Miami E-Prix: Free Practice 2 results

With just one session left to master the Miami Speedway before qualifying, the teams had work to do on Saturday morning.

After his strong performance in the first practice session, Nick Cassidy and Jaguar eyed returning to form after a difficult start to the season.

With rear tyre grip proving particularly difficult, the teams that mastered this overnight would rise to the top ahead of qualifying.

Green flag

At the green flag, cars filtered out onto the circuit. The early morning session resulted in much cooler temperatures. This could mask true performance when the cars took to the track in the searing heat later.

Cassidy and team-mate Mitch Evans were the first to set a flying lap, w Cassidy weaving on the pit-straight as he sought to get heat into his tyres.

As the track ramped up, the order changed dramatically, as the Lola’s became surprise timesheet leaders after the first runs.

Cassidy was the first to attempt a 300kw push lap. After a poor first sector, he jumped to the top of the times again, four seconds clear of now second-placed Oliver Rowland. This was still some way off the pace of yesterday’s Attack Mode laps.

Traffic started to become an issue almost immediately, with drivers darting out of the way to avoid impeding.

The two McLarens launched into Attack Mode laps with 30 minutes remaining. Barnard went two seconds clear, while Bird opted to pit.

A short-lived McLaren one-two before a red flag

With 22 minutes remaining, Bird had rejoined, and had moved behind his team-mate. This did not last long as Mortara jumped into second place, with team-mate Nyck de Vries slotting into third. Mahindra now had hope of a good result in Miami.

Nico Mueller however locked up into turn 12 and clouted the wall. The front wing of his Andretti destroyed, questions remained on whether he had suspension damage.

With parts of the Andretti now littering the circuit, the red flag came out to allow marshals to clear the mess.

With the clock still counting down and only the top five drivers using the full 350kw of power available, the session restart would prove vital for those behind.

Session restart

With just 16 minutes remaining, the cars took to the circuit once again, now under pressure to perform. All began push laps immediately. Yesterday’s leader Cassidy backed off his lap after fighting his Jaguar, still slotting into 6th.

Rowland was next to put a representative lap time on the table, moving into third place. He reported brake problems.

Further down the order, Dan Ticktum looked to be struggled as he once again ran wide. He remained in last place on the standings.

The second Jaguar of Mitch Evans remained in 19th, demoted to 20th as the second Nissan of Norman Nato moved into 4th.

Drivers in the lower midfield began to move up the order. Jean-Eric Vergne moved into 10th, after his efforts.

Reigning world champion Wehrlein had been under the radar in the second practice session. He moved from 12th to 5th, but was still almost half a second clear of Barnard’s McLaren.

Nato’s Nissan once again moved into the top three, with both Mahindra’s inside the top seven with less than 10 minutes to go.

The final few minutes

With five minutes remaining, drivers began to push hard ahead of qualifying later. Barnard still remained at the top of the timesheets, but opted to stay in the pits unti the final minutes.

Wehrlein’s latest effort moved him to P8, now over 0.600s behind Barnard. Antonio Felix Da Costa enjoyed another competitive session, remaining in second. De Vries’ effort moved him into 3rd, underlining Mahindra’s pace.

Jake Dennis also enjoyed a competitive session. He stayed 5th, 0.326s behind Barnard, who had once again returned to the circuit. He did a 300kw lap, significantly slower than his earlier efforts as he returned to the circuit again.

Vergne ended the session backwards, spinning as the chequered flag fell, but was able to continue. Mueller’s early exit saw him relegated to the pit-lane for the end of the session. He was the only driver not to complete a 350kw lap.

Session Classification

1. Taylor Barnard
2. Antonio Felix Da Costa
3. Nyck de Vries
4. Mitch Evans
5. Jake Dennis
6. Norman Nato
7. Edoardo Mortara
8. Oliver Rowland
9. Pascal Wehrlein
10. Stoffel Vandoorne
11. Jean-Eric Vergne
12. Sam Bird
13. David Beckmann
14. Jake Huges
15. Zane Maloney
16. Dan Ticktum
17. Nick Cassidy
18. Max Guenther
19. Lucas di Grassi
20. Robin Frijns
21. Sebastien Buemi
22. Nico Mueller