The rain fell in little increments throughout the only practice session ahead of qualifying for race two of the 2021 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Rome ePrix.
The slippery track, from rain that fell before and during the session, led to a few moments of sliding from the drivers, mostly in Turns Four and Seven. No damage was sustained, with Qualifying scheduled at 8:45 local time (7:45 BST).
Envision Virgin Racing’s Nick Cassidy set the benchmark time in Free Practice, with a 1:40.107, with BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver Maximilian Günther and unlucky Mercedes-Benz EQ driver Stoffel Vandoorne behind him. They managed to set a time on full power during a reprieve in the rainy conditions.
Yesterday’s race winner, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) set his best time of seventh in the standings. His team-mate, last season’s ABB FIA Formula E Champion Antonio Felix Da Costa (DS Techeetah), was down in seventeenth at the end of practice.
After missing race one following his crash in practice on Saturday morning, Oliver Turvey returned to the track for the NIO 33 FE Team and turned a handful of laps in a car that has been completely rebuilt around a new chassis. He ended up at the back of the timesheets but at least we are likely to have a full grid for Sunday’s race.
Eight Yellow Flags were waved during the session, most of them for tyre lockups and sliding cars, due to the rain and drivers not stopping on time for the corners.
It is therefore impossible to say who will be taking pole position in Qualifying later today, with mixed conditions set to persist throughout the day.
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME/GAP |
| 1 | 37 | Nick Cassidy | NZL | Envision Virgin Racing | 1:40.107 |
| 2 | 28 | Maximilian Günther | GER | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | +0.049 |
| 3 | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | +0.555 |
| 4 | 7 | Sergio Sette Camara | BRZ | Dragon/Penske Autosport | +0.701 |
| 5 | 22 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Nissan e.DAMS | +0.855 |
| 6 | 27 | Jake Dennis | GBR | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | +0.878 |
| 7 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | FRA | DS Techeetah | +0.922 |
| 8 | 23 | Sebastien Buemi | CHE | Nissan e.DAMS | +0.990 |
| 9 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | CHE | ROKIT Venturi Racing | +1.058 |
| 10 | 36 | Andre Lotterer | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | +1.109 |
| 11 | 6 | Nico Muller | CHE | Dragon/Penske Autosport | +1.203 |
| 12 | 4 | Robin Frijns | NLD | Envision Virgin Racing | +1.234 |
| 13 | 94 | Alexander Lynn | GBR | Mahindra Racing | +1.269 |
| 14 | 99 | Pascal Wehrlein | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | +1.311 |
| 15 | 10 | Sam Bird | GBR | Jaguar Racing | +1.483 |
| 16 | 11 | Lucas Di Grassi | BRZ | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | +1.657 |
| 17 | 13 | Antonio Felix Da Costa | POR | DS Techeetah | +1.776 |
| 18 | 17 | Nyck de Vries | NLD | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | +1.898 |
| 19 | 71 | Norman Nato | FRA | ROKIT Venturi Racing | +2.099 |
| 20 | 33 | Rene Rast | GER | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | +2.104 |
| 21 | 29 | Alexander Sims | GBR | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | +2.196 |
| 22 | 20 | Mitch Evans | NZL | Jaguar Racing | +2.321 |
| 23 | 88 | Tom Blomqvist | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | +2.357 |
| 24 | 8 | Oliver Turvey | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | +5.114 |
