Mahindra’s Nick Heidfeld topped the first free practice session for the Berlin E-Prix, with the home favourite setting his best lap in the final moments of the session.
Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne led the times for Techeetah going into the final few minutes, before being bettered by Renault e.dams’s 2017 Berlin winner Sebastien Buemi and then Heidfeld, whose 1m09.697s lap was almost half a second up on Buemi’s best.
Heidfeld’s team-mate Felix Rosenqvist, who also won at this track last season, was fourth fastest and eight tenths off his team-mate’s lap.
Oliver Turvey was fifth for NIO, with less than a tenth covering him, DS Virgin Racing’s Alex Lynn and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi.
Mitch Evans was the top Jaguar driver in eighth, with Nicolas Prost (Renault) and Daniel Abt (Audi) completing the top 10. Sam Bird, who is the closest driver to Vergne in the standings, could only manage 11th for DS Virgin.
Championship returnees Luca Filippi (NIO), Tom Dillmann (Venturi) and Stephane Sarrazin (MS&AD Andretti) were 13th, 15th and 20th.
Sarrazin was four tenths off 19th placed driver Jose Maria Lopez in his first appearance since the Montreal curtain-closer last season.
Article by Elliot Wood
