Formula E Paris: Di Grassi heads Vergne in practice with lap record
Reigning Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi set the fastest time across two disrupted practice sessions ahead of Saturday's race in Paris
Audi racer di Grassi was the only driver to set a lap below the 61-second bracket, as he finished 0.191 seconds faster than current championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne in FP2.
Both the 45-minute FP1, topped by Virgin Racing's Sam Bird, and the 30-minute second practice sessions were halted by red flags - with Jaguar's Nelson Piquet Jr hitting the wall in both sessions.
Local hero Vergne topped the FP2 times after the initial laps had been completed with a time of 1m01.560s, before Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist - who clattered into the barriers at the Turn 11/12 quick double right-hander, early on in FP1 and brought out the day's first red flags - went 0.4s faster using his full 200kW mode.
With eight minutes remaining, Piquet, who had crashed heavily at Turn 2 - which will be the final corner before the starting grid due the track's spilt start and finish lines - in FP1, hit the wall as he went wide through the long Turn 5 at the far end of the circuit that passes close to the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The series one champion is having to have the car he crashed in FP1 rebuilt around a new tub, and he completed just three laps in FP2 before his second incident.
Second practice resumed with just three minutes left on the clock, when several drivers attempted a final last-gasp 200kW qualifying simulation.
Vergne and Mitch Evans pushed Rosenqvist down the order before di Grassi usurped them both as the chequered flag fell with a time of 1m00.881s, which is a new track record.
Evans will take a 10-place grid drop from wherever he qualifies after Jaguar elected to change his gearbox ahead of the Paris event following a check of the unit after the last race in Rome.
Rosenqvist ended up fourth in the combined practice times ahead of Daniel Abt and Oliver Turvey, with Bird seventh.
Piquet's best time in FP2 was good enough for eighth place in the overall standings despite his lack of laps in the second session.
Sebastien Buemi, who slid into the barriers at low speed approaching the pitlane entry midway through FP1, was ninth, as Techeetah's Andre Lotterer rounded out the top 10.
Alex Lynn was 11th for Virgin, while Dragon's Jerome D'Ambrosio was the only driver not to improve their best practice time in FP2.
Ma Qing Hua - making his first appearance for the NIO squad after replacing Luca Filippi for this event - was slowest in both sessions and wound up 2.239s adrift of di Grassi's best overall effort.
FP1 times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Bird | Virgin | DS Virgin | 1m01.698s | - | 25 |
| 2 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi | Audi | 1m01.716s | 0.018s | 28 |
| 3 | Daniel Abt | Audi | Audi | 1m01.790s | 0.092s | 28 |
| 4 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | Jaguar | 1m01.999s | 0.301s | 24 |
| 5 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Techeetah | Renault | 1m02.023s | 0.325s | 24 |
| 6 | Alex Lynn | Virgin | DS Virgin | 1m02.208s | 0.510s | 26 |
| 7 | Jose Maria Lopez | Dragon | Penske | 1m02.224s | 0.526s | 21 |
| 8 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Andretti | Andretti | 1m02.238s | 0.540s | 23 |
| 9 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | Penske | 1m02.285s | 0.587s | 26 |
| 10 | Andre Lotterer | Techeetah | Renault | 1m02.354s | 0.656s | 26 |
| 11 | Oliver Turvey | NIO | NextEV NIO | 1m02.382s | 0.684s | 26 |
| 12 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Jaguar | Jaguar | 1m02.407s | 0.709s | 15 |
| 13 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | Renault | 1m02.522s | 0.824s | 22 |
| 14 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mahindra | Mahindra | 1m02.623s | 0.925s | 25 |
| 15 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | Mahindra | 1m02.818s | 1.120s | 25 |
| 16 | Edoardo Mortara | Venturi | Venturi | 1m03.026s | 1.328s | 27 |
| 17 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | Renault | 1m03.116s | 1.418s | 24 |
| 18 | Tom Blomqvist | Andretti | Andretti | 1m03.306s | 1.608s | 22 |
| 19 | Maro Engel | Venturi | Venturi | 1m03.475s | 1.777s | 26 |
| 20 | Ma Qinghua | NIO | NextEV NIO | 1m03.841s | 2.143s | 25 |
FP2 times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi | Audi | 1m00.881s | - | 19 |
| 2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Techeetah | Renault | 1m01.072s | 0.191s | 13 |
| 3 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | Jaguar | 1m01.091s | 0.210s | 14 |
| 4 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mahindra | Mahindra | 1m01.126s | 0.245s | 19 |
| 5 | Daniel Abt | Audi | Audi | 1m01.187s | 0.306s | 16 |
| 6 | Oliver Turvey | NIO | NextEV NIO | 1m01.327s | 0.446s | 15 |
| 7 | Sam Bird | Virgin | DS Virgin | 1m01.354s | 0.473s | 17 |
| 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Jaguar | Jaguar | 1m01.480s | 0.599s | 4 |
| 9 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | Renault | 1m01.515s | 0.634s | 14 |
| 10 | Andre Lotterer | Techeetah | Renault | 1m01.532s | 0.651s | 19 |
| 11 | Alex Lynn | Virgin | DS Virgin | 1m01.570s | 0.689s | 14 |
| 12 | Edoardo Mortara | Venturi | Venturi | 1m01.593s | 0.712s | 20 |
| 13 | Maro Engel | Venturi | Venturi | 1m01.776s | 0.895s | 20 |
| 14 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | Renault | 1m01.821s | 0.940s | 15 |
| 15 | Jose Maria Lopez | Dragon | Penske | 1m01.826s | 0.945s | 13 |
| 16 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Andretti | Andretti | 1m01.849s | 0.968s | 15 |
| 17 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon | Penske | 1m02.401s | 1.520s | 11 |
| 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | Mahindra | 1m02.478s | 1.597s | 17 |
| 19 | Tom Blomqvist | Andretti | Andretti | 1m02.884s | 2.003s | 16 |
| 20 | Ma Qinghua | NIO | NextEV NIO | 1m03.120s | 2.239s | 15 |
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