Nick Cassidy was fastest as Formula E returned to action for the session of the weekend in Miami.
As Formula E returns to America to race at the Miami Speedway, many questions waited to be answered in the blazing sunshine.
Nissan and Oliver Rowland entered the weekends as the favourites for yet another victory, but former protege Taylor Barnard and McLaren had eyes for victory too.
Green flag for Formula E in Miami
All cars took to the circuit for the first time at the green flag. Part road course, part oval, and the longest on the calendar, a few damp patches remained after a deluge of rain.
The Andretti’s set the first competitive lap times, with Da Costa in third. The Mahindra’s did not take to the track immediatley, opting to make their way out along with the Jaguar’s and Lola’s after five minutes,
Stoffel Vandoorne moved to the top if the timesheets, 0.122s ahead of Dan Ticktum’s Kiro. The Jaguars then took both top spots, with Evans in P1. Ticktum showed good pace in the early part of the session as his Kiro remained in the top three.
Lucas di Grassi’s Lola then became the surprise leader, pleasing his team back in the pits. Pascal Wehrlein had a near-miss with Antonio Felix Da Costa, taking to the grass, but rejoined without incident.
The DS Penske’s began practicing for peloton racing immediatley, engineering a swap to gather data ahead of Saturday’s race.
Sam Bird, underperforming compared to McLaren team-mate Taylor Barnard so far this year, jumped to third, before dropping behind the Jaguar of Mitch Evans to fourth. Barnard meanwhile, with 20 minutes t go, languished down in 11th.
Towards the bottom of the order, the DS Penske’s remained P16 and P17, having returned to the pits after their test run. Zane Maloney’s Lola struggled for pace, but rooted at the bottom of the timings was Sebastien Buemi’s Envision.
Championship leader Oliver Rowland was a nonchalant 10th with less than 15 minutes to go. On a push lap, he ran onto the grass, his brakes not performing as expected. Arriving into the corner much faster than normal, he was able to continue after the incident.
Attack mode laps in Miami
With ten minutes to go, the lap times began to tumble as drivers began to push with Attack Mode. Mitch Evans was the first to show his hand, jumping to the top of the times, 0.200s of Norman Nato’s Nissan.
The two Jaguars, desperately needing an improvement in competitiveness, moved to the top in a glimpse of hope for the weekend. Barnard shot up to third, in another strong showing.
With six minutes to go, the focus shifted to chassis balance and tyre performance. Buemi’s struggles continued, as he labelled his Envision “undriveable”. He faced an uphill climb to salvage his weekend.
With less than a minute to go, reigning world champion Wehrlein attempted to move up the order, but had to settle for fifth due to a brake problem. The McLaren of Sam Bird moved up to sixth at the chequered flag, with Barnard unable to improve on third.
Final Classification
- Nick Cassidy
- Antonio Felix Da Costa
- Taylor Barnard
- Mitch Evans
- Pascal Wehrlein
- Sam Bird
- Norman Nato
- Jake Dennis
- Dan Ticktum
- Max Guenther
- Lucas Di Grassi
- Nyck de Vries
- Robin Frijns
- David Beckmann
- Jake Hughes
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Jean Eric Vergne
- Edoardo Mortara
- Oliver Rowland
- Zane Maloney
- Nico Mueller
- Sebastien Buemi