Buemi leads opening practice session in Argentina
The action has kicked off in Buenos Aires.
Photo by: Fabian Lujan/ASN Media
Sebastien Buemi (e.dams-Renault) topped the timesheets in the opening practice session in Buenos Aires ahead of the Audi Sport ABT pairing of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt.
The Punta del Este race winner clocked a 1:09.475s, over three tenths clear of his championship rival di Grassi.
Mahindra Racing’s Karun Chandhok ended the session fourth ahead of Nicolas Prost and China Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr.
Andretti driver Jean-Eric Vergne set the early pace with a 1:14.233s but was lucky to avoid damage as he clipped the wall in the opening laps.
Di Grassi lowered the benchmark by over a second as the times started to tumble with the drivers getting acquainted with the track.
Incidents
The tight chicane at Turns 8 and 9 caused the drivers some headaches. Piquet brought out the red flag 15 minutes into the session after hitting the wall and damaging the nose of his car.
There was a short delay following the accident as the wall on the exit of Turn 9 was inspected for potential damage.
As the session restarted, Buemi moved into first place when the cars returned to the track before Piquet edged a further two tenths ahead.
Chandhok then went fastest in the closing minutes before Buemi topped his time by 1.442 seconds.
Formula E debutant Marco Andretti had a quiet session finishing in 19th as he got to grips with the Spark-Renault SRT_01E.
FIA Formula E Championship – Buenos Aires ePrix (Rd 4) – Practice 1 results
1. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, 1:09.475s
2. Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT, 1:09.831s (+0.356s)
3. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, 1:10.579s (+1.104s)
4. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, 1:10.917s (+1.442s)
5. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, 1:11.605s (+2.130s)
6. Nelson Piquet Jr, China Racing, 1:11.952s (+2.477s)
7. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, 1:12.154s (+2.679s)
8. Jerome d’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 1:12.306s (+2.831s)
9. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, 1:12.360s (+2.885s)
10. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, 1:12.464s (+2.989s)
11. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, 1:12.598s (+3.123s)
12. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, 1:12.663s (+3.188s)
13. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, 1:12.751s (+3.276s)
14. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi,1:12.832s (+3.357s)
15. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, 1:12.839s (+3.364s)
16. Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, 1:13.115s (+3.640s)
17. Ho-Pin Tung, China Racing, 1:13.677s (+4.202s)
18. Oriol Servia, Dragon, 1:13.881s (+4.406s)
19. Marco Andretti, Andretti, 1:14.071s (+4.596s)
20. Michela Cerruti, Trulli, 1:14.161s (+4.686s)
FIA Formul E
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