Maini leads Formula E rookie practice

Kusk Maini was quickest in the Formula E Rookie Free Practice session ahead of the Jeddah E-Prix, moving to the top of the times in the final minutes of the 40-minute session at the Jeddah Corniche circuit.

The Mahindra driver’s time of 1m17.184s was 0.304s quicker than Nissan’s Gabriele Mini who vaulted up the timesheets as the checkered flag fell. Mikkel Jensen was third for Cupra Kiro, a further 0.073s back.

Theo Pourchaire was fourth for Maserati MSG Racing, having gone quickest just after the halfway point in the session, while Daniil Kvyat completed the top five for DS Penske.

Zak O’Sullivan was sixth for Envision Racing, but was involved in some drama on his final fast lap, colliding with Jaguar TCS Racing’s Jamie Chadwick at Turn 8, with both cars sustaining minor front-end damage.

Thomas Preining was seventh for TAG Heuer Porsche, ahead of Andretti’s Jak Crawford, Chadwick, who had gone quickest after 15 minutes, and Tatiana Calderon who was driving for Lola Yamaha Abt.

Alex Dunne rounded out the runners for NEOM McLaren, the Irishman unable to improve on his time after being held up by Calderon on his final full-power “Attack Mode” lap.

As well as giving valuable seat time to rookie drivers, the session was used as another opportunity for teams to test the new Pit Boost feature, which will be introduced in the first race of the weekend.

All teams made the fast-charging stops during the session and ran through including penalties – which must be taken before the Pit Boost charger is plugged in – and car repairs, such as a front wing change, which must be done after the charger is disconnected. Jaguar notably executed a front wing change on Chadwick’s car halfway through the session after a Pit Boost practice.

The Jeddah E-Prix weekend continues with Free Practice 1 later today at 1:00pm ET.