Buemi continues strong form in second practice

01/04/2017 Formula E, Mexico City ePrix, News

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Sebastien Buemi once again was the fastest driver at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as he beat Lucas di Grassi to the top spot by a tenth of a second. Jean-Eric Vergne was third fastest as the final preparations before qualifying came to a close.

Vergne led the way in the early stages of the session, with Maro Engel also impressing as he held the second fastest time for a while despite his earlier battery problems.

The track continued to prove tricky for the drivers, with Sam Bird locking the rears into turn one before Daniel Abt ground to a halt on the main straight. Luckily the German was able to continue en route to the fifth fastest time.

It was another frustrating session for Nelson Piquet Jr as he ran on at turn one for the third time, with the Brazilian ending the session in sixth place.

Also finding the limit were Loic Duval and Robin Frijns, who both had spins within seconds of each other on different sections of the track before Adam Carroll found himself on the inside of turn one.

Another driver experiencing problems in slowing the car down was Jose Maria Lopez, who ran on at the final chicane and adhered to the new rule which states that you must bring your car to a complete stop before setting off again if you cut any of the chicanes.

The Argentinian then had a carbon-copy of his spin from FP1 as the car stepped out on him at the final chicane before ending the session with a broken car as he clipped the inside wall at turn 14.

Ultimately it was the Renault e.dams of Buemi who came out on top with a time of 1:02.164s, 0.111s ahead of fierce rival di Grassi while Vergne was a mere 0.011s further back.

Nick Heidfeld put in an impressive performance in his Mahindra, taking the fourth fastest time of the session and staking his claim to a spot in the Super Pole session, while team-mate Felix Rosenqvist failed to impress as he lingered down in 19th place.

Rounding out the top ten, Engel put his troubles behind him to come home in seventh place, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa and Oliver Turvey. After taking the second fastest time in FP1, Duval ended FP2 in tenth.

It was a better session for debutant and home hero Esteban Gutierrez, who piloted his Techeetah into the 13th fastest time while staying within a second of the leaders.