Formula E Beijing: Renault e.dams dominates opening practice in China
Nicolas Prost led Sebastien Buemi in China as the Renault e.dams squad dominated Formula E's first Friday test session
The 30-minute practice session was introduced ahead of the Beijing ePrix's day of official running at the request of the teams after a long break between the final pre-season test and the China opener.
It meant a busy half-hour in which most drivers were on track for almost the entire duration, pitting only to change cars.
The Renault Z.E.15 drivers led the session from the beginning and, after a late yellow flag caused by Loic Duval's stranded Dragon Racing car at Turn 12, Prost improved late on to a 1m37.291s.
That bested the 1m37.912s from Buemi, while DS Virgin Racing's Jean-Eric Vergne also improved in the dying seconds to jump to third, but was more than two seconds back from Prost with a best-of-the-rest effort of 1m39.405s.
Mahindra made an encouraging start by completing the top five with Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld.
Oliver Turvey was sixth-quickest for Team China Racing, but the home outfit's reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr caused the session's only red flag when he stopped on track.
He rejoined for a final exploratory run and still fared better than the two Trulli drivers, whose cars never left the team's garage.
FRIDAY TEST TIMES
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | 1m37.291s | - | 14 |
| 2 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | 1m37.912s | 0.621s | 14 |
| 3 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin | 1m39.405s | 2.114s | 12 |
| 4 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra | 1m39.670s | 2.379s | 12 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | 1m39.909s | 2.618s | 13 |
| 6 | Oliver Turvey | China | 1m40.148s | 2.857s | 11 |
| 7 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | 1m40.410s | 3.119s | 13 |
| 8 | Lucas di Grassi | Abt | 1m40.531s | 3.240s | 11 |
| 9 | Daniel Abt | Abt | 1m40.852s | 3.561s | 12 |
| 10 | Sam Bird | Virgin | 1m41.146s | 3.855s | 12 |
| 11 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 1m41.387s | 4.096s | 11 |
| 12 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Aguri | 1m41.556s | 4.265s | 9 |
| 13 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China | 1m41.938s | 4.647s | 9 |
| 14 | Loic Duval | Dragon | 1m42.016s | 4.725s | 7 |
| 15 | Robin Frijns | Andretti | 1m42.635s | 5.344s | 12 |
| 16 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti | 1m43.657s | 6.366s | 12 |
| 17 | Nathanael Berthon | Aguri | 1m45.561s | 8.270s | 7 |
| 18 | Jacques Villeneuve | Venturi | 1m46.425s | 9.134s | 9 |
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