safely out of the car 👍

Click here for live updates 👉 https://t.co/3p66k7GK3d

🇺🇸 ABB #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/Syrg2i9cDa

— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 10, 2021

His former team-mate Robin Frijns, who is currently second in the championship, was fastest when the red flag stopped the session.

The Envision Virgin driver topped the session with a 1m10.282s, marginally quicker than the Nio 333 of Oliver Turvey. The top three was rounded by Maximilian Guenther.

Lucas di Grassi, winner of the first Puebla race, was fourth quickest ahead of Porsche’s Pascal Wehrelin.

Joel Eriksson was an impressive sixth fastest on only his second Formula E weekend for Dragon ahead of the Mercedes of Stoffel Vandoorne.

Bird’s team-mate Mitch Evans was eighth-fastest ahead of Sebastien Buemi and the second Dragon of Sergio Sette Camara.

Defending Formula E champion Antonio Felix da Costa spun his DS Techeetah at the hairpin – the new location for the attack mode this season – but recovered to post the 11th quickest time ahead of his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Da Costa was caught out by a wet patch – a result of heavy rain before practice – that covers the entrance to the attack mode.

Alex Lynn’s Mahindra became stranded on the exit of Turn 1 at the halfway stage in the session with a mechanical issue. However, he was able to restart his car and return to his garage.

Looks like an issue for @alexlynnracing as he stops on track.

After a quick reset, he's back on the move 🙌

Click here for live updates 👉 https://t.co/3p66k7GK3d

🇺🇸 ABB #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/xaL36Jj2KE

— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 10, 2021

Tom Blomqvist reported “guard rubbing” aboard his NIO333 machine and ended up with the 20th fastest time.

Practice 1 Results