Practice 1 cancelled, Practice 2 extended

Vandoorne

Following heavy rain here in Ad Diriyah this morning, the first practice session of the day has been cancelled.

Making up for the lack of an early practice session, the second session will be extended, running from 08:35 am to 09:35 am (local time). This will be the first time the drivers will take to the track under timed conditions ahead of the main race 12:00 midday.

The fifth season of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship kicks off in Saudi Arabia today (December 15) with the 2018 SAUDIA Ad Diriyah E-Prix.

After heavy rain in the morning and surface water on the track, it was rookie HWA Racelab driver Stoffel Vandoorne who led the first and only practice session of the day ahead of Qualifying here in Ad Diriyah with a 1:18.868 lap.

Second was Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird (1:19.045s) and third fastest was Nissan e.dams Sebastien Buemi with a 1:19.050s lap.

Ten minutes into the session, Venturi Formula E Team's Edoardo Mortara failed to stop going into Turn 1 and met with the wall, damaging the front of his car. With all drivers struggling to keep their cars in a straight line in the wet conditions, Felix Rosenqvist also met with the wall close to the end of the session.

Three of the slowest four cars in the session were Venturi powertrains, with the team's rookie driver Felipe Massa finishing the session in 19th place.

Qualifying Groups