Di Grassi fastest in Zurich FP1

Lucas Di Grassi topped the times in the first free practice session ahead of the Zurich ePrix.

As the only driver to set a time at 200kW in the opening session, Di Grassi was 1.143s faster than the next quickest driver, with his 1m11.995s lap a hint at what’s to come in free practice and qualifying for Switzerland’s first ePrix.

The Audi’s of Di Grassi and Daniel Abt were also competitive running at 180kW, with the pair second and third behind the Jaguar of Mitch Evans for most of the session.

Evans finished the session fastest of those running at 180kW, ahead of Abt and Nelson Piquet.

Oliver Turvey was one of a number of drivers to make contact with the walls as they explored the track limits in Zurich. The NIO driver was able to make it back to the pits after clipping the wall and finished the session fifth quickest.

NIO faced more problems when Luca Fillipi came to a stop at the hair pin late in the session. Fillipi was unable to get started again and the session ended with yellow flags in the first sector.

Sam Bird, another driver to run into trouble, had much further to go after he span into the wall just after pit entry. Bird had been running close behind Jose Maria Lopez when Lopez slowed to let the Virgin past. He was forced to hit the brakes hard to avoid contact and was sent into a spin, clipping the wall and damaging the suspension on his Virgin. He managed to limp around the track to return to the pits and switched cars to continue the session.

Bird finished sixth overall, ahead of championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne and Felix Rosenqvist.

Sebastien Buemi and Lopez completed the top 10.