Formula E in Shanghai: Norman Nato wins 2nd free practice

Norman Nato seems to feel at home in Shanghai: After finishing second last night, he won the second free practice session on Friday night. Jean-Eric Vergne was exactly the same time as his compatriot to within a thousandth of a second and finished second. Pascal Wehrlein secured third place for Porsche. After yesterdays chaos, there were no major incidents in this session.

The second free practice session in Shanghai began on time at 08:00 am local time. While Lucas di Grassi set the first relevant time, both Andretti drivers Jake Dennis and Norman Nato, as well as Dan Ticktum, were cautioned with a black and white flag as they were too slow on their first laps. Sebastien Buemi then took the lead with a time of 1:13.696 minutes and could keep it for a few minutes.

FP2 is underway! ?#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/zewrdFCjE6

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 25, 2024

Sacha Fenestraz showed his first attack mode lap after just ten minutes and took the lead. Shortly after Nico Müller was also on the move with additional power and moved up to third place, which he was unable to hold for long. After a good quarter of an hour, Norman Nato had his first moment on the short straight between turns 9 and 10, when he hit the grass with two wheels and had to fight to make it through the entrance to turn 10.

Then Nyck de Vries took the lead. Shortly before the halfway point of the session, however, times were rapidly coming in and Nato and Wehrlein took over the lead for Porsche. On his fast lap, Oliver Rowland had a short snap before turn 7, but he was able to catch it - but no improvement for him.

Nice catch, @oliverrowland1! ⚡️

Rowland's car gets squirrely as the @NISMO driver puts in a push lap around Shanghai International Circuit.#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/YKttXgm0H8

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 25, 2024

Günther in the gravel, Vergne & Nato set identical times

Maximilian Günther caused a brief yellow period when he braked on the entry to turn 6 and had to pay a visit to the gravel. However, the car did not appear to have suffered any damage, as he improved to 7th place behind Antonio Felix da Costa on the following lap. At the same time, Jean-Eric Vergne in the DS set exactly the same time as Norman Nato (1:13:430) and took second place.

Identical lap times! ?

With seven minutes left in this session, Nato and Vergne put in the same lap time of 1m13:430s to top the timesheet!#ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/L7DbUGLiSg

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) May 25, 2024

Although many drivers completed fast laps in the final minutes, no one was able to beat this time, which is why Nato won the session ahead of the Frenchman and Wehrlein in third place. Stoffel Vandoorne was the only one to make a jump in the final phase and finished fourth. Behind them, Nyck de Vries and Sacha Fenestraz brilliantly held on to their top six positions. Jaguar seemed to have slept through the session after a strong performance yesterday - Robin Frijns was best in 8th place. Once again, the field was incredibly close together - the gap between Norman Nato in 1st place and Jake Hughes in 22nd place was just six tenths of a second.

The next task in qualifying is to secure a good starting position for the race. This starts at 04:20 (CEST).

Results & times

Overall standings (drivers & teams)