Just Electric

Rome ePrix: Race in tweets

The second half of the 2017-18 Formula E season began with the inaugural Rome ePrix. Freshly blessed by the Pope himself, drivers dashed around the streets of the Italian capital. Just Electric takes a look at how events unfolded through social media.

In the build up to the first of two new events on the Formula E calendar, drivers and teams took the time to enjoy the sights they would be speeding past that weekend, including a visit from a man more #blessed than a four-time Formula 1 champion.

When cars hit the circuit on Saturday morning for the two free practice sessions, it wasn’t immedietly clear who would have the advantage on the long, new Roman track.

Jaguar’s Nelson Piquet Jnr, aiming to bounce back from a retirement in Uruguay, topped the first practice session with a time eight hundredths of a second faster than the Virgin of Sam Bird.

Championship protagonist Felix Rosenqvist topped the times in FP2, but the half hour session was cut short when Alex Lynn brought out the red flags, meaning many drivers didn’t get a chance to complete a 200kW lap, and teams headed into the first qualifying session on the streets of Rome with a lot of unanswered questions.

The lack of track time caused problems in qualifying, where a number of teams miscalculated the time it would take their driver to do a warm up track on the long circuit.

More drama was added to the mix when Antonio Felix Da Costa and Jose Maria Lopez collided in the pit lane.

Andre Lotterer ended the group stages fastest of anyone, but it was Rosenqvist on top in the SuperPole.

Starting from pole for the third time this season, Rosenqvist appeared to have everything under control in the early stages of the race, but came to a stop after he damaged the suspension on his M4Electro.

That put Sam Bird in the lead of the race and the Brit went on to take his second win of the season.

Further back, typical Formula E madness ensued with a multicar collision bringing out the yellow flags and battery management struggles denying Jaguar their second podium finish.

Bethonie Waring

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