Oliver Rowland topped the opening practice session for Formula E’s Diriyah E-Prix which was extended after a car problem halted Sebastien Buemi’s participation.
The Briton posted a time of 1:15.400 to front the times, 0.165s ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne as Stoffel Vandoorne backed up DS Penske’s strong pace with third place.
Buemi’s Envision car had come to a halt between Turns 3 and 4 with 13 minutes to run, resulting in a red flag being thrown and the rest of the field returning to the pit lane.
The stoppage lasted around 10 minutes, prompting race control to inform the teams that the session would be lengthened to compensate for the missed track time.
As the track continued to ramp up upon the resumption, the situation at the top of the timesheets continued to evolve before Rowland posted the quickest lap of all.
Reigning World Champion Jake Dennis is aiming to rebound from a tough opening round and wound up fourth overall, ahead of Sergio Sette Camara and Mitch Evans.
Antonio Felix da Costa led Porsche team-mate and championship leader Pascal Wehrlein in seventh and eighth respectively, with Maximilian Gunther in ninth position.
With Buemi plummeting to the bottom of the standings, Robin Frijns in the sole-remaining Envision Racing car still running completed a top 10 covered within a second.
Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy classified 11th, with Edoardo Mortara, Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz, who lagged 1.4s behind his pacesetting team-mate, outside the top half.
Both McLaren drivers were situated down the order, with Sam Bird 15th and Jake Hughes down in 19th, only ahead of rookie Jehan Daruvala, Nyck de Vries and Buemi.
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