Formula E

Formula E: Pascal Wehrlein beats Porsche team-mate Felix da Costa in the qualifying final in Mexico

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Adam Pigott / Spacesuit Media

Pascal Wehrlein secured pole position at the Mexico City E-Prix - again. The reigning Formula E world champion beat his Porsche team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa in the qualifying final to secure first place on the grid and three championship points. Jean-Eric Vergne and Oliver Rowland finished on the second row of the grid, while Max Günther was sixth behind Mitch Evans.

Group A: Wehrlein has the last word

In contrast to the second free practice session, the sun was shining brightly over Mexico City at the start of qualifying. In Group A, world champion Pascal Wehrlein, Jaguar driver Mitch Evans and Nissan ace Oliver Rowland, among others, took to the track - all three candidates for pole position. In the first six minutes, however, the drivers initially got used to the new track conditions: The circuit was now largely dry, except for a few damp patches. The lead changed hands constantly in the first eight minutes.

Three minutes before the end of the race, Rowland set a devilishly fast lap with a lead of 666 thousandths of a second over Evans. But then the world champion got serious: Wehrlein took the lead by more than half a second. Compatriot David Beckmann, on the other hand, made a braking error in turn 1 and had to turn round in the run-off area. Evans took two tenths off Wehrlein despite the traffic.

Rowland and Buemi were even faster shortly after the time expired, although Buemi's lap time was later cancelled. But the last word belonged to the champion: Wehrlein set the fastest time once again and entered the knockout phase as group winner - for the sixth time in a row! Rowland, Evans and Edo Mortara followed him. The strong Zane Maloney narrowly missed out in fifth ahead of Nico Müller and Beckmann.

Group B: Günther prevails against the favourites

The favourites in the strong second group were Nick Cassidy, Jake Dennis, Antonio Felix da Costa and Jake Hughes. However, riders such as Nyck de Vries and Max Günther were also in with a chance. In the first nine of twelve minutes, however, Robin Frijns in particular was the fastest. Norman Nato, on the other hand, was unable to set a lap time for a long time, and Cassidy was also far behind. But then the "Kiwi" set a new best time with a lead of almost seven tenths of a second.

As in Sao Paulo, the new qualifying dynamics led to a number of position changes, especially in the final seconds. Günther set a new fastest time, Dennis finished second. Cassidy initially remained third, but his lap time was later cancelled. This meant that Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne entered the duels. Frijns had to admit defeat in fifth place, but his lap time got cancelled later, too. Behind him was Sam Bird, who, like several others, was hampered by traffic on his fast lap.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Sao Paulo

Quarter-finals

QF1: Mitch Evans vs Oliver Rowland

The Evans vs Rowland duel had taken place twice before - both times with the better outcome in favour of Rowland. Evans delivered a strong first sector and pulled out a lead of almost three tenths of a second. In the second sector, however, Rowland was even four tenths faster than his opponent! In the final sector, he added another one and a half tenths and in the end he confidently beat Evans by 2.8 tenths of a second. Rowland strong and in the semi-finals!

QF2: Edo Mortara vs. Pascal Wehrlein

The second duel was a demonstration of power from Wehrlein. The German took half a second off Mortara in the first part of the track and added the same gap in sector 2. Even though Mortara was able to make up some ground at the end of the lap, he was clearly beaten. Favourite Wehrlein, on the other hand, made it through to the final four with aplomb.

QF3: Antonio Felix da Costa vs. Jake Dennis

In the duel between two Porsche 99X Electric cars, works driver Felix da Costa got off to the slightly better start than Dennis. The Portuguese was a good tenth of a second faster in each of the first two sectors. In the final section he increased his lead to almost half a second! Dennis was - somewhat surprisingly - eliminated, while Porsche was delighted to have its second driver in the semi-final.

QF4: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Max Günther

The new team-mates Günther and Vergne had already met twice in qualifying before their time together - with one win for each driver. Vergne got off to the better start in the latest duel between the two DS drivers. The second sector also went to the Frenchman. Even though Günther countered once again, Vergne ultimately prevailed by almost 3.5 tenths of a second over his team-mate, who had been even faster in the group phase - a strong lap from "JEV"!

Semi-final

SF1: Pascal Wehrlein vs Oliver Rowland

Wehrlein and Rowland had already duelled twice before - twice with the better end for the Porsche driver. In what was supposed to be an early final, Wehrlein initially got to grips better, but Rowland was clearly better in sector 2 and gained the upper hand. However, Wehrlein struck back again and took enough time off Rowland in the final section of the track to ultimately reach the final with a lead of 1.82 tenths of a second. The next gala qualifying performance from the reigning Formula E world champion!

SF2: Antonio Felix da Costa vs. Jean-Eric Vergne

In the second semi-final, Felix da Costa got off to the better start and took a good two tenths of a second from his former team-mate Vergne. However, sector 2 went to the two-time champion, making it exciting once again. With a good final section, Felix da Costa prevailed with a lead of just under two tenths of a second. While Vergne's lap was still good enough for third place on the grid, Felix da Costa entered the final against his Porsche team-mate with the fastest qualifying lap to date - a first!

Final: Pascal Wehrlein vs Antonio Felix da Costa

In the first ever qualifying final with two Porsche drivers, it was clear even before the start that Porsche would take its eighth pole position in Formula E and thus draw level with Mercedes. In the two previous duels between Wehrlein and Felix da Costa, the Portuguese driver had come out on top both times. This time, both started on an equal footing and were almost equally fast in sector 1, but the second part of the track belonged to Wehrlein, and clearly so!

The German lost another two tenths of a second in the final section, but ultimately prevailed over his team-mate by just over a tenth! Wehrlein thus secured the eighth pole position of his Formula E career and the next three world championship points! Porsche was delighted to have both drivers on the front row of the grid.

The second round of the 2024/25 Formula E World Championship season will take place on Saturday evening at 9 pm (CET). e-Formula.news will cover the race as usual in the Formula E live ticker - ideal as a "second screen" for real fans!

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