Formula E qualifying in Miami: Nico Müller secures the first pole position of his Formula E career

The qualifying session in Miami was incredibly thrilling! Porsche works driver Nico Müller secured the first pole position of his entire Formula E career. Felipe Drugovich in the Andretti also made history with his first entry in the duels and his progression to the final, but had no chance against his predecessor in the cockpit of the US team. Antonio Felix da Costa and Nyck de Vries will start the race from grid row 2.

Group A: Nato drives the fastest lap at the end

The first group on track consisted of the three Swiss drivers Edoardo Mortara, Nico Müller and Sebastien Buemi, who were accompanied on track by Nick Cassidy, Pepe Marti, Nyck de Vries, Norman Nato, Mitch Evans and Lucas di Grassi.

Di Grassi went into qualifying with the knowledge that he would have to start from further back: the Brazilian was handed a three place grid penalty for the race due to a collision with Mitch Evans in the second free practice session. The incident had brought out a red flag.

The drivers took to the track on time and, as in the second free practice session, the tyres had to be brought up to temperature first, meaning that the first laps were comparatively slow. The first fast lap came from Nick Cassidy three minutes before the end of the session with a lap time of 0:56.845 minutes.

Then followed a contact between Mortara and compatriot Buemi, whereupon the Mahindra driver complained loudly and said that his front axle had been damaged by the contact. The race stewards investigated the incident and penalised Buemi - the Envision driver has to drop five positions on the grid. As he also obstructed Mortara's team-mate de Vries shortly afterwards, he was penalised another three places.

Nato was able to secure his place in the duels, who made himself known at the end when he set the fastest lap time of 0:56.765 minutes. Cassidy, de Vries and Müller also progressed to the duels. For Evans, Rowland, Marti, Buemi, Mortara and di Grassi, qualifying ended at this point.

Group B: Taylor Barnard fastest

In Group B, the two Germans Pascal Wehrlein and Maximilian Günther were in contention to progress in the duels. Joining them on the track were the three Brits Jake Dennis, Taylor Barnard and Dan Ticktum, as well as Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa.

After the drivers had brought their tyres up to temperature, Drugovich was the first driver to post a lap time of under one minute. But he was quickly beaten by Günther. Günther's team-mate Barnard fought his way to the top shortly afterwards with a lap time of 0:56.562 minutes.

Barnard made a mistake when braking on his last fast lap shortly before the end, but as none of the other drivers were able to beat his time set before, he secured his place in the next round of qualifying with the fastest lap time. Felix da Costa, Eriksson and Drugovich also progressed. Günther, Wehrlein, Maloney, Dennis, Vergne and Ticktum ended their qualifying at this point.

Quarter-finals

QF1: Nyck de Vries vs. Nick Cassidy

The duel in this quarter-final of qualifying was a very special one: Nick Cassidy and Nyck de Vries had never raced against each other in a direct duel before. De Vries was ahead from the start to the end of the lap and thus confidently secured his place in the semi-finals.

QF2: Nico Müller vs Norman Nato

In the duels that Norman Nato has contested against Nico Müller in the past, the Frenchman has always come out on top. This time, however, things turned out differently: it was a very close duel, but Müller prevailed and secured his place. Nato had made a mistake at the end of his lap. His lap time was cancelled as the Frenchman had left the track.

QF3: Joel Eriksson vs Antonio Felix da Costa

Felix da Costa's Jaguar dominated qualifying and was in front from the start. At the end of the lap, he was able to extend his lead even further and dominantly won the duel.

VF4: Felipe Drugovich vs Taylor Barnard

It was the first ever duel for the Brazilian Drugovich in the Andretti. The Brazilian and Barnard were pretty evenly matched throughout the entire lap, but in the end the Andretti driver was able to secure his first ever progression to the semi-finals in the electric world championship. He was a thousandth of a second ahead of the DS Penske driver.

Semi-final

SF1: Nyck de Vries vs. Nico Müller

The two drivers started the lap with tyres that had become colder again. It was an extremely close duel right up to the last corner. But in the end, Müller in the Porsche was able to progress into the final.

SF2: Felipe Drugovich vs Antonio Felix da Costa

The decisive point in this duel was also the last corner: Drugovich secured his place in the final with a lead of one tenth of a second.

Final: Nico Müller vs Felipe Drugovich

It was a final duel between two cars with Porsche powertrains. What was already clear beforehand was that we would have a new pole-sitter for the first time in this race at the Miami International Autodrome. Neither Müller nor Drugovich have ever started a Formula E race from pole position.

Before the lap, Drugovich was told by his team that he should drive the outlap quickly to get the tyres up to temperature, as all the other drivers who had done so had been able to secure their progress. However, Müller was able to secure the fastest times in Sectors 1 and 3 and secured the top position in Miami.

The Formula E race in Miami takes place tonight at 20:05 (CET). The German TV channel DF1 will broadcast the Miami E-Prix live on free-to-air TV and via livestream. e-Formel.de will be following the race as usual in the Formel E live ticker - ideal as a "second screen" for real fans!

Results, times & starting grid

Overall standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)