Vergne heads the way in opening session of Heineken® London E-Prix weekend 24.07.2021: DS TECHEETAH's Jean-Eric Vergne topped the timesheets in the opening session at the all-new ExCeL Circuit on this Heineken® London E-Prix race weekend, from Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns and standings leader Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing). Results he

DS TECHEETAH's Jean-Eric Vergne topped the timesheets in the opening session at the all-new ExCeL Circuit on this Heineken® London E-Prix race weekend, from Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns and standings leader Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing).

Results here

Formula E's 24 world-class drivers had a world first to deal with on Friday afternoon, with an all-new indoor/outdoor circuit at ExCeL London, in the city's docklands.



Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH)'s hot lap was the best of the late flurry of full-power runs, with Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing) - second in the standings - next up. Table-topper Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing) wound up third, with DS TECHEETAH's Antonio Felix da Costa in fourth, next up was Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing) in fifth and Mahindra Racing's Alex Lynn rounded out the top six - all covered by a little over a tenth-and-a-half of-a-second.


Dropping into a city street circuit is mostly routine for the field, but thanks to the emissions-free nature of the all-electric machines, the Heineken® London E-Prix's unique circuit throws up a host of new challenges this weekend.



READ MORE: London E-Prix track guide

Drivers will have to deal with a multitude of surfaces, starting indoors with silky smooth Tarmac offering bags of grip, slippy metal strips then new asphalt and painted sections as well as ramps. The lighting's an issue, too, with night race-like conditions inside and beaming daylight outside. It's quite a sight.


Voting is still open for FANBOOST until 15 minutes into Round 12, with DS TECHEETAH’s reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa heading the way on 30% of the vote ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ), current standings leader Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing), Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ) and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Coverage of Free Practice 2 follows at 09:00 local time on Saturday morning, with qualifying ahead of the Heineken London E-Prix Round 12 to come at 11:00 BST and the race itself is up at 15:00 tomorrow.



 

 
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