Andretti BMW team dominates first day of Formula E testing

Alexander Sims
Alexander Sims

Alexander Sims set the fastest time in both sessions on the opening day of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship pre-season test at Valencia.

The BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver led both the morning and afternoon sessions, with his time of 1:17.553 in the latter standing out as the day’s best effort.

Sims ran a tenth of a second quicker than DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer, while his BMW teammate Antonio Felix da Costa set the third best time overall after finishing second in the morning.

Lucas di Grassi’s afternoon attempt of 1:17.732 was good enough for fourth ahead of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team-mate Daniel Abit.

Recent Mahindra signing Jerome D’Ambrosio followed closely in sixth, while reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne ended the day seventh.

The top twelve cars were separated by less than a second in the afternoon, while the top seven all fell within half a second of each other.

Both sessions were interrupted by red flag periods, with the morning run being halted after HWA Racelab’s Gary Paffett glanced the temporary chicane situated on the main straight.

The afternoon session was then stopped briefly when Lotterer left the track, although he was able to return to the pits.

McLaren Formula 1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne only completed 13 laps, meanwhile, as HWA continued systems checks on its pair of new Venturi customer cars.

Ferrari junior Antonio Fuoco, who was scheduled to sample the No. 6 Dragon Penske EV-3, failed to complete a lap but will have another opportunity to drive on Friday afternoon.

Testing continues tomorrow with six hours of running available.

Morning times

POS DRIVER TEAM CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 Alexander Sims BMW Andretti BMW 1m17.567s 33
2 Antonio Felix da Costa BMW Andretti BMW 1m17.734s 0.167s 36
3 Lucas di Grassi Audi Audi 1m17.739s 0.172s 38
4 Jean-Eric Vergne Techeetah DS 1m18.033s 0.466s 22
5 Andre Lotterer Techeetah DS 1m18.227s 0.660s 33
6 Daniel Abt Audi Audi 1m18.513s 0.946s 40
7 Sam Bird Virgin Audi 1m18.732s 1.165s 28
8 Mitch Evans Jaguar Jaguar 1m18.747s 1.180s 15
9 Sebastien Buemi Nissan Nissan 1m18.902s 1.335s 21
10 Felipe Massa Venturi Venturi 1m19.140s 1.573s 39
11 Edoardo Mortara Venturi Venturi 1m19.219s 1.652s 43
12 Robin Frijns Virgin Audi 1m19.275s 1.708s 27
13 Tom Dillmann NextEV NIO 1m19.300s 1.733s 21
14 Jerome d'Ambrosio Mahindra Mahindra 1m19.535s 1.968s 30
15 Jose Maria Lopez Dragon Penske 1m20.631s 3.064s 29
16 Oliver Turvey NextEV NIO 1m20.865s 3.298s 18
17 Pascal Wehrlein Mahindra Mahindra 1m20.915s 3.348s 8
18 Stoffel Vandoorne HWA Venturi 1m21.023s 3.456s 13
19 Nelson Piquet Jr. Jaguar Jaguar 1m21.629s 4.062s 42
20 Gary Paffett HWA Venturi 1m22.083s 4.516s 7
21 Maximilian Gunther Dragon Penske 1m32.242s 14.675s 3

Afternoon times

POS DRIVER TEAM CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 Alexander Sims BMW Andretti BMW 1m17.553s 41
2 Andre Lotterer Techeetah DS 1m17.654s 0.101s 36
3 Antonio Felix da Costa BMW Andretti BMW 1m17.727s 0.174s 46
4 Lucas di Grassi Audi Audi 1m17.732s 0.179s 40
5 Daniel Abt Audi Audi 1m17.819s 0.266s 45
6 Jerome d'Ambrosio Mahindra Mahindra 1m17.987s 0.434s 30
7 Jean-Eric Vergne Techeetah DS 1m18.035s 0.482s 22
8 Sebastien Buemi Nissan Nissan 1m18.100s 0.547s 14
9 Jose Maria Lopez Dragon Penske 1m18.154s 0.601s 33
10 Felipe Massa Venturi Venturi 1m18.176s 0.623s 32
11 Sam Bird Virgin Audi 1m18.456s 0.903s 21
12 Tom Dillmann NextEV NIO 1m18.504s 0.951s 45
13 Pascal Wehrlein Mahindra Mahindra 1m18.606s 1.053s 27
14 Robin Frijns Virgin Audi 1m18.690s 1.137s 20
15 Edoardo Mortara Venturi Venturi 1m18.707s 1.154s 25
16 Oliver Turvey NextEV NIO 1m19.053s 1.500s 36
17 Gary Paffett HWA Venturi 1m19.144s 1.591s 48
18 Sebastien Buemi Nissan Nissan 1m21.883s 4.330s 16
19 Mitch Evans Jaguar Jaguar 1m22.711s 5.158s 57
20 Nelson Piquet Jr. Jaguar Jaguar 1m23.286s 5.733s 51