Title contender Pascal Wehrlein topped free practice one at the Rome E-Prix, as championship leader Jake Dennis missed the majority of the session.
Wehrlein set the pace in Rome after setting a 1:39.632, which was enough to put him just under three-tenths clear of Sam Bird and Edoardo Mortara, who completed the top three.
As the drivers left the pits and entered the Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR for the first 30-minute session of the weekend, there was some early delight for Mahindra. The Indian manufacturer endured a software issue in the rookie session earlier in the day, which prevented Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala and Adrien Tambay from taking part – a huge disappointment for both drivers.
Lucas di Grassi and Roberto Merhi did both take part in the opening session, whilst Nico Müller and Robin Frijns only completed the final few minutes of the session for ABT CUPRA.
With a huge heatwave gripping the vast majority of Europe, the Italian capital was a sweltering 33°C, whilst the track was a blazing 49°C. Unlike usual, the circuit had already been rubbered in somewhat, due to the rookie session. This allowed the drivers to get up to speed significantly quicker.
One driver who wasn’t getting up to speed in the opening minutes of FP1 was championship leader Dennis, who had a reported issue with his steering column. The Briton complained over the radio of something dragging on the floor, much to Andretti’s concern. He was immediately called back into the pits where work quickly got underway on his car.
To add to the Andretti driver’s woes, he was placed under investigation for speeding under full course yellow conditions.
At the top of the timesheets, and Mortara was the early pacesetter for Maserati, who are celebrating their home event this weekend. Interestingly, the Swiss driver’s time was over two seconds quicker than what was set by Aston Martin F1 reserve Felipe Drugovich, who topped the rookie session also for the Italian manufacturer.
Mortara led the field halfway through the session on a 1:41.297, with Sébastian Buemi and Wehrlein in second and third. Concerningly for Dennis, the Briton remained in the pits with 12 minutes remaining, whilst ABT CUPRA emerged onto the circuit for the first-time for an exploration lap.
Turn 7 is clearly going to play a vital role this weekend, with several drivers having been caught out by the corner. António Félix da Costa became the first in FP1 to venture into the run-off area, where he completed a neat U-turn to rejoin the circuit.
‘King of Rome’ Mitch Evans hit the front for Jaguar with just over 10 minutes remaining, after immediately going quicker than Norman Nato, who had briefly topped the session. Evans won both races in Rome last season, a feat he’d love to replicate this weekend to improve his title chances.
Jean-Éric Vergne had been set to demote Evans to second, only for the Frenchman to enter the run-off at Turn 14. The Kiwi actually improved on his leading time after posting a 1:40.317, to put himself two-tenths clear of team-mate Bird with four minutes remaining.
As the opening session for the 22 drivers entered its final two minutes, Mortara returned to the top after almost breaking into the 1:39s, following a 1:40.004. Mortara certainly looks strong at the Italian capital, to the delight of Maserati.
Elsewhere, Dennis finally rejoined the circuit with just over a minute remaining, following his steering column issue at the start of the session. It gave the Briton time to set one push lap, enough to see him end the session in 18th.
Wehrlein was a driver on the move late on after he rose to the front of the leaderboard ahead of Bird, who also set a competitive lap at the close of the session. Mortara rounded out the top three from Buemi and Evans. Vergne claimed sixth, ahead of Nato and Maximilian Günther, whilst Sacha Fenestraz and Da Costa completed the top 10.
