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Mitch Evans delivered the headline performance in the opening Free Practice session for the London E-Prix, topping the timesheets for Jaguar TCS Racing with a lap of 1m08.175s.
It was a significant early statement from Evans, who is fighting for his first drivers’ championship as the 2025/26 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship reaches its decisive final double-header. The session also provided a strong opening chapter to Evans’ title challenge in London.
Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries finished second, while Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein took third. Porsche’s cars were running a special retro livery during the weekend as part of the marque’s 75-year motorsport anniversary celebrations.
Taylor Barnard placed fourth for DS PENSKE, with championship leader Jake Dennis fifth for Andretti. Dennis remained firmly in the picture despite a close call with the barriers during the session.
The 16:00 local-time session began with the entire grid heading straight onto the London ExCeL circuit. The opening minutes were interrupted when Dan Ticktum brought out yellow flags after stopping at Turn 10 and reporting that his front-right was not properly attached. He was able to return to the garage, but the incident cost him valuable running time.
Dennis set the early benchmark and looked particularly confident at a circuit where he has won several times. His session briefly took a more dramatic turn when he entered ATTACK MODE carrying too much speed and came close to the wall, although he managed to stop in time.
With one minute remaining, de Vries led Wehrlein, with Edoardo Mortara third. The order, however, was not settled. Evans produced the quickest lap in the closing moments to move ahead and secure first place for Jaguar.
The London weekend features two races on 15 and 16 August, with nine drivers still mathematically in title contention and only two rounds remaining in the GEN3 era. The margin for error is therefore minimal, and Evans’ FP1 pace gives Jaguar an encouraging platform at the start of the championship showdown.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 08:30 local time, followed by qualifying at 10:40 and the first race at 15:05. The second qualifying session and race take place on Sunday at the same times. All times are BST.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.