Formula E

Formula E in Shanghai: Max Günther dominates qualifying on Saturday and takes pole position

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Shiv Gohil / Spacesuit Media

Max Günther took pole position in qualifying for Saturday's Formula E race in Shanghai. The German in the DS Penske broke the track record several times in succession and also clearly won the final against McLaren youngster Taylor Barnard. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) and Nick Cassidy (Jaguar) will start the race from the second row of the grid.

Group A: Günther & Felix da Costa surprise

The first group included the two Andretti drivers, championship leader Oliver Rowland and favourite Antonio Felix da Costa, who had previously won both free practice sessions. After the first seven minutes, however, Jake Hughes was the fastest. Nick Cassidy then beat the fastest time before Max Günther took the lead by more than three tenths of a second - the fastest lap of the weekend so far with 300 kW of power!

Jake Dennis improved to second place ahead of Cassidy after the time had elapsed, while Rowland moved up to fourth place. Hughes narrowly missed out on fifth place. Edo Mortara finished sixth ahead of Nico Müller, Norman Nato and a disappointing Felix da Costa! Zane Maloney and Sebastien Buemi finished last in their group.

Group B: Barnard fastest, Ticktum with a mistake

At the start of the second group, Lucas di Grassi caught the eye, overtaking all the drivers on the track and then completing two fast laps. He then took the lead and entertained the spectators with a spectacular drift. Then came the first really good lap times: Nyck de Vries took the lead ahead of Taylor Barnard and his McLaren team-mate Sam Bird. Three minutes before the end, Barnard was faster again and took 1st place.

World champion Pascal Wehrlein moved up to third place and David Beckmann also progressed to the quarter-finals! Jean-Eric Vergne narrowly missed out in fifth place. Behind him were Bird, Stoffel Vandoorne, Robin Frijns, Mitch Evans, di Grassi and Dan Ticktum. The Kiro driver made a mistake in turn 1 and subsequently aborted his lap.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Monaco

Quarter-finals

QF1: Nick Cassidy vs. Jake Dennis

Cassidy opened the quarter-final with a good first sector that put him into a virtual lead. Dennis fought back a little in the second sector, but in the end the Jaguar driver came out on top by just over two tenths of a second - somewhat surprisingly.

QF2: Oliver Rowland vs. Max Günther

World championship leader Rowland started the second duel stronger than Günther. However, the German came back in sector 2. As the third section also clearly went to Günther, he advanced to the semi-finals with a commanding lead of almost three tenths of a second and a new track record.

QF3: Pascal Wehrlein vs. Nyck de Vries

Then came the world champion: Pascal Wehrlein pulled out a lead against de Vries and narrowly beat the Dutchman in the end. While Felix da Costa was already out as the actual favourite for pole position, Wehrlein was able to .gain more and more ground.

QF4: David Beckmann vs. Taylor Barnard

Barnard led the way with a good first sector, but was then slightly slower than Beckmann. As the final section of the track was clearly in Barnard's favour again, the Briton ultimately won by a clear margin of more than four tenths of a second over the German.

Semi-final

SF1: Nick Cassidy vs. Max Günther

Günther opened the first semi-final with another very good first sector. And the second and third sectors also went to the DS Penske driver, who once again came out on top with a very impressive track record.

SF2: Taylor Barnard vs. Pascal Wehrlein

Barnard and Wehrlein also put in a strong first sector - on equal terms. Even after the second sector, the two were separated by just 18 thousandths of a second. However, Wehrlein then lost time and was ultimately beaten by 1.45 tenths of a second. Barnard, on the other hand, went through to the final against Günther.

Final: Taylor Barnard vs. Max Günther

Günther had the better start to the final duel, being two tenths of a second faster. Barnard was slightly faster in the second part of the track. But then Günther went one better and beat his track record for the third time in a row! The German secured his fourth pole position overall in Formula E with a lead of almost four tenths of a second, meaning that he has now won all of them in Asia: he had previously won twice in Jakarta (2023) and once in Jeddah (2025).

The tenth round of the 2024-25 Formula E World Championship season will take place on Saturday morning at 9:00 am (CEST). e-Formula.news will be following the race as usual in the Formula E live ticker - ideal as a "second screen" for real fans!

Results, lap times & starting grid

Overall standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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