Formula E

Formula E in Misano: Mitch Evans wins qualifying final against Jean-Eric Vergne on Saturday

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Paddy McGrath / Spacesuit Media

Mitch Evans took pole position in Saturday's Formula E qualifying in Misano. The Jaguar driver prevailed in the final duel against Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske), who had previously dominated the entire race day. On the second row of the grid were Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) and Jake Hughes (McLaren), who was able to set an exclamation mark for the first time this season.

Shortly before qualifying, there was initially some bombshell news: The stewards announced in an official document that the four Jaguar cars did not comply with homologation and would not be allowed to start. A short time later, the Jaguar and Envision cars were nevertheless initially allowed to qualify.

Group A: Vergne confident, Vandoorne disappointed

The first qualifying group began as the two free practice sessions had ended: with Jean-Eric Vergne in the lead. The Frenchman in the DS Penske was fastest for the first half of the session and topped the timesheets ahead of Pascal Wehrlein, Max Günther and Robin Frijns. Then it was time for all the drivers to change tyres in order to prepare as best as possible for the fast laps.

Nothing was to change at the front, however: Vergne confidently entered the duel phase in first place. Wehrlein and Günther also remained in the Top 4, with only Oliver Rowland - the man of the moment - making a decisive improvement and moving into third place between Wehrlein and Günther: Frijns, Sacha Fenestraz, Antonio Felix da Costa, Lucas di Grassi, a disappointing Stoffel Vandoorne, Jehan Daruvala and Sergio Sette Camara, who had cut the chicane short.

Group B: Favourites stumble, Müller strong again

Jake Hughes in the McLaren was the fastest in the first few minutes of Group B. He was well ahead of Nick Cassidy in second place. Nico Müller and Mitch Evans in the second Jaguar were also initially in the top four. World champion Jake Dennis hit the left rear wheel in the chicane. Both Andretti drivers were also stripped of their first three lap times due to insufficient tyre pressures - Dennis and Norman Nato were already out!

Then things got serious, and there were more surprises. Hughes remained in front, Evans improved to second place, Sam Bird moved into third place in the duel phase and Müller also qualified for the quarter-finals with another strong performance! Especially in view of the early retirement of Felix da Costa, with whom he may be battling for a Porsche cockpit next year, this is piquant news...

Title contender Cassidy was eliminated in fifth place. Behind him were: Sebastien Buemi, Norman Nato, Edo Mortara, Dan Ticktum, Master Dennis and Nyck de Vries.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Misano (1/2)

Quarter-final

VF1: Oliver Rowland vs Pascal Wehrlein

In the first duel, Rowland had a good first sector against the championship leader and was almost 0.2 seconds ahead. However, the Nissan driver then made a mistake: he hit the grass slightly and squandered his lead, ultimately allowing Wehrlein to progress to the semi-finals.

VF2: Max Günther vs. Jean-Eric Vergne

Second duel, second German driver. However, the favourite was clearly the Frenchman, who had won both free practice sessions and group qualifying. And Vergne got off to a flying start: he already had a lead of more than half a second in the first sector. The duel was decided at the latest after a driving error by Günther in turn 12, which caused his Maserati to rise slightly. In the end, Vergne was ahead by more than a whole second.

VF3: Sam Bird vs Mitch Evans

In comparison, the duel between the former team-mates was on an equal footing: both drove almost identical sector times, but Bird lost significant ground in the final metres. Evans won with a lead of around half a second.

VF4: Nico Müller vs Jake Hughes

The final quarter-final was close: Nico Müller was able to match Hughes' pace for much of the lap, but ultimately lost out by around 0.3 seconds to the McLaren driver, who put in a strong performance for the first time in 2024 this weekend.

Semi-finals

HF1: Pascal Wehrlein vs. Jean-Eric Vergne

Vergne went into the first semi-final as the slight favourite, but sector 1 initially went to Wehrlein. However, the Frenchman countered in the second section. Although the final section belonged to Wehrlein again, the German Porsche driver had to admit defeat. Vergne came out on top by 58 thousandths of a second and advanced to the final.

HF2: Mitch Evans vs Jake Hughes

In the second semi-final, both drivers were almost identically fast in the first part of the race. However, Hughes was then able to carve out a small advantage. In sector 3, however, the McLaren driver lost around six tenths of a second due to a mistake in turn 11, meaning that Evans ultimately came out on top - by just over two tenths of a second.

Final: Mitch Evans vs Jean-Eric Vergne

The final began on equal terms: Evans and Vergne were almost equally fast in sector 1. In the second part of the circuit, however, Evans was able to carve out a slight lead of a tenth of a second. Ultimately, the Jaguar driver was slightly faster than Vergne in all three sectors, resulting in an overall lead of 1.6 tenths of a second. Mitch Evans on pole position - for the seventh time in his Formula E career!

The sixth race of the 2024 Formula E season will take place on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm (CEST).

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)

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