Oliver Rowland – who faces a 20-place grid penalty – was fastest in a truncated first practice session for Formula E’s return to action at Berlin Tempelhof.
Nissan e.dams driver Rowland’s 1m07.832s lap of the the reversed version of the circuit put him a comfortable 0.236s clear of Sam Bird’s Envision Virgin-run Audi package.
Rowland was given the penalty yesterday as he required a second inverter change of the season after damage was sustained during pre-event charging.
The 45-minute opening session was halted with eight minutes on the clock when James Calado’s Jaguar stopped on track on its out-lap.
Calado had been unable to set a lap up to that point as a software problem led Jaguar to make a precautionary powertrain change.
Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was third ahead of Dragon’s Nico Muller and Mahindra’s Jerome D’Ambrosio.
Vergne’s points leading DS Techeetah team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa was 11th.
Alex Lynn, who has replaced Porsche-bound Pascal Wehrlein at Mahindra, was the best of the drivers in new teams in 12th.
DTM star Rene Rast started his return to FE in 17th, one place ahead of the man he’s replaced at Audi – Daniel Abt, now racing for NIO333.
Dragon’s new recruit Sergio Sette Camara, who has replaced Brendon Hartley, was slowest of the drivers to set a time.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | 1m07.832s | ||
| 2 | Sam Bird | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE06 | +0.236s | +0.236s | 1m08.068s |
| 3 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | DS E-TENSE FE20 | +0.061s | +0.297s | 1m08.129s |
| 4 | Nico Müller | Geox Dragon | Penske EV-4 | +0.039s | +0.336s | 1m08.168s |
| 5 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M6Electro | +0.051s | +0.387s | 1m08.219s |
| 6 | Alexander Sims | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.20 | +0.13s | +0.517s | 1m08.349s |
| 7 | Edoardo Mortara | ROKiT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | +0.135s | +0.652s | 1m08.484s |
| 8 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | +0.117s | +0.769s | 1m08.601s |
| 9 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE06 | +0.016s | +0.785s | 1m08.617s |
| 10 | Sébastien Buemi | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | +0.095s | +0.88s | 1m08.712s |
| 11 | António Félix da Costa | DS Techeetah | DS E-TENSE FE20 | +0.006s | +0.886s | 1m08.718s |
| 12 | Alex Lynn | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M6Electro | +0.065s | +0.951s | 1m08.783s |
| 13 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 FE Team | NIO FE-005 | +0.033s | +0.984s | 1m08.816s |
| 14 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | +0.18s | +1.164s | 1m08.996s |
| 15 | Maximilian Günther | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.20 | +0.2s | +1.364s | 1m09.196s |
| 16 | Mitch Evans | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type IV | +0.003s | +1.367s | 1m09.199s |
| 17 | René Rast | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team | Audi e-tron FE06 | +0.037s | +1.404s | 1m09.236s |
| 18 | Daniel Abt | NIO 333 FE Team | NIO FE-005 | +0.011s | +1.415s | 1m09.247s |
| 19 | André Lotterer | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.062s | +1.477s | 1m09.309s |
| 20 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team | Audi e-tron FE06 | +0.069s | +1.546s | 1m09.378s |
| 21 | Felipe Massa | ROKiT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | +0.012s | +1.558s | 1m09.39s |
| 22 | Neel Jani | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | Porsche 99X Electric | +0.115s | +1.673s | 1m09.505s |
| 23 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | Geox Dragon | Penske EV-4 | +0.477s | +2.15s | 1m09.982s |
| 24 | James Calado | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type IV |
