Bethonie WaringDS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne topped the times in the first Formula E free practice session of the 2022-23 season.
Vergne managed a time of 1m13.294s around the Mexico City circuit, lapping just 0.092s quicker than McLaren Formula E driver Jake Hughes.
It was Sebastien Buemi who topped the order early on, setting an early benchmark of 1m15.030s after 10 minutes. Lap times tumbled as track conditions improved and drivers got used to the new Gen 3 cars.
Mitch Evans, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis all took turns at the top of the order throughout the session,
Hughes put in a time of 1m13.737s late on before the final improvement from Vergne knocked the McLaren driver off the top spot.
Others, including Hughes, continued to find improvements, but couldn’t match Vergne’s time.
NIO 333 Racing driver Sergio Sette Camara managed to place third, 0.438s off Vergne’s time, with Wehrlein and Stoffel Vandoorne taking fourth and fifth.
Besides the traditional Full Course Yellow practice, there were a handful of local yellow flags during the session. A number of drivers found the run off area at turn one, including Wehrlein, Sam Bird and Dan Ticktum. All managed to escape without any damage.
The same could not be said for Rene Rast, who span at the exit of the final corner in the closing stages of the session. Rast then hit a kerb as he entered the pits and limped back to his garage with a damaged left rear suspension.
Edoardo Mortara put himself sixth overall, ahead of Mitch Evans and Jake Dennis. Ticktum and Maximilian Guenther completed the top 10.
