The Briton’s 1m12.773s put him to the top of the times by almost one tenth from DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne, as less than half a second covered the top 10 drivers.
Championship leader Nick Cassidy found himself at the top of the times after the opening 10 minutes of the session, the Jaguar driver’s 1m13.849s leaving him just 0.003s clear of Abt’s Nico Muller.
It didn’t take long for both to be shuffled down the order, however, as Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther posted a 1m13.807s with Pascal Wehrlein, winner of the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix, slotting into second less than half a tenth behind.
Times began to tumble approaching the halfway mark of the 30-minute session, with Andretti’s Norman Nato pumping in a 1m13.173s, before Wehrlein lowered the benchmark by a further 0.172s.
Reigning Formula E champion Jake Dennis became the first driver to dip below the 1m13s barrier, setting a 1m12.943s with the Briton having stated prior to the event that he believed his Andretti team had got to the bottom of grip issues that plagued him in the last round in Diriyah.
An improvement by 0.071s put Vandoorne fastest inside the final 10 minutes, before Bird moved to the top with a 1m12.773s with more than six minutes remaining.
But a red flag was deployed shortly after when Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara came to a halt on the exit of Turn 3 having headed into the run-off area at Turn 1.
The session restarted with one minute remaining, allowing drivers to perform instillation laps but with not enough time to set any flying laps.
Source: Autosport