Formula E

Formula E in Monaco: Pascal Wehrlein takes pole position & extends world championship lead

Tobias Wirtz

Tobias Wirtz
Pascal-Wehrlein-hairpin-qualifying

TAG Heuer Porsche (via Twitter)

Pascal Wehrlein secured pole position in Formula E qualifying in Monaco. The Porsche driver beat Stoffel Vandoorne in the final duel. The two Jaguar drivers Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans start behind him. World champion Jake Dennis, on the other hand, faltered in qualifying and had to start the race from the back of the grid. Nico Müller, whose fastest lap time was cancelled due to a technical infringement, had a similar fate.

Group A: Evans dominant, Porsche with both cars in the duel phase for the first time

In Group A, the drivers in the odd-numbered championship positions took to the grid. Oliver Rowland was fastest after the first attempts, ahead of Max Günther, Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein. All the drivers then switched to a fresh set of tyres.

The lap times tumbled towards the end of the session: Evans set the fastest time ahead of Wehrlein, Günther and Antonio Felix da Costa. Oliver Rowland, on the other hand, was very disappointed: the third-placed driver in the world championship had to start the race from the eighth row of the grid. Andretti driver Norman Nato only finished tenth and penultimate, although he was only 0.006 seconds off the pace of the Nissan driver. Nico Müller's lap time was subsequently cancelled as an infringement of the homologated current pedal mapping was detected, meaning that the Swiss driver finished last in the group.

Group B: Jaguar drives strong again, Dennis weakens

In Group B, the first battle went to Jean-Eric Vergne, who led the tableau ahead of Jake Hughes and Stoffel Vandoorne at the halfway point of the session. Here too, all the drivers went into the pits to change to the second set of tyres available to them for the Monaco E-Prix. Vergne even aborted a lap for this, in which he was 0.3 seconds faster than his best time after the second sector.

On the second run, Stoffel Vandoorne moved into first place. The season 8 champion had a lead of around 0.2 seconds over Nick Cassidy, Sebastien Buemi and Vergne. Jake Dennis, on the other hand, was very disappointed: the reigning world champion was only classified in 9th place. Jake Hughes in eighth place and Dan Ticktum in 10th place were also anything but satisfied. Taylor Barnard finished last in his first Formula E qualifying session, around 1.7 seconds behind the field.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Monaco

Quarter finals

QF1: Max Günther vs. Pascal Wehrlein

The all-German quarter-final kicked off the duel phase. Wehrlein started the lap much better, after the first sector he was already more than 0.2 seconds ahead. This continued as the lap progressed, and after the second sector the difference was already more than three tenths of a second. By the finish line, the gap had even widened to more than half a second. It was clear sailing for Wehrlein, who made it through to the semi-finals for the third time in a row.

QF2: Antonio Felix da Costa vs. Mitch Evans

In his first duel of the season, Felix da Costa got off to a solid start, but Evans was significantly faster in the first two sectors of the track. The Portuguese driver's deficit totalled more than half a second by the finish line. Evans was thus confidently ahead.

QF3: Sebastien Buemi vs Nick Cassidy

The duel between last year's Envision team-mates was much closer: Cassidy was briefly behind Buemi after a driving error in the hairpin, but drove significantly faster in the last two sectors of the track and ultimately won by more than 0.3 seconds.

QF4: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Stoffel Vandoorne

DS-Penske's internal duel at the end of the quarter-final: Vandoorne made the better start to the lap, but a driving error by the Frenchman at the Mirabeau seemed to be the deciding factor. But Vandoorne was not without mistakes either: He dropped around 0.3 seconds in the final sector, but in the end his time was still enough to advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-final

HF1: Pascal Wehrlein vs. Mitch Evans

Porsche versus Jaguar - the first semi-final was therefore also a showdown between the two currently best powertrains in Formula E. Both drivers started their laps at a similar level, with Wehrlein winning the first sector by around 0.05 seconds. He extended this lead in the second sector before Evans braked in the harbour chicane and left the track. This made it clear that the New Zealander's lap time would be cancelled and Wehrlein would advance to the final.

HF2: Stoffel Vandoorne vs Nick Cassidy

Stoffel Vandoorne began his lap with a mistake in the first corner, Cassidy was immediately 0.2 seconds ahead. But then came the turning point: Cassidy hit the wall on the inside in the swimming pool section and had to finish the lap with bent steering. Vandoorne reached the final with a lead of almost half a second.

Final: Stoffel Vandoorne vs Pascal Wehrlein

A little surprisingly, Stoffel Vandoorne and Pascal Wehrlein made it through to the final, neither of whom had been the fastest drivers, but both had the lowest error rate. The start of the lap clearly went to Wehrlein, who was more than a tenth of a second ahead in the first sector. In the second sector, he extended his lead to 0.3 seconds. The Porsche driver was also clearly faster in the final sector, extending his lead to 0.443 seconds. It was Wehrlein's sixth pole position in Formula E.

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

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)

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