Formula E

Formula E in Sao Paulo: Champion Wehrlein clinches dramatic pole position in 1st qualifying of the season

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Pascal Wehrlein has secured the first pole position of the new 2024/25 Formula E season in Sao Paulo! In a thrilling finale against Oliver Rowland (Nissan), the Porsche driver turned the tide shortly before the end and not only secured grid position 1, but also the first three championship points. Jake Dennis (Andretti) and Max Günther (DS Penske) made it onto the second row of the grid. Jaguar driver Mitch Evans, on the other hand, suffered a major setback.

Group A: New dynamic in the group stage - Dennis dominates

While the qualifying groups are normally divided according to the current championship standings, the eleven teams are always allowed to decide which of their drivers they want to race in which group at the first race of the season. As a result, all teams were represented once in each group. The favourites in Group A included Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis, but there were several other fast drivers on the track. After the first few minutes, Sam Bird led the tableau, followed by Lucas di Grassi, Antonio Felix da Costa and David Beckmann.

However, not all drivers came into the pits to change tyres, as in previous years, which led to a different dynamic developing: the fastest times were no longer set after six and twelve minutes, but were continuously undercut, including by Jake Dennis. After his fast lap, however, he radioed: "The tyres are through." In fact, the new softer Hankook tyre has a much smaller temperature window in which it works optimally. Although Dennis set his best time relatively early, he was very fast.

So the Briton remained at the front even after the time had elapsed. Felix da Costa, Rowland and Jean-Eric Vergne qualified alongside him for the duel phase. Disappointment for the world champion team Jaguar: Nick Cassidy was only fifth. He was followed by Sebastien Buemi, di Grassi, last year's winner Bird, Jake Hughes, Beckmann and Nyck de Vries.

Group B: Wehrlein on par with Dennis, drama for Evans

In Group B, world champion Pascal Wehrlein and his rival Mitch Evans, among others, took to the track. The "Kiwi" had won the Sao Paulo E-Prix two years ago - but stopped on the track after just three and a half minutes - just like in the second free practice session! His emergency brake had possibly triggered, but even team boss James Barclay didn't know for sure. Race control interrupted the session with red flags.

On team radio, his race engineer instructed Evans to perform a "power cycle" to restart his car. Although he was able to restart himself a little later, he repeatedly came to a standstill with a "Brake System Error 535". The "big cat" crawled back to the pits at walking pace - disaster for Jaguar at the start of the season! After a ten-minute break, the session finally resumed with seven minutes remaining.

The first top time came from Wehrlein - roughly on a par with Group A winner Dennis. Edo Mortara moved up to second place with a strong lap. Stoffel Vandoorne lined up behind him in third place, while Dan Ticktum and Norman Nato fought it out for fourth place. With time running out, Max Günther moved up to third place out of nowhere, where he would remain. Wehrlein won his group ahead of Mortara. Nato also entered the duels in fourth place. The remaining places went to Vandoorne, Ticktum, Robin Frijns, Nico Müller, Taylor Barnard, Zane Maloney and unlucky Evans.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Sao Paulo

Quarter-finals

QF1: Oliver Rowland vs Antonio Felix da Costa

The first quarter-final promised to be a duel of equals. However, Rowland got the better start to the lap - he was almost two tenths of a second faster than his opponent at the beginning. Felix da Costa made up some ground in sector 2. Meanwhile, Rowland complained on the radio about his steering. Although he also had to concede the third sector to Felix da Costa, it was just enough for him in the end: Rowland moved into the semi-finals with a six hundredths of a second lead!

QF2: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Jake Dennis

In the second duel, Dennis left nothing to chance: The Briton in the Andretti was faster than veteran Vergne in all three sectors and ultimately took more than half a second off him. As a result, the 2023 world champion marched confidently into the final four.

QF3: Max Günther vs Edo Mortara

Günther got off to the slightly better start in the third quarter-final. In the second sector, he was three tenths of a second faster than Mortara, who had surprised everyone in the group stage. Even though both were on an equal footing in sector 3, Günther came out on top in the end with a clear lead of more than three tenths of a second.

QF4: Norman Nato vs Pascal Wehrlein

Nato opened the last quarter-final with a better sector best time than Wehrlein! Section 2, however, clearly went to the reigning world champion from Germany, before both were roughly equally fast in the final part of the track. Wehrlein was 0.122 seconds faster than Nato at the chequered flag, making him the last driver through to the semi-finals. There, the fans could now look forward to an all-British and an all-German duel.

Semi-final

SF1: Oliver Rowland vs Jake Dennis

The two pole favourites met in this duel between the qualifying giants, which had never been seen before in the Gen3 era. Rowland opened the fast laps with a much better first sector. However, the second section of the track went to Dennis, making it exciting as expected. Although Dennis continued to catch up in sector 3, it was not enough for him: he was actually a thousandth of a second slower than Rowland and had to admit defeat - Rowland went to the final!

SF2: Max Günther vs. Pascal Wehrlein

Back in March, Günther and Wehrlein had already met in qualifying in Sao Paulo - with the better end for Wehrlein on that occasion. The Porsche driver also had the better first sector this time. He also took another tenth of a second off his compatriot in the second part of the track and added another two tenths at the end. As a result, Wehrlein confidently moved into the final against Rowland with a lead of almost half a second. Günther will start from the second row in fourth place.

Final: Oliver Rowland vs. Pascal Wehrlein

This duel had taken place once before, in the quarter-finals of the Misano E-Prix. Winner then: Wehrlein. This time, however, Rowland got off to the better start and took almost two tenths of a second off Wehrlein! However, the German countered in sector 2 and got back on level terms. He actually turned the tide in the final sector and beat Rowland by 99 thousandths of a second! Pole position and the first three points for the reigning world champion! It is the 30-year-old's seventh pole position in Formula E.

The first race of the 2024/25 Formula E World Championship season will take place early Saturday evening at 6 pm (CET). e-Formula.news will be following the race in Brazil as usual in the Formula E live ticker - ideal as a "second screen" for real fans!

Results, times & starting grid

Overall standings (drivers & teams)

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