Formula E Hot News

Sam Bird sets the pace in Practice 1 in Santiago

Sam Bird
Sam Bird

After the 2020 Antofagasta Minerals Santiago E-Prix got underway with the first Practice session of the day, it was last season's race winner and Envision Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird who posted the fastest lap time of the morning (1:04.914) – over six seconds faster than the lap record set last year. In second, was DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix da Costa (1:05.064) with Rokit Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara in third (1:05.096).

Within the first few laps, 23 drivers were already posting lap times over one second faster than the record set by Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Daniel Abt (1:11.263) last year, partly due to the new track layout. By the end of the session, 18 drivers finished within a second of each other, hinting at another close race later today in Santiago.

Following the first race at Parque O'Higgins last season, the track layout has been modified with the most notable change being the removal of the hairpin on the arc between Turn 7 and 9. With the new layout, expect to see drivers take on one of the fastest corners in Formula E history here in Santiago.

Practice 1 Results

Pos No. Driver Team Time Behind Gap
1 2 S. Bird Envision Virgin Racing 1:04.914 0.000 0.000
2 13 A. Da Costa Ds Techeetah 1:05.064 0.150 0.150
3 48 E. Mortara Rokit Venturi Racing 1:05.096 0.182 0.032
4 11 L. Di Grassi Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team 1:05.203 0.289 0.107
5 7 N. Muller Geox Dragon 1:05.252 0.338 0.049
6 64 J. D'ambrosio Mahindra Racing 1:05.314 0.400 0.062
7 27 A. Sims BMW I Andretti Motorsport 1:05.388 0.474 0.074
8 23 S. Buemi Nissan E.Dams 1:05.397 0.483 0.009
9 94 P. Wehrlein Mahindra Racing 1:05.429 0.515 0.032
10 36 A. Lotterer Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 1:05.452 0.538 0.023
11 51 J. Calado Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1:05.472 0.558 0.020
12 5 S. Vandoorne Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team 1:05.506 0.592 0.034
13 20 M. Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing 1:05.513 0.599 0.007
14 22 O. Rowland Nissan E.Dams 1:05.569 0.655 0.056
15 66 D. Abt Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team 1:05.632 0.718 0.063
16 25 J. Vergne Ds Techeetah 1:05.659 0.745 0.027
17 28 M. Günther BMW I Andretti Motorsport 1:05.706 0.792 0.047
18 17 N. De Vries Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team 1:05.783 0.869 0.077
19 3 O. Turvey Nio 333 Fe Team 1:06.076 1.162 0.293
20 4 R. Frijns Envision Virgin Racing 1:06.121 1.207 0.045
21 19 F. Massa Rokit Venturi Racing 1:06.193 1.279 0.072
22 6 B. Hartley Geox Dragon 1:06.508 1.594 0.315
23 18 N. Jani Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 1:06.608 1.694 0.100
24 33 Ma Qinghua Nio 333 Fe Team 1:07.037 2.123 0.429