Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

London E-Prix: Cassidy nicks top spot ahead of da Costa in FP3

Nick Cassidy headed the third free practice session of the London E-Prix weekend, setting the fastest time recorded so far to beat Antonio Felix da Costa on Sunday morning.

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Cassidy, who claimed third on Saturday's race after Nyck de Vries was handed a late penalty, posted a 1m12.933s to head the session - which withstood a late effort from da Costa who offered a glimmer of hope for DS Techeetah as the French manufacturer has struggled so far in London.

Mahindra's Oliver Rowland was the first to bring the times below the 1m20s mark, as the drivers shook off the morning cobwebs in earnest, but that preceded a flurry of push-laps that ensured the timing boards resembled a slot machine.

The slots eventually landed on #17, as de Vries - whose third place in Saturday's race became sixth after his five-second penalty - leaped to the top within the first 10 minutes.

But de Vries was briefly prised out of the headline slot, as Jake Dennis - who had dominated proceedings on Saturday - eclipsed the Dutchman by a tenth and a half.

Nonetheless, de Vries hit back, dropping underneath the 1m14s mark with a 1m13.925s - and was quickly followed by team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, who moved up to second.

But just before the halfway point of the session, Edoardo Mortara fired his Mercedes-powered Venturi into first, logging a 1m13.140s on 250kW power.

Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Racing, Silver Arrow 02

Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Racing, Silver Arrow 02

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

The Swiss driver reckoned after Saturday's failure to score that his points deficit to Vandoorne was "starting to be too big to think about championships", but showed improved form on Sunday morning.

His Venturi team-mate Lucas di Grassi fired up to second behind him, having yesterday needed to make a recovery through the field as his qualifying laps were removed for impeding.

Dennis then returned to the top, shading Mortara by half a tenth. As the final 10 minutes began, Mortara had a half-spin at Turn 9 and came into contact with Jean-Eric Vergne, but thankfully it looked as though neither sustained much damage.

Pascal Wehrlein then moved up to second to hint at improved pace for Porsche, but Sergio Sette Camara then captured top spot by 0.062s over Dennis - but briefly as Robin Frijns surpassed the Brazilian by 0.004s.

Cassidy then made it an Envision 1-2, diving below the 1m13s with a 1m12.933s - the Kiwi yesterday benefitting from de Vries' time penalty as the FIA felt that the Mercedes driver had weaved in the braking zone for Turn 1.

But da Costa split the green machines at the close of the session, setting a 1m12.972s - just 0.04s down on Cassidy.

Frijns thus finished the day in third, with Sette Camara fourth as he hopes to rescue points for the Dragon Penske squad after falling short in Saturday's race.

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07, Maximilian Gunther, Nissan e.dams, Nissan IM03and Robin Frijns, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07, Maximilian Gunther, Nissan e.dams, Nissan IM03and Robin Frijns, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Sette Camara was investigated for overpower in the session, and Dragon struggled with systems issues in the first race which meant that the team could not see how much energy each driver was consuming.

Dennis was fifth, a day after leading every single session, with Wehrlein sixth ahead of Vandoorne.

Mortara eventually ended the session in eighth, touching the wall again towards the end of the allotted time at the chicane, with Rowland and di Grassi completing the top 10.

Formula E London E-Prix - FP3 results

Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap Interval
1 New Zealand Nick Cassidy United Kingdom Virgin Racing 19 1'12.933    
2 Portugal Antonio Felix da Costa France Techeetah 17 1'12.972 0.039 0.039
3 Netherlands Robin Frijns United Kingdom Virgin Racing 17 1'13.026 0.093 0.054
4 Brazil Sergio Sette Camara United States Dragon Racing 20 1'13.030 0.097 0.004
5 United Kingdom Jake Dennis United States Andretti Autosport 18 1'13.092 0.159 0.062
6 Germany Pascal Wehrlein Germany Porsche Team 20 1'13.121 0.188 0.029
7 Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Germany Mercedes 16 1'13.126 0.193 0.005
8 Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Monaco Venturi 17 1'13.140 0.207 0.014
9 United Kingdom Oliver Rowland India Mahindra Racing 20 1'13.151 0.218 0.011
10 Brazil Lucas di Grassi Monaco Venturi 20 1'13.171 0.238 0.020
11 New Zealand Mitch Evans United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 21 1'13.195 0.262 0.024
12 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Germany Mercedes 16 1'13.202 0.269 0.007
13 France Jean-Eric Vergne France Techeetah 19 1'13.202 0.269 0.000
14 Germany Maximilian Gunther France DAMS 19 1'13.284 0.351 0.082
15 United Kingdom Sam Bird United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 18 1'13.334 0.401 0.050
16 Germany Andre Lotterer Germany Porsche Team 19 1'13.419 0.486 0.085
17 United States Oliver Askew United States Andretti Autosport 16 1'13.420 0.487 0.001
18 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi United States Dragon Racing 20 1'13.507 0.574 0.087
19 United Kingdom Oliver Turvey United Kingdom NIO Formula E Team 19 1'13.692 0.759 0.185
20 United Kingdom Alexander Sims India Mahindra Racing 18 1'13.884 0.951 0.192
21 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi France DAMS 18 1'13.939 1.006 0.055
22 United Kingdom Dan Ticktum United Kingdom NIO Formula E Team 20 1'14.011 1.078 0.072

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article De Vries loses London E-Prix Formula E podium for robust defending
Next article London E-Prix: Dennis does double in qualifying for second successive pole

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe