Formula E in London: Nick Cassidy sets fastest time in second free practice, Robin Frijns crashes late

Envision driver Nick Cassidy was the fastest in the second free practice session of Formula E's season finale in London. The Kiwi benefited from an accident by Robin Frijns, which made late improvements impossible: The Dutchman's impact caused the session to be stopped early. Dan Ticktum (Nio 333) was second ahead of the second Envision driver Sebastien Buemi. Behind them, Pascal Wehrlein, Jake Dennis and Mitch Evans lined up as the remaining title contenders.

It had rained in London in the morning, so that in the outdoor area of the Formula E track was still wet on the asphalt in some places. Accordingly, the drivers had to adjust to different grip levels. The first few minutes were characterized by a cautious approach to the limit. When the sun came out after five minutes, the two Jaguar drivers Mitch Evans and Sam Bird moved to the top of the timesheet. A little later, Nick Cassidy topped them - putting the Jaguar cars right back in front.

Robin Frijns misjudged his braking point slightly for turn 10 and had to do a u-turn in the run-off zone. Marque colleague Roberto Merhi in the Mahindra did the same a few minutes later. Meanwhile, Evans set a new best time. But the Nissan cars also confirmed their good form from Friday's 1st Free Practice early on, with Rene Rast and Norman Nato mixing it up at the front.

As the track dried, lap times visibly improved. At the halfway point of the half-hour session, Sacha Fenestraz led ahead of Bird, Sergio Sette Camara, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sebastien Buemi. Then, for the first time this weekend, title contender Jake Dennis made his presence apparent: The Briton briefly took over first place but had to relinquish it to Buemi after just a few seconds. The second Nio 333 was also fast: Dan Ticktum moved up to 2nd place.

Frijns crashes into the wall

Jean-Eric Vergne was the first to go straight into turn 1. However, he did not hit the wall and was able to turn around. For his part, Fenestraz also made a mistake in turn 16 after apparently losing control when attempting to drive through the attack zone. The Nissan driver slid off the side of the track a bit, but ultimately still got the corner. Five minutes before the end, Pascal Wehrlein had worked his way into the top 3 and followed Cassidy and Evans. Then the German even took the lead.

Oops! Sacha Fenestraz runs on at Turn 16 - but he does well to keep control of the Nissan! @Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/5kDYaClAnC

- ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 29, 2023

In the final minute, there was a crash: Robin Frijns lost control of his ABT car in the fast right-hand turn 15, skidded across the track and hit the left wall with the front. He lost his front wing and slid straight ahead into the run-off zone, where he finally crashed head-on into the TecPro barrier. Race control initially had yellow flags waved, but then stopped the session with a red flag. With only a few seconds left on the clock, FP2 was not resumed.

Thereby, nothing changed in the time table: Cassidy won the session with a lead of more than three tenths of a second ahead of Ticktum and Buemi. Wehrlein finished fourth, directly ahead of Jake Dennis and Mitch Evans - thus putting all four title candidates into the top 6. Qualifying for Saturday's London E-Prix will take place in the early afternoon at 13:40 (CEST). The race start for the penultimate round of the season is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CEST)

Results & times

Overall standings (drivers & teams)