Everything that happened in first session of new Formula E era

Formula E’s Gen3 era and 2023 season began with Jean-Eric Vergne fastest for the new DS Penske alliance, and debutant McLaren a very close second with Jake Hughes.

Practice one for the Mexico City opener on Friday afternoon marked the public debut for the faster and lighter Gen3 cars, though the addition of a new chicane on the FE version of the layout made a laptime comparison with last year’s Gen2 machines impossible.

Double champion Vergne ended up fastest in the half-hour session with a 1m13.294s lap that put him just 0.092s clear of Hughes as the new McLaren team created from last year’s champion squad Mercedes made a strong start to life in FE. The gap was a little deceptive, though, as Vergne did not do a lap at full 350kW power and Hughes did.

Nevertheless, Hughes was repeatedly at or near the head of the times in his customer Nissan package, driving visibly more precisely than many of his rivals in a session that illustrated what an entertaining handful the Gen3s are likely to be on qualifying laps.

But Hughes’ McLaren team-mate Rene Rast became the first driver to crash a Gen3 during a race weekend, as he slewed into a half-spin at the final corner and clipped the wall, causing suspension damage.

Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland became the second crasher of the era when he carried too much speed into the new chicane right at the end of the session and caused plenty of damage to his car’s front end by hitting the inside barrier. He managed to get the car back to the pits.

There was also an unexplained accident after the chequered flag for Jaguar’s Mitch Evans. The incident was not shown on the session broadcast. Evans was unhurt, while his car sustained front-end damage in what eye witnesses have described as a head-on trip into the barriers on his in-lap.

A host of other drivers visited the run-off area at the first corner without major drama.

Reliability concerns have dominated the build-up amid controversy over how the Gen3 process has been managed, safety worries over some components and systems, and parts supply delays.

The full 22-car field managed a solid amount of running during first practice, though Sebastien Buemi did park his Envision-run Jaguar in the stadium section for around a minute before managing to make it back to the pits.

NIO 333 gave an early hint that predictions of a much stronger season may be correct, as Sergio Sette Camara went third quickest and team-mate Dan Ticktum made an early appearance in second before ending up ninth.

Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne was fifth in the second DS Penske entry, behind last year’s Mexico winner Pascal Wehrlein in the leading Porsche.

Teams have another half-hour practice session on Saturday morning before qualifying and the race later in the day.

Practice 1 Results