Opening Formula E practice in Rome ended with a massive crash involving Jean-Eric Vergne, Oliver Turvey and Jake Dennis.
All three drivers were able to get out of their heavily damaged cars unaided.
The crash happened during start practice at the end of the session.
NIO333 driver Turvey appeared unaware that other drivers had slowed and stopped for practice starts on the curved straight, and arrived at speed.
He made contact with Dennis’s BMW and Vergne’s new-for-this-weekend 2021-spec DS Techeetah before spinning to a halt amid the parked cars.
The Race understands that Vergne’s car requires a fresh gearbox as part of the repair – which automatically means a 20-place grid penalty.
A dramatic end to Free Practice 1, but we're pleased to say all drivers involved are OK.#RomeEPrix pic.twitter.com/GVeNUJ4ABN
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) April 10, 2021
NIO333 has concluded that Turvey’s chassis needs to be replaced, so is now attempting to build up a spare car in time for the race.
This was the second incident for the NIO333 team in the early session, with Turvey’s team-mate Tom Blomqvist having caused a brief red flag (pictured below) when he slewed into the barriers with eight minutes to go.
The teams involved in the crash are in a race against time given Formula E’s compact schedule, with just an hour and a half between the two practice sessions, and qualifying a little over three hours away from the time of the accident.
Lucas di Grassi was fastest in the session for Audi ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne’s Mercedes.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | 1m38.785s | ||
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.062s | +0.062s | 1m38.847s |
| 3 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.184s | +0.246s | 1m39.031s |
| 4 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-4 | +0.013s | +0.259s | 1m39.044s |
| 5 | Norman Nato | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.095s | +0.354s | 1m39.139s |
| 6 | Nick Cassidy | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.001s | +0.355s | 1m39.14s |
| 7 | Sam Bird | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | +0.13s | +0.485s | 1m39.27s |
| 8 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | +0.288s | +0.773s | 1m39.558s |
| 9 | Jake Dennis | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | +0.029s | +0.802s | 1m39.587s |
| 10 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | +0.02s | +0.822s | 1m39.607s |
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | +0.009s | +0.831s | 1m39.616s |
| 12 | Nico Müller | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-4 | +0.237s | +1.068s | 1m39.853s |
| 13 | Alex Lynn | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | +0.052s | +1.12s | 1m39.905s |
| 14 | Maximilian Günther | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | +0.035s | +1.155s | 1m39.94s |
| 15 | António Félix da Costa | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | +0.099s | +1.254s | 1m40.039s |
| 16 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.1s | +1.354s | 1m40.139s |
| 17 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | +0.138s | +1.492s | 1m40.277s |
| 18 | André Lotterer | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.139s | +1.631s | 1m40.416s |
| 19 | René Rast | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | +0.074s | +1.705s | 1m40.49s |
| 20 | Alexander Sims | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | +0.209s | +1.914s | 1m40.699s |
| 21 | Edoardo Mortara | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | +0.042s | +1.956s | 1m40.741s |
| 22 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.967s | +2.923s | 1m41.708s |
| 23 | Tom Blomqvist | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | +0.923s | +3.846s | 1m42.631s |
| 24 | Sébastien Buemi | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | +0.301s | +4.147s | 1m42.932s |
