The inaugural activity of the Formula E track at the Shanghai International Circuit suffered an unusual delay during the first practice session. Five cars, driven by Dan Ticktum, Pascal Wehrlein, Nyck de Vries, Antonio Felix da Costa, and Sergio Sette Camara, lost power and stopped on the track minutes after the start of the session. This unexpected problem, suspected to have been caused by a software update on the standard RESS batteries, prompted a 45-minute red flag. The company Fortescue WAE, supplier of the standard RESS batteries, carried out the updates. Once the cars’ software was adjusted, the session resumed without any additional issues for the next 25 minutes.
The connection between this incident and the measures implemented before the Berlin E-Prixs is not clear. In Berlin, the duration of the Attack Mode was reduced from eight minutes to six minutes in the first race and then to just four minutes in the second race. This preventive measure aimed to protect the batteries during the four consecutive double-header races that conclude the current season. In Shanghai, both races will have six minutes of increased power at 350kW, divided into different configurations.
Roger Griffiths, the Andretti team principal, speculated that the software update completed at the Shanghai track on Thursday was the likely cause of the disruptions in the session. He mentioned that several cars from different manufacturers were affected, pointing to a possible issue with the battery or RESS. Dan Ticktum, a driver for ERT, also suspected a problem with WAE and believed that other cars may have faced similar issues, although they did not stop completely. Ticktum emphasized the importance of resolving the issue to ensure the safety of the drivers.
The interrupted session was concluded with Mitch Evans from Jaguar setting the fastest lap time, 1m13.215s. He was closely followed by Norman Nato from Andretti, Jean-Eric Vergne from DS Penske, Jake Hughes from McLaren, and Oliver Rowland from Nissan. The top five drivers were separated by just 0.072 seconds.
