Formula E: Jaguar’s Evans Tops Practice 2 in Mexico City

Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) topped the timesheets in Formula E Practice 2 in Mexico City. The Kiwi driver, who will start today’s E-prix with a one-place grid penalty for not following red flag procedure in FP1, finished with a time of 1m13.606s.

Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther finished in second, a welcome result for the German after he hit the wall yesterday which led to limited running.

In third was Envision Racing’s newest recruit, Robin Frijns, with Nick Cassidy (Jaguar) slotting into fourth. Three of the four Jaguar-powered cars finished in the top five, with DS PENSKE’s Stoffel Vandoorne taking that fifth place spot.

It was a cold start to the second Free Practice session, as it got underway at 07:30 local time. The low temperatures meant drivers would take a few more laps than usual to warm up their Hankook tires, but the weather didn’t deter the passionate fans who were already filling the grandstands.

With ever-changing conditions, the times were always improving. Several drivers were pushing their GEN3 cars to their limits, with reigning champion Jake Dennis (Andretti) exploring all of the track and NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird going straight on at Turn 1.

ERT Formula E’s Sergio Sette Camara brought out some double-waved yellows with seven minutes left of the session. The Brazilian made a similar mistake, making contact with the barriers in shakedown yesterday, but was able to make his way back to the garage before heading out on track again shortly after.

Towards the end of the 30-minute session, drivers started to trial some full power laps and make use of the full 350kW available to them in the GEN3 cars. NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird gave a kiss to the barriers, with it being suggested that there could be some suspension damage as a result.

Bird’s teammate Jake Hughes finished quickest yesterday in FP1, but ended the practice in the Tecpro after a mistake at Turn 2. Hughes had to have a new chassis fitted overnight after damage was sustained to the McLaren’s survival cell.