Lucas di Grassi chalked up a 57s lap time in the second practice session, to go fastest of all yet today at Long Beach. His turn of pace suggests he may have dialled up maximum power from the car, whereas others may have been practicing race runs.

“The day is just starting,” he said. “There is so much to do. We are happy with the performance of the car so far. But racing is racing and nothing to do with free practice.”

Di Grassi also mentioned that the team found problems with the car in Miami, laying the blame squarely at the feet of Spark: “We found the radiator was leaking and the pump was not working. We changed a lot of parts. These are problems from the manufacturer.”

There was drama in the second practice session, with Jean-Eric Vergne hitting the wall hard on a fast lap. As he passed di Grassi on a tight corner, the rear end stepped out and he hit both the tyre barriers and the concrete walls. “I am ok,” he said. “The car is a bit less ok. I lost the rear of the car. It’s a bit of a shame but luckily it’s only free practice two so hopefully the guys will have time to fix the car. I need to refocus and move forwards.”

Charles Pic had technical issues which curtailed his session and Senna reported suspension woes.