Formula E

Formula E in Jakarta: Max Günther takes pole position again on Sunday, Dennis second

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

In time trials, Max Günther is simply unbeatable this weekend in Jakarta. After the German had won all three practice sessions and qualifying on Saturday, he also took pole position on Sunday - his second in Formula E. As on the previous day, Jake Dennis was second. The second row of the grid was completed by Mitch Evans (Jaguar) and Edo Mortara (Maserati). Saturday winner Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) will start the race from 6th on the grid.

Group A: Dennis marches through, Nissan makes step forward

In Group A, Jake Dennis and world championship leader Nick Cassidy went head-to-head with both Jaguar drivers and all four Nissan cars of the factory and customer team McLaren. After a few minutes, Dan Ticktum spun in the final corner. He turned his Nio 333 spectacularly, leaving mighty clouds of smoke and rubber marks at the start of the start/finish straight. Before the tire change, Cassidy was fastest. Behind him Dennis, Sacha Fenestraz and Mitch Evans lined up.

However, the times improved once again with fresh tires. Dennis set the fastest lap, with Fenestraz second. In addition, Evans and Jake Hughes moved into the duel stage. As on the previous day, Cassidy narrowly failed to finish fifth - this time due to a small driving error that meant he didn't catch a corner perfectly. Behind the Envision driver followed Norman Nato, Sam Bird, Rene Rast, David Beckmann, Dan Ticktum and Robin Frijns - disappointing result for Nio 333 and ABT Cupra, a solid result for debutant Beckmann.

Group B: Maserati can't be beaten

In the "Group of Death" B, both Porsches, both Maseratis and both DS, among others, had to qualify. During the first half of the twelve-minute session, Max Günther was once again the fastest, followed by his teammate Edo Mortara. Stoffel Vandoorne and the two Porsches of Antonio Felix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein followed behind. Then it was off to the pit lane for tire changes for all the drivers.

Now things got serious, and once again Maserati set the pace: Günther managed to better his best time again, as did Mortara. The Swiss, however, remained eight thousandths of a second behind his teammate. Wehrlein was third, Vandoorne fourth. His DS teammate Jean-Eric Vergne missed the duel stage by a single thousandth of a second. Felix da Costa, Sebastien Buemi, Sergio Sette Camara, Nico Müller and the two Mahindras of Lucas di Grassi and Roberto Merhi lined up behind.

Quarter-finals

QF1: Mitch Evans vs. Sacha Fenestraz

In sector 1 of the first duel, both drivers were right on par. Then Mitch Evans was able to gain a small advantage. The final section of the track also went to the Jaguar driver, who in the end he clearly prevailed over Sacha Fenestraz by more than four tenths of a second.

QF2: Jake Hughes vs. Jake Dennis

The second quarter-final was also pretty clear-cut, with Jake Dennis considerably quicker than his namesake Hughes in all three sectors, taking more than six tenths of a second off his best lap. Hughes thus bowed out early and had to settle for eighth on the grid, while Dennis advanced to the semi-finals.

QF3: Pascal Wehrlein vs. Edo Mortara

Pascal Wehrlein showed a good first sector, but that is Maserati territory this weekend. Edo Mortara took a tenth off the German and repeated the feat in the second sector. In sector 3, both were about equally fast, but Mortara brought his advantage of just over two tenths of a second across the finish line. Wehrlein will thus start from 6th place.

QF4: Stoffel Vandoornevs. Max Günther

In the last quarter-final, there was one clear favorite: Max Günther. The German lived up to expectations and already took a good two tenths of a second out of Stoffel Vandoorne in the first two sectors. He was even able to extend this lead to 3.5 tenths of a second in the end. Günther impressed with the precision and reliability of a clockwork - and again qualified for the the semi-finals. Vandoorne did the fastest "loser lap" in the quarter-finals, and will consequently start fifth.

Semi-finals

SF1: Jake Dennis vs. Mitch Evans

Evans began by setting the pace with a strong first sector. In the second sector, both drivers were almost identically fast. Sector 3, however, went to Dennis. The Briton in the Andretti beat the Jaguar driver by a thousandth of a second - it couldn't have been tighter. Converted, just 3.48 cm separated the two rivals! Dennis thus again made it into the qualifying final, as Evans secured third place on the grid.

SF2: Edo Mortara vs. Max Günther

In the team-internal Maserati duel, Günther got the better start and built up a lead. Sector 2 also went narrowly to the German, as did the final section. So once again Günther prevailed over Mortara - with a clear lead of 0.342 seconds. That left exactly the same drivers fpr the final as on Saturday: Günther and Dennis!

Final: Max Günther vs. Jake Dennis

Günther set the pace with a fast first sector that Dennis could not match. The German also clearly had the upper hand in the second sector. He finalized his demonstration of power from Jakarta in sector 3 and built a total lead of 0.585 seconds - one of the most dominant qualifying performances in Formula E history! As a result, Günther collected three more world championship points will start from from pole position on Sunday.

The second race in Indonesia starts on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. (CEST). You will be able to find our extensive reporting and all session results on e-Formula.news as soon as the chequered flag drops.

Results, times & grid

Overall standings (drivers & teams)

Go back

0 Comments

Add a comment

What is the sum of 5 and 8?