London ePrix: Buemi tops first practice for title decider
Sebastien Buemi began the title-deciding second leg of the London ePrix in the best possible style by topping morning practice at Battersea Park, leading teammate Nicolas Prost in a Renault e.dams 1-2.
Photo by: Michelin
Buemi, who begins the final day of the second Formula E season three points behind title rival Lucas di Grassi, led the way for the majority of the session.
The Swiss driver had established a benchmark of 1m25.062s by the time of a red flag midway through the session, which was brought about when Team Aguri's Antonio Felix da Costa spun and was stranded in the middle of the track approaching Turn 8.
The Portuguese caused a minor roadblock, as teammate Ma Qing Hua and reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr were caught out by Felix da Costa's spin.
Andretti's Simona de Silvestro too had a moment in the final corner when she clipped the wall. She was able to get going, but had significant damage to her car and didn't reappear for the rest of the session.
Once the action resumed with 24 minutes left, Mike Conway quickly vaulted to the top of the times on a 1m24.258s, with Buemi setting a string of improvements that kept him in second.
Jean-Eric Vergne then became the first driver to set a lap using full power in the final five minutes, the Frenchman setting a 1m23.331s to go almost a second up on Conway.
But Buemi's 200kw attempt was even better, a 1m22.393s putting him 0.637s clear of teammate Prost, who made a late jump to second following his victory on Saturday.
Vergne held on to third place, ahead of Conway and di Grassi, who was 2.646s off the pace having not set a full-power lap. His teammate Daniel Abt was one place behind in sixth.
Completing the top 10 were Sam Bird, Loic Duval, Jerome d'Ambrosio and Bruno Senna, fresh from his career-first Formula E podium on Saturday.
FP1 results:
Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sébastien Buemi | DAMS | 17 | 1'22.393 | |
2 | Nicolas Prost | DAMS | 18 | 1'23.030 | 0.637 |
3 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin Racing | 17 | 1'23.331 | 0.938 |
4 | Mike Conway | Venturi | 20 | 1'24.258 | 1.865 |
5 | Lucas di Grassi | Team Abt | 21 | 1'25.039 | 2.646 |
6 | Daniel Abt | Team Abt | 14 | 1'25.056 | 2.663 |
7 | Sam Bird | Virgin Racing | 17 | 1'25.359 | 2.966 |
8 | Loic Duval | Dragon Racing | 20 | 1'25.460 | 3.067 |
9 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | 16 | 1'25.491 | 3.098 |
10 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra Racing | 18 | 1'25.515 | 3.122 |
11 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China Racing | 15 | 1'25.582 | 3.189 |
12 | Stéphane Sarrazin | Venturi | 20 | 1'25.888 | 3.495 |
13 | Robin Frijns | Andretti Autosport | 16 | 1'25.912 | 3.519 |
14 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra Racing | 18 | 1'25.916 | 3.523 |
15 | Oliver Turvey | China Racing | 20 | 1'25.971 | 3.578 |
16 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Team Aguri | 15 | 1'26.397 | 4.004 |
17 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti Autosport | 5 | 1'27.549 | 5.156 |
18 | Ma Qing Hua | Team Aguri | 20 | 1'28.583 | 6.190 |
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