NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird is out of the Monaco E-Prix after fracturing his hand in this morning’s FP1 session.
The São Paulo race-winner suffered the fracture after what seemed like an innocuous brush with the wall, after going straight on down the escape road at Saint Devote. It appeared that the car may have suffered a technical failure, as Bird seemed to be a passenger, unable to steer into the corner.
F2 driver Taylor Barnard, who impressed for the team in the rookie practice session at Misano, steps in to replace Bird.
Both practice sessions were dominated by Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans, who topped both sessions. Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns was second in each session also, with Nick Cassidy making it a Jaguar powertrain 1-2-3 in FP1.
FP2 showed more promise for TAG Heuer Porsche, with Pascal Wehrlein third and Antonio Felix da Costa fourth.
ERT’s Dan Ticktum, who told Motorsport Week yesterday of his hope of being quick over one lap this weekend, was sixth in FP2, putting him in good shape for the duels.
