Formula E in London: Pascal Wehrlein dominates 1st free practice, Lucas di Grassi causes 2 red flags

Pascal Wehrlein was by far the fastest in the first free practice session of Formula E in London. The Porsche driver took almost three tenths of a second off Jake Dennis in second place. The session had to be red-flagged twice because Lucas di Grassi's Lola reported an accident both times - although there was none - and stopped.

The first free practice session began in the sunshine and on time at 5pm (CEST). As usual, race director Marek Hanaczewski had a full-course yellow rehearsal in the first few minutes. In the first five minutes, the lap times were still a long way off last year's track record (1:09.871 minutes; Nick Cassidy). Nyck de Vries in the Mahindra took the lead. After twelve minutes, there was the first red flag interruption.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Lucas di Grassi has stopped out on track early on in London ❌@Marvel Fantastic Four #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/iB4CAtnNLU

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 25, 2025

Lucas di Grassi hit a bump in the fast right-hand turn 15, whereupon his steering wheel signalled an accident. The Brazilian had to stop his Lola on the track and was towed back to the pits shortly afterwards. The session resumed at 17:20 (CEST) and was extended by eight minutes. After the restart, world champion Oliver Rowland caught the eye with a braking incident in turn 10. He had to shorten the chicane.

2nd red flag caused by di Grassi

After just under half an hour, Robin Frijns was the first driver to break the track record. Several more drivers were to follow. Di Grassi was now back on track - but stopped again eight minutes before the end of the session, this time before turn 17! Again the session had to be interrupted with red flags, and again it was the same error message from his car that slowed down the Lola. "Why can't you just disable the sensor?",a frustrated di Grassi radioed.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Lucas di Grassi brings out the red flag again ❌@Marvel Fantastic Four #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/aTXeb6ipZy

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 25, 2025

This time, the break only lasted three minutes, after which the session resumed at full pace. Pascal Wehrlein was about to finish a fast lap when he ran into Nick Cassidy. The Jaguar driver slowed down sharply to make his final fast attempt. This almost resulted in contact - Wehrlein complained with his hands and verbally.

After the time had elapsed, there were still a few improvements. In the end, the best time came from Wehrlein (1:08.26 minutes), which was almost three tenths of a second faster than second-placed Jake Dennis. Cassidy finished third ahead of Sam Bird and returnee Norman Nato. The second free practice session will take place on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. (CEST) - as always, it can be followed via livestream and live ticker on e-Formula.news.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)