Mortara tops second practice session for Mahindra at the London E-Prix

Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara topped Free Practice 2 in Formula E's season finale at the London E-Prix weekend, in the crucial 40 minutes ahead of the championship's penultimate round of 2026.

He would be closely followed by the likes of Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Müller, holding a quarter of a second in advantage to the chasing pack. Then, it was DS Penske's Taylor Barnard and Jaguar's Mitch Evans rounding out the top five.

Credit: Alastair Staley/LAT Images

Jaguar's Mitch Evans picked up from where he left off on Friday, carrying on from topping Free Practice 1. The New Zealander, a crucial figure in the championship battle, was certainly up in the top four early in the session.

However, it would be Dennis leading the way early in the session, despite being concerned about slower cars in his way once again. Mahindra's Nyck de Vries sat second, ahead of António Félix da Costa's Jaguar in third.

Drivers were experiencing concerns getting used to the lower morning temperatures on Saturday morning, though, with Lola's Lucas di Grassi locking up at Turn 10 and nearly striking the barrier. He would make it through unscathed.

However, Nissan's Oliver Rowland would hit the barrier on the inside of Turn 9. The Briton immediately relayed to his pit wall of a damaged steering, before swiftly returning onto the track after repairs.

After 15 minutes, though, it was still Dennis on top, this time from Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein and Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara.

The DS Penske duo of Taylor Barnard and Maximilian Günther, sporting the special gold livery in their final weekend, were the next to make their way to the top of the standings, while Citroën slotted themselves into third courtesy of Jean-Éric Vergne.

This would be only momentary, as Mortara slotted himself atop the pile, almost four tenths clear of the rest of the field.

Despite encountering traffic at the finish, the Mahindra man lowered the benchmark further, to a 1:07.284, before de Vries put himself up into second further into the session.

Meanwhile, Rowland would nearly have an incident with Porsche's Nico Müller on the main straight, having to take swift avoiding action as he navigated past the slow-moving car on the racing line. The near-miss also earned Müller a black-and-white flag for his actions.

With 10 minutes to go, Mortara still sat ahead, but the Mahindra deadlock at the top was broken by home hero Dennis, who returned to second on the road. da Costa moved up to fifth.

Evans, on the other hand, would slot himself up to second on the road, still sitting four tenths behind the Mahindra driver on times. The Porsche duo of Wehrlein and Müller later slotted themselves into second and third, still almost three tenths of a second behind the outright best time though.

Another near-miss would occur, with Envision's Joel Eriksson and Cupra Kiro's Pepe Martí nearly experiencing an incident at the final corner on the circuit, as the former commenced his flying lap. More contact would follow further ahead, with Wehrlein and Drugovich making contact into Turn 10.

With his first quick lap of the session, Barnard lifted himself up into fourth, as the session wound down to a close.

Finishing first in the free practice session certainly would be encouraging for Mortara and Mahindra, giving him the optimum encouragement to add to his tally of four poles from the season, as he fights to remain in the battle for the championship in London.

Classification - FP2 (London E-Prix)

1. Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)

2. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)

3. Nico Müller (Porsche)

4. Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)

5. Mitch Evans (Jaguar)

6. Jake Dennis (Andretti)

7. Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing)

8. Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)

9. António Félix da Costa (Jaguar)

10. Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)

11. Max Günther (DS Penske)

12. Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)

13. Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)

14. Oliver Rowland (Nissan)

15. Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)

16. Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)

17. Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)

18. Lucas di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)

19. Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)

20. Norman Nato (Nissan)