Posted on 12th March 2016
Renault e.dams driver Sabastien Buemi was fastest in the first practice session of the inaugural Mexico ePrix.
It was the first full session for all the drivers at the Autódromo Hermanos RodrÃguez, so there was more uncertainty on how fast they could push during their laps of the track.
Both the Renault e.dams drivers were out on track first and it wasn't long into the stint that Nico Prost had a big lock up going into the second chicane; although he kept it under control. Then Daniel Abt later went straight on at turn one after also locking up his brakes.
With under 30 minutes of the session to go, Stephane Sarrazin had an even bigger moment coming out of turn three, as the car started to spin before the chicane. He was able to keep the car safe and out of the wall and finished the practice session in seventh place.
While Renault e.dams took up the top two slots for most of the first half of the session, the competition weren't too far away. The two Abt Schaeffler drivers, Antonio Felix da Costa for Team Aguri, and Mike Conway for Venturi were close to begin with, while Robert Frijns for the Andretti team split the Renault teammates with 25 minutes to go.
The Buenos Aires ePrix winner Sam Bird looked like he was battling his car at times during the session. His personal best got him into seventh place at the 25 minute mark, although he found himself in sixteenth place by the time practice was finished.
Last years Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr hasn't had a good defence to his title so far. He was the first to do a full power lap to practice for qualifying, clocking in at 1:05.406 to make him quickest at the time, but only quick enough for eleventh place by the end.
The yellow flags came out with 13 minutes to go after Simona de Silvestro stopped out on track and after three minutes of being stuck at the side of the track, the session was then stopped. She was 15th before she came to a stop, but finished bottom of the standings overall.
Buemi was the first out after the session resumed and was one of the only drivers to attempt a full powered lap before practice was finished. He was the only driver to go into the 1:03's, making him the fastest of the session. His teammate Prost finished the session in fourth.
Loic Duval was one of the other drivers to put in a 200kw lap before the end. The Frenchman locked up going into the final chicane, but was able to stop in time to go second in the session with a 1:04.362.
But we didn't expect NEXTEV driver Oliver Turvey for NEXTEV finished off the top three for first practice in Mexico. Like his teammate, Turvey set a quick time on full power before the interruption caused by Silvestro.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
