Di Grassi leads first Mexico Formula E practice

Lucas di Grassi led the timesheets for Audi in the opening Formula E practice session for Saturday's Mexico City E-Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, finishing three-tenths of a second clear of Venturi's Edoardo Mortara.

Defending Formula E champion di Grassi arrived in Mexico a lowly 20th in the drivers' standings after failing to score any points in the opening four rounds of the season thanks to recurring reliability issues for the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team.

Di Grassi will take a 10-place grid penalty later in the day after Audi was forced into a gearbox change on his car, but the Brazilian made a strong start to the weekend by leading the 45-minute long first practice in Mexico.

Di Grassi turned in a fastest lap time of 1:01.158 to finish three-tenths of a second clear of Mortara at the chequered flag as both drivers opted to complete full power 200 kW laps early, acting as a simulation for qualifying later today.

Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne took third place for Techeetah ahead of Jaguar's Mitch Evans, with both drivers sticking to their race mode power of 180 kW, while Alex Lynn rounded out the top five for DS Virgin Racing.

Jose Maria Lopez took sixth for Dragon ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Daniel Abt, while Sam Bird and Sebastien Buemi completed the top 10.