Formula E in Shanghai: Nick Cassidy wins 3rd free practice ahead of Dan Ticktum

Nick Cassidy won the second free practice session. He prevailed over Dan Ticktum, who scored a respectable success in practice at his team's home race. Antonio Felix da Costa finished third ahead of Max Günther. There were no incidents.

Compared to the previous day, the sky had turned grey, covered with clouds. The word rain was also mentioned from time to time, even though the session itself remained dry.

A well-choreographed routine ?

Our drivers roll out in formation for the start of FP3!#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/XYNLubsZPI

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 26, 2024

Nick Cassidy set the first fastest time after just over three minutes. However, this lead was not to stay with him for long, as he was immediately undercut by di Grassi and Buemi. This was followed by an exchange of blows between DS and Envision: At first, both DS made their voices heard, but they were then undercut by Frijns and Buemi. Vandoorne and Vergne immediately set a second fast lap and took the lead again.

After a good nine minutes, Günther had to swerve onto the grass with two wheels in the chicane. At this point, the German was in sixth place behind Pascal Wehrlein. Nico Müller then took the lead in the ABT Cupra. He was a good two tenths of a second faster than Vandoorne on the 3.1-kilometre lap.

At the halfway point, Cassidy improved to second place behind Müller until Jake Dennis took the lead shortly afterwards. With a 1:13.877 minutes, he set the first time of the day under 1:14 minutes. Edo Mortara also had a brief moment in which his reflexes were tested: He had to compensate for a sugar by oversteering in turn 8, but kept the car on track. Then a few attack mode laps came in: Firstly, Hughes took the lead, but was immediately undercut by Günther. The Envisions also sorted themselves between Dennis and Müller in 4th and 5th place.

Fast reactions from @edomortara ⚡️

The @MahindraRacing driver has a snap of oversteer through Turn 8.#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/UqJqGxh4jr

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 26, 2024

With just over five minutes to go, a whole bunch of fast laps came in: First Vergne and Vandoorne improved to third and fourth , while Ticktum moved up to fifth in his team's home race in the meantime. Antonio Felix da Costa briefly took the lead, but was immediately demoted to second place when Cassidy set his best time to date of 1:13.500 minutes and took the lead. Max Günther and Mitch Evans finished 3rd and 4th respectively.

Frijns kicked off the final phase when he almost jumped the curbs in turn 10, while Norman Nato's session ended earlier than planned in the pits with a technical problem with his car. However, not much more happened in the leading group: Hughes was able to secure 6th place, while Ticktum improved to 2nd and thus set an example for ERT.

A great session for @ERTFormulaETeam at their home race! ?@DanTicktum puts together a mega lap to finish FP3 in P2 behind @JaguarRacing's @NickCassidy_.#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/fcpqIMLwu3

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 26, 2024

So Cassidy won the session. "I just had jet lag," he radioed. "It just took me a while to wake up this weekend." Rowland and Wehrlein were probably also struggling with this on Sunday morning. His championship rivals finished the session in 13th and 14th place.

Results & times

Overall standings (drivers & teams)