Vergne heads way in Free Practice 2 in Seoul

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Vergne heads way in Free Practice 2 in Seoul

Vergne heads way in Free Practice 2 in Seoul

Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) set the pace in Free Practice 2 ahead of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix Round 15 with a 1m21.233s enough to edge out Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) and Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) by three thousandths of a second.

Vergne and Mortara will be pleased with their pace as they look to keep their championship hopes alive. Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) set only the 16th quickest time - not the performance the standings leader would have hoped to showcased after topping FP1.

ROKiT Venturi Racing's Lucas di Grassi once again posted the fourth fastest time, with Oliver Askew (Avalanche Andretti) and Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) rounding out the top six.

Alexander Sims (Mahindra Racing) found the wall with his left rear, stranding his car at pit-entry. Cassidy then came crawling to a halt with a technical issue that forced Race Director Scott Elkins to throw the red flag and bring the session to a premature end.

The weather will be the talk of the paddock between here and qualifying, with the skies looking increasingly ominous.

More than just lap times

A new racetrack means no data - which puts every team on an equal footing in their preparation and simulation work heading into the race weekend. Round 15 is a clean slate, with Free Practice the only chance teams and drivers will have to gather information and check everything corrolates with their simulations before they get competitive in qualifying ahead of the race.

WAYS TO WATCH: Where and how to watch every minute of Season 8

Lap times are far from the only focus. Drivers and engineers will be working flat out to understand things like energy management profiles and setup ahead of qualifying and the race later in the day - making sure everything tallies with their simulation work.

On top of energy management, teams work through everything from their systems, setups, FANBOOST and ATTACK MODE deployments and launches throughout practice to make sure they're on-point when it counts.

Coverage of qualifying ahead of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix Round 15 follows at 11:40 with the race itself at 16:00. In the meantime, catch up with the full preview.