Formula E in Mexico: Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa wins Free Practice 1

Antonio Felix da Costa won the first free practice session of Formula E in Mexico. Thanks to four-wheel drive, the Porsche driver beat the previous track record by more than 1.5 seconds. Taylor Barnard in the McLaren came second ahead of Oliver Rowland in the Nissan. World champion Pascal Wehrlein and Jaguar rival Mitch Evans completed the top 5.

As usual, the first session of the Mexico weekend began with a full-course yellow practice. Some drivers therefore initially remained in the pits. After just over five minutes, the first serious lap times appeared on the monitor. Initially, it was mainly the Lola, Andretti and Kiro drivers who fought for the best positions. As expected, Cupra Kiro had presented a revised livery on Friday: the top of the customer Porsche is now copper-coloured due to Cupra's title sponsorship.

After the first ten of 40 minutes, six drivers were still without a lap time. The two Andretti drivers Nico Müller and Jake Dennis were in the lead at this point. Then the two Mahindra drivers pushed past before Mitch Evans was even faster - but all still in normal race mode with 300 kW of power. As in FP1 in Sao Paulo, DS Penske waited a very long time in the pits and only released its drivers onto the track after a quarter of an hour to save tyres.

Robin Frijns braked too late in turn 1 and had to turn in the run-off zone - one of the very few notable scenes in the first half of FP1. After 20 minutes, the top five were occupied by Evans, Dennis, Pascal Wehrlein, Antonio Felix da Costa and Stoffel Vandoorne. Then, surprisingly, some raindrops appeared on the television cameras. The weather forecast had changed dramatically in the hours before practice. Even Nick Cassidy, who hadn't really been fast until then, reported rain on the radio.

All-wheel drive sets new standards in Mexico

Fifteen minutes before the end, the first driver - Lucas di Grassi - finally switched to Attack Mode. As a result, he smashed the track record from 2023 (1:12.595 minutes, Jake Dennis) by more than a second. The lap times were now generally becoming faster. Norman Nato braked late in turn 1 and spun off the track. Sebastien Buemi almost crashed in the fast "Peraltada" corner, but was still able to catch his Envision.

Six minutes before the end, the lead changed hands once again: Evans set the new fastest time, followed shortly afterwards by Wehrlein and then Felix da Costa with the first 1:10 time and a gap of more than three tenths of a second! Nobody could match the Portuguese driver's lap. But there were still notable improvements behind him after the time had elapsed: Taylor Barnard improved to second, Oliver Rowland to third. David Beckmann hit the wall with his left rear in the "Peraltada", but was able to continue.

This meant that FP1 went to Felix da Costa and Porsche, but the field was close together: 16 drivers were within one second of each other. The second free practice session will take place early on Saturday afternoon at 14:30 (CET). As usual, e-Formula.news will be covering the session with a livestream and liveticker. The race starts on Saturday evening at 9 pm.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)