Formula E in Shanghai: Nick Cassidy takes Sunday pole position in rain chaos without a duel phase

Nick Cassidy secured pole position in a chaotic qualifying session in Shanghai on Sunday. After considerable delays due to rain, there was only one group stage this time and the duel stage was cancelled. Cassidy set the best lap time across the board in Group A and will therefore start the race from P1 on the grid. Group B went to Antonio Felix da Costa, who will start in second place directly ahead of his Porsche team-mate Pascal Wehrlein.

The qualifying session began as the third free practice session had ended - with a standstill. The early qualifying session was actually due to start at 3.00 am (CEST), but shortly beforehand, the race organisers announced that the start would be postponed to 3.10 am, then to 3.20 am, 3.30 am and 3.40 am. Although the rain had subsided, there was still a lot of water on the newly tarmaced track. Race director Marek Hanaczewski joined safety car driver Bruno Correia on the track to see the situation for himself.

The start was postponed one last time to 3.45 am - the latest possible time for the start of qualifying. However, the rain was now getting heavier again, so no one really had any hope. Three minutes before the start, however, the surprising announcement came that qualifying would take place, albeit only with the group phase. The duel phase was therefore cancelled. The fastest lap time from both groups would determine which group would start in the even positions and which in the odd positions.

Group A: Cassidy & Wehrlein dominate in the rain

Group A got ready and took to the track. After five of twelve minutes, the first serious lap times appeared on the monitor. Nick Cassidy was initially the fastest. The lap times slowly but surely got faster. Always at the front: Pascal Wehrlein. The German alternated several times at the front with Cassidy. Nyck de Vries, on the other hand, spun but did not stop. Ticktum also showed a few wild drifts. The rain became heavier again.

Some serious spinning action for de Vries 👀@Hankook_Sport #ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/aLhI1Y3rAZ

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 1, 2025

After that, there were no more improvements. Cassidy won Group A with a lap time of 1:31.305 minutes - a good four tenths of a second ahead of Wehrlein. Jake Hughes and de Vries also made it into the top four, but were not as relevant as usual due to the cancelled duel phase. The order behind them: Max Günther, Zane Maloney, Mitch Evans, Edo Mortara, Oliver Rowland (!), Dan Ticktum and Norman Nato.

Group B: First interruption after Buemi spins, then cancellation

The drivers in Group B were now in a hurry to set a good lap time as early as possible before it rained even more. Antonio Felix da Costa was the first to go out and was clearly the fastest in the first five minutes. However, his time was still more than 1.5 seconds slower than Cassidy in Group A, which would ultimately decide the pole position (for which, incidentally, there were no three championship points this time).

With just over four minutes left on the clock, David Beckmann spun, followed by Taylor Barnard and Sebastien Buemi. The Swiss driver was stuck in the gravel for a while after losing his brakes, prompting the race organisers to wave the red flags. However, Buemi was able to set off again under his own steam after a restart of the systems. With 4:04 minutes remaining, the race resumed. At this point in the top 4: Felix da Costa, Lucas di Grassi, Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Brake failure for Buemi brings out the red flag 🔴

He got the car going again to drive back to pit lane@Hankook_Sport #ShanghaiEPrix pic.twitter.com/suiuqdccHb

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 1, 2025

Just as the drivers were about to start their final attempts, the lights turned red again. Race director Hanaczewski radioed: "The rain is getting heavier again. For safety reasons, we are forced to cancel the session." This resulted in the following order in Group B: Felix da Costa, di Grassi, Vergne, Vandoorne, Nico Müller, Robin Frijns, Taylor Barnard, Sam Bird, Jake Dennis, Buemi and Beckmann. However, pole position went to Nick Cassidy, who set the fastest lap across the board in Group A. Felix da Costa was nevertheless delighted with grid position 2.

Sunday's race in Shanghai is scheduled to start at 7am (CEST), weather permitting. As usual, e-Formula.news will be there for you with our live ticker.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)