Formula E in London: Rowland wins 3rd free practice ahead of Wehrlein, disastrous session for Jaguar

Oliver Rowland won the 3rd Formula E free practice session at the London E-Prix 2024. With his final lap, the Nissan driver set the fastest time of the weekend so far, beating Pascal Wehrlein, who finished second and thus got off to a good start to the all-important final day. By contrast, not much went right for Jaguar: Nick Cassidy had to end the session prematurely with a technical defect, Mitch Evans was only 17th.

The most important news at the start of the third free practice session was that Robin Frijns was able to drive again after being hospitalised the previous day. And how: The Envision driver set the first fastest time straight away and led the standings after five minutes. "He has no broken bones - just swelling that is already going down," explained team boss Sylvain Filippi during the session. Mahindra, on the other hand, experienced a small moment of shock: Nyck de Vries stopped on the track for a while without propulsion. In the end, however, he was able to continue.

? YELLOW FLAG ?

De Vries comes to a stop on track.@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/ibeh5Mq6j7

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

Nick Cassidy reported a brake system error on his steering wheel display early on and headed to the pits for a check. He drove back onto the track, but returned to the Jaguar garage before the halfway point of the session because the technical problem with his brake-by-wire persisted. From then on, his team worked flat out on the brake system. Not a good start to the final day for Cassidy, who is still in the thick of the title fight, just seven points behind Wehrlein.

Not a good start to the day for one of our title contenders ?

Cassidy has lost a decent amount of running time in this session as a result of a suspected brake-by-wire issue.@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/ej3rDW7HK4

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

Nico Müller led the timesheets at the halfway point of the session. The Swiss driver in the ABT Cupra had already shown his remarkable pace in London the day before. He was followed by Jake Dennis and Antonio Felix da Costa. Rowland then set a new best time, which was just two tenths of a second off the track record. Just under ten minutes before the end, however, Jean-Eric Vergne was even faster - and faster than all the times set so far this weekend.

Cassidy throws down the gauntlet in anger

Seven minutes before the end, Cassidy finally got out of his Jaguar after working in vain, angrily threw his glove to the ground and retreated to the team's private rooms. The title contender will have to go into qualifying without any practice data - if the team can even find the problem by then! Max Günther moved up to second place shortly before the end. Then the time ran out. However, some drivers were still on fast laps.

A very unhappy Nick Cassidy this morning.

The title contender is out of FP3 with suspected brake issues.@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/pVkP5JECk9

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

Such as Rowland: The Brit set the absolute best time of 1:10.127 minutes and won the session. Wehrlein improved to second place ahead of Vergne, making him the best of the three title contenders. Evans was only 17th, more than half a second behind the leader. A good start to the day for Wehrlein and his Porsche team. Jaguar, on the other hand, still has a lot of work to do.

The final qualifying session of the 2024 Formula E season starts at 13:20 (CEST). By then, Wehrlein, Evans and Cassidy will already be in contention for a possible preliminary decision in the title fight.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)