Monaco E-Prix: Da Costa fastest overall in Formula E practice

Last year's Monaco race winner Da Costa posted his time in the final eight minutes of the second practice session, following a red flag called for Mahindra's Alexander Sims as he pulled over at the entry of the Rascasse with a broken front-right steering arm.

Sims appeared to have an incident with Nissan e.dams' Sebastien Buemi, which was placed under investigation by the stewards - but was not deemed worthy of any further action.

The British driver kicked off the opening flurry of laps with the initial fastest time, a 1m31.932s, but this was quickly bettered as the Mercedes duo of de Vries and Vandoorne swept to the top, with the former becoming the first driver to tap into the 1m30s.

After a brief yellow flag at the Swimming Pool section as Avalanche Andretti rookie Oliver Askew came to a stop, and will require a powertrain change for qualifying, Robin Frijns then leaped into control at the top, logging a 1m30.678s despite a lock-up at the Nouvelle Chicane.

Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne then followed him into second with just a tenth in arrears, although it appeared that Lucas di Grassi would leapfrog them both with a pair of fastest opening sectors before a Rascasse mistake neutered his assault on top spot.

Dan Ticktum then brought out a yellow flag at the first corner with a lock-up precipitating a dive into the Sainte Devote run-off, before Sims' incident produced the red flag.

With eight minutes left on the clock after the stranded Mahindra was cleared, da Costa charged to the top, with Mitch Evans going into second place behind him with a two-tenths deficit.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 5

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Vergne then looked set to make it a DS Techeetah 1-2 on the