Formula E: Rowland tops first practice of 2022, de Vries crashes
Oliver Rowland topped the first Diriyah E-Prix practice session in Saudi Arabia Friday morning, and reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries hit the wall five minutes into the session, damaging his Mercedes.
Rowland turned a lap of 1m10.559s late in the session to beat Antonio Felix da Costa.
Jake Dennis was third ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, as Mitch Evans rounded out the top-5.
IndyCar trained Oliver Askew was out to lunch in 21st. He’s now up against European trained drivers.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 30 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra Racing | 1m10.559s | 0.000s |
| 2 | 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Techeetah | 1m10.717s | 0.158s |
| 3 | 27 | Jake Dennis | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m10.739s | 0.180s |
| 4 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Techeetah | 1m10.744s | 0.185s |
| 5 | 9 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing | 1m11.064s | 0.505s |
| 6 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Venturi | 1m11.080s | 0.521s |
| 7 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche Team | 1m11.139s | 0.580s |
| 8 | 23 | Sébastien Buemi | DAMS | 1m11.199s | 0.640s |
| 9 | 11 | Lucas di Grassi | Venturi | 1m11.233s | 0.674s |
| 10 | 37 | Nick Cassidy | Virgin Racing | 1m11.329s | 0.770s |
| 11 | 36 | Andre Lotterer | Porsche Team | 1m11.400s | 0.841s |
| 12 | 29 | Alexander Sims | Mahindra Racing | 1m11.461s | 0.902s |
| 13 | 33 | Dan Ticktum | NIO Formula E Team | 1m11.478s | 0.919s |
| 14 | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes | 1m11.610s | 1.051s |
| 15 | 4 | Robin Frijns | Virgin Racing | 1m11.640s | 1.081s |
| 16 | 10 | Sam Bird | Jaguar Racing | 1m11.751s | 1.192s |
| 17 | 22 | Maximilian Gunther | DAMS | 1m11.921s | 1.362s |
| 18 | 7 | Sergio Sette Camara | Dragon Racing | 1m11.955s | 1.396s |
| 19 | 3 | Oliver Turvey | NIO Formula E Team | 1m12.361s | 1.802s |
| 20 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Dragon Racing | 1m12.442s | 1.883s |
| 21 | 28 | Oliver Askew | Avalanche Andretti Formula E | 1m12.668s | 2.109s |
| 22 | 17 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes | 1m40.153s | 29.594s |