Formula E in Berlin: Barnard secures best time in 1st free practice

Taylor Barnard won the first free practice session at the Berlin E-Prix. With a lap time of 0:57.470 minutes, the Briton in the service of DS Penske was almost two tenths of a second faster than Pascal Wehrlein in the pink Porsche. Jean-Eric Vergne in the Citroen was third.

The first free practice session in Berlin Tempelhof started at 4 pm (CEST) under blue skies and pleasantly warm conditions. As always, the obligatory full-course yellow test was carried out first. While everything took its usual course, it was Edoardo Mortara who first attracted attention and took the lead with a time of 1:05.746 minutes.

A few minutes later, Jake Dennis was the first of the drivers to set a time under one minute. Dennis' best time did not last long, however. After Mortara was faster again, Dan Ticktum beat his time and took the lead.

Around 15 minutes after the start of practice, it was once again Dennis who topped the table. His lap time was 0:57.847 minutes. Behind him were the two Cupra Kiro drivers Pepe Marti and Dan Ticktum. The level of the times was now close to the best times from last year. Nyck de Vries was the next to push the fastest time further and take the lead, while Joel Eriksson improved to third place.

de Vries breaks lap record

With de Vries' best time, the lap record from last year was now history: 0:57.709 minutes was the fastest lap time to date on the circuit in Berlin. A little later, however, the two German drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Max Günther were even faster! Wehrlein took the lead, Günther finished second ahead of de Vries. Ticktum and Dennis completed the Top 5 ten minutes before the end of the session.

Ten minutes before the end of the session, it became quiet on the track, with only a few drivers out on track. Taylor Barnard was the one to beat Wehrlein's time and take the lead. Shortly afterwards, however, the Briton was the cause of a tricky scene when he was travelling slowly on the racing line and the approaching Lucas di Grassi almost collided with him.

As usual, the drivers took to the track again shortly before the end for their qualifying simulations. However, Jean-Eric Vergne's lap was only good enough for third place. Barnard ultimately won the session ahead of Wehrlein, Vergne, Günther and Mortara, who made up the top five, while di Grassi finished in last place.

The second free practice session starts on Saturday morning at 9.30 am (CEST)