Andretti dominance in Formula E qualifying at Sanya: Jake Dennis takes pole position ahead of Felipe Drugovich

In qualifying for the Formula E race weekend in Sanya, Jake Dennis secured pole position in the all-Andretti final duel against Felipe Drugovich. Behind them, championship leader Mitch Evans and Dan Ticktum will start from the second row. Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche took eighth place. Surprisingly, the two best qualifiers of the season so far, Edoardo Mortara and Antonio Felix da Costa, failed to make it through to the duels.

Group A: Drugovich comes out on top

In Group A of qualifying, Mitch Evans, Edoardo Mortara, Nico Müller, Nick Cassidy, Sebastien Buemi, Pepe Marti, Felipe Drugovich, Taylor Barnard, Norman Nato and Lucas di Grassi were all fighting for a their spot in the duels. The session got underway right on time at 10.40 am local time, with a sweltering 32 degrees outside, a track temperature of 52 degrees and 75 per cent humidity.

At the start, Cassidy was told by his team to complete two warm-up laps before setting out to chase a fast lap time. Marti briefly caused a yellow flag shortly before the end when he drove into the run-off area at Turn 9. This had already happened to several other drivers during the free practice sessions.

Drugovich moved to the front of the pack three minutes before the end and went on to finish as the fastest with a lap time of 1:07.337 minutes. Alongside him, Barnard, Evans and Cassidy also made it through to the duels.

Surprisingly, qualifying ended at the group stage for Mortara, the season’s second-fastest qualifier. Buemi, Marti, Müller, Nato and di Grassi were also unable to progress.

Group B: Wehrlein fastest

Reigning world champion Oliver Rowland started qualifying in Group B, alongside Pascal Wehrlein, Antonio Felix da Costa, Jake Dennis, Nyck de Vries, Joel Eriksson, Dan Ticktum, Jean Eric Vergne, Maximilian Günther and Zane Maloney.

In Group B, too, the drivers took their time setting a fast lap time. Wehrlein, who had set the fastest time on track in the second free practice session, led the field after six minutes. He clocked a lap time of 1:07.496 minutes, closely followed by Ticktum and Dennis, also driving Porsche-powered cars.

Shortly before the end, Maloney caused a yellow flag in Turn 4; the Barbadian was forced to retire his car with damage to the rear right after making contact with the wall in Turn 3.

Wehrlein thus finished as the fastest in the group, followed by de Vries, Ticktum and Dennis, who all progressed to the next round of duels. Here, too, there was a surprise: the season’s top qualifier, Felix da Costa, was out. Eriksson, Rowland, Günther and Maloney also failed to progress further into qualifying.

Quarter-finals

QF1: Mitch Evans vs. Taylor Barnard

Barnard got off to a good start with a faster first sector, but Evans managed to catch up thanks to a faster second sector, thereby securing his place in the semi-finals. In the end, just a single thousandth of a second separated the two!

QF2: Nick Cassidy vs. Felipe Drugovich

Drugovich made his mark right from the start of the lap and managed to stay in the lead until the end. He confidently set a time 0.392 seconds faster, thereby securing his place in the semi-finals.

QF3: Dan Ticktum vs. Nyck de Vries

Ticktum had a good start to the lap. The two-time Monaco pole-sitter set the faster times in sectors 1 and 2. With a lead of 0.044 seconds, he progressed to the semi-finals.

QF4: Jake Dennis vs. Pascal Wehrlein

Dennis and Wehrlein were neck and neck at the start of the decisive lap. However, a minor mistake cost Wehrlein time and he ultimately lost out to the Brit in the Andretti by almost half a second: 0.423 seconds separated the pair. Despite a scare towards the end of the lap, Dennis secured victory in this duel.

Semi-finals

SF1: Mitch Evans vs. Felipe Drugovich

Drugovich got off to a much quicker start and ultimately completed the lap 0.025 seconds faster than the Jaguar driver. This secured his place in the final.

SF2: Dan Ticktum vs. Jake Dennis

Ticktum got off to a good start in the decisive lap, but then braked too late at the hairpin bend. This allowed Dennis to comfortably secure his place in the final. A gap of 17.392 seconds separated the two at the end.

Final: Felipe Drugovich vs. Jake Dennis

The two Andretti drivers faced off in the qualifying final. Jake Dennis was able to leave his team-mate far behind after Drugovich made a mistake. A gap of 1.078 seconds separated the pair in the end. This secured pole position for Dennis. It was Dennis’s first pole position of the season and the eighth of his Formula E career. For the first time, both Andretti cars were on the front row of the grid.

The top 10 in the Sanya qualifying session was completed by Evans, Ticktum, Barnard, de Vries, Cassidy, Wehrlein, Eriksson and Buemi. However, Barnard will start the race ten places further back due to grid penalty for contact with Nato and Vergne in Monaco.

Müller, in the second Porsche works car, finished qualifying in 16th place, with Max Günther in the DS Penke directly behind him in 17th place.

The race in Sanya takes place at 9.05 am (CEST). e-Formula.news will be covering the race as usual via the Formula E live ticker – perfect as a ‘second screen’ for true fans!

Results, starting grid & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)