Swiss E-Prix: Wehrlein outpaces DS Techeetah duo in practice

ByMotorsport.com

Published 22/06/2019 at 11:06 GMT

Pascal Wehrlein set the fastest time across the two practice sessions for ABB FIA Formula E’s Swiss E-Prix in Bern, narrowly outpacing DS Techeetah drivers Andre Lotterer and Jean-Eric Vergne.Under cloudy skies in the de facto capital of Switzerland, the field got to grips with the new 1.7-mile rapid and narrow track, which was described as "akin to Oulton Park and Macau and Pau" by Audi’s Lucas d

Image credit: Motorsport.com

Pascal Wehrlein set the fastest time across the two practice sessions for ABB FIA Formula E’s Swiss E-Prix in Bern, narrowly outpacing DS Techeetah drivers Andre Lotterer and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Under cloudy skies in the de facto capital of Switzerland, the field got to grips with the new 1.7-mile rapid and narrow track, which was described as "akin to Oulton Park and Macau and Pau" by Audi’s Lucas di Grassi ahead of the event.

The tight left of Turn 1, which sits opposite the pitlane, was a particular problem for the drivers, with many locking up there during the 45-minute FP1.

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Vergne topped that session with a 1m19.281s, which stood as the best benchmark for much of the 30-minute FP2 before the drivers switched to full power at 250kW to practice their flying efforts ahead of qualifying.

Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing), Lotterer and Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara enjoyed brief spells at the top of the times early in the second session, but it was Wehrlein’s 1m20.207s lap that held P1 for much of FP2.

With just under 10 minutes to go in FP2, BMW Andretti’s Antonio Felix da Costa was the first to run at 250kW, but he locked up at the Turn 9 left-hander that follows the attack mode activation zone on the preceding straight.

Da Costa still took P1 but was eventually shuffled back to 12th, with Jose Maria Lopez the first to depose him before he in turn was usurped in the flurry of final improvements.

With one minute to go, Lotterer seized first with a 1m19.194s, with Vergne slotting into second just 0.004s slower than his teammate before Wehrlein edged them both with a best lap of 1m19.118s.

Oliver Rowland ended up fourth for Nissan e.dams, with Frijns improving on one of the final flying laps in FP2 to take fifth.

Mitch Evans was sixth for Jaguar ahead of Lopez, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sam Bird, who locked up heading into Turn 9 early in the session and had to take to the escape road.

Mortara rounded out the top 10, with Alex Lynn finishing 11th in the second Jaguar.

Maximillian Gunther (Dragon Racing), along with Jerome d’Ambrosio, is under investigation for failing to stop when cutting the Turns 12/13/14 chicane – which will form the first corners of the race despite sitting before the offset finish line.

Gunther looked set to get close to fellow Dragon driver Lopez’s best time before he caught traffic on the approach to Turn 12 on his 250kW lap and he cut the complex after locking up.

Home driver Sebastien Buemi had a low-key FP2 and finished down in 15th for Nissan.

The Audi drivers also finished towards the rear of the field as they took 18th and 19th in FP2 with Daniel Abt heading di Grassi.

But di Grassi could not improve on his 250kW lap as he encountered yellow flags at Turn 9 when Tom Dillmann (who took 20th for NIO) slid down the escape road.

First practice results:

1	Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	1'19.281
2	Andre Lotterer	Techeetah	1'19.392	0.111
3	Lucas di Grassi	Team Abt	1'19.440	0.159
4	Robin Frijns	Virgin Racing	1'19.633	0.352
5	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1'19.744	0.463
6	Daniel Abt	Team Abt	1'19.895	0.614
7	Maximilian Gunther	Dragon Racing	1'19.931	0.650
8	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	1'19.957	0.676
9	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Mahindra Racing	1'19.986	0.705
10	Tom Dillmann	NIO Formula E Team	1'20.104	0.823
11	Stoffel Vandoorne	HWA AG	1'20.161	0.880
12	Jose Maria Lopez	Dragon Racing	1'20.168	0.887
13	Alex Lynn	Jaguar Racing	1'20.208	0.927
14	Felipe Massa	Venturi	1'20.222	0.941
15	Oliver Rowland	Nissan e.dams	1'20.229	0.948
16	Antonio Felix da Costa	Andretti Autosport	1'20.245	0.964
17	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	1'20.360	1.079
18	Pascal Wehrlein	Mahindra Racing	1'20.408	1.127
19	Alexander Sims	Andretti Autosport	1'20.739	1.458
20	Sébastien Buemi	Nissan e.dams	1'21.074	1.793
21	Gary Paffett	HWA AG	1'21.222	1.941
22	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1'21.556	2.275
View full results

Second practice results:

1	Pascal Wehrlein	Mahindra Racing	1'19.118
2	Andre Lotterer	Techeetah	1'19.194	0.076
3	Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	1'19.198	0.080
4	Oliver Rowland	Nissan e.dams	1'19.206	0.088
5	Robin Frijns	Virgin Racing	1'19.229	0.111
6	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1'19.256	0.138
7	Jose Maria Lopez	Dragon Racing	1'19.282	0.164
8	Stoffel Vandoorne	HWA AG	1'19.317	0.199
9	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	1'19.329	0.211
10	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	1'19.399	0.281
11	Alex Lynn	Jaguar Racing	1'19.411	0.293
12	Antonio Felix da Costa	Andretti Autosport	1'19.466	0.348
13	Maximilian Gunther	Dragon Racing	1'19.474	0.356
14	Felipe Massa	Venturi	1'19.856	0.738
15	Sébastien Buemi	Nissan e.dams	1'19.873	0.755
16	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Mahindra Racing	1'20.032	0.914
17	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1'20.218	1.100
18	Daniel Abt	Team Abt	1'20.397	1.279
19	Lucas di Grassi	Team Abt	1'20.490	1.372
20	Tom Dillmann	NIO Formula E Team	1'20.901	1.783
21	Alexander Sims	Andretti Autosport	1'20.932	1.814
22	Gary Paffett	HWA AG	1'21.892	2.774
View full results

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