Formula E

Formula E Sunday qualifying in London: Nyck de Vries secures his first pole position since Diriyah 2022

Jasmin Fromm

Jasmin Fromm

FIA Formula E

On Sunday morning, Nyck de Vries secured pole position for the season finale in qualifying. He shares the front row with his Mahindra team-mate Edoardo Mortara. Pascal Wehrlein will start the race from third on the grid, ahead of his team-mate Nico Müller. Mitch Evans will start the race from fifth position, whilst Jake Dennis could only manage 16th place.

Group A: Nyck de Vries fastest, Nato and di Grassi without a time

In the first group of Sunday’s qualifying session, the two New Zealanders Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy took to the track at 10.40 am local time (11.40 am CEST). Joining them in the battle to reach the duels were Pascal Wehrlein, Antonio Felix da Costa, Nyck de Vries, Felipe Drugovich, Pepe Marti, Joel Eriksson, Lucas di Grassi and Norman Nato.

Marti knew even before qualifying began that he would be starting the race from further back on the grid. The Spaniard had received a grid penalty from the previous day’s race: this meant he was dropped three places down the starting grid.

For Evans, these were also the first proper minutes he’d been able to spend on track that day, following a brake-by-wire problem during the third free practice session earlier that morning. Lucas di Grassi was also unlucky on his final day of racing: the Brazilian caused a red flag in the third free practice session after his car shut down of its own accord. His team was unable to repair the car in time for qualifying, so he spent the qualifying session in the garage.

Nato suffered an early problem: the Frenchman drove into the run-off area at Turn 11. He subsequently informed his team that the brakes had failed. He managed to drive his car back to the garage, but then got out. The first fast lap times came after around five minutes. Evans took the lead with a lap time of 1:09.278 minutes. His team-mate Felix da Costa slotted in behind him. Then de Vries and Cassidy stepped up their pace and moved ahead of the two Jaguars.

This meant that de Vries, Wehrlein, Cassidy and Evans progressed to the duels. It wasn’t enough for Felix da Costa, Marti, Drugovich and Eriksson. Nato and di Grassi, who were unable to set any lap times, also failed to make it through to the duel phase.

Group B: Mortara fastest, but with damaged steering

In Group B, the four English drivers Jake Dennis, Dan Ticktum, Oliver Rowland and Taylor Barnard, along with the three Swiss drivers Edoardo Mortara, Nico Müller and Sebastien Buemi, took to the track. Jean-Eric Vergne, Maximilan Günther and Zane Maloney joined them in the group.

However, it was already clear before qualifying that Günther would have to start three places further back on the grid. The reason is a penalty from the third free practice session. In this group, too, the first faster times came after around five minutes of driving. Müller set a lap time of 1:09.043 minutes, then Dennis beat him with a time of 1:08.977 minutes. Mortara and Buemi then followed suit: Mortara set the fastest time of 1:08.616 minutes, whilst Buemi was around one hundredth of a second behind his compatriot.

Meanwhile, Ticktum was experiencing problems. The Briton drove back into the pit lane; his lap time was six seconds off Mortara’s fastest time. On his final lap, however, the Briton managed to set a good time and secure third place.

Mortara reported afterwards that he had damaged his steering. Nevertheless, he still finished as the fastest in the group with a time of 1:08.616 minutes. Müller in third, Ticktum in fourth and Baranard in fourth went through to the duels. Buemi, Günther, Vergne, Dennis, Rowland and Maloney were eliminated in the group stage.

Overview: The Formula E qualifying session in London

Quarter-finals

QF1: Nick Cassidy vs. Pascal Wehrlein

The two drivers got off to a close start, but this quickly changed when Cassidy made contact with the wall, damaging his steering in the process. Wehrlein won by a margin of 1.091 seconds. This saw the German driver in the Porsche progress to the semi-finals.

QF2: Mitch Evans vs. Nyck de Vries

Both drivers completed the first two sectors in very similar times. Evans was faster in the first sector, but de Vries managed to catch up in the second and third sectors. In the end, 0.177 seconds separated the two. This secured de Vries’s place in the semi-finals.

QF3: Dan Ticktum vs. Nico Müller

Ticktum went off the track at the chicane in Turn 10 and drove straight into the run-off area. He spun his car round and returned to the track, but lost a lot of time. As a result, Müller comfortably secured his place in the semi-finals.

QF4: Taylor Barnard vs. Edoardo Mortara

Mortara got off to a good start. In the first sector, the Swiss driver was faster than Barnard. However, despite faster times in sectors two and three, the Briton was unable to make up the gap. In the end, Mortara completed the lap 0.090 seconds faster than the DS Penske driver and thus progressed to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

SF1: Nyck de Vries vs. Pascal Wehrlein

De Vries put in a very good first sector. Wehrlein tried to catch up, but in the end the German was 0.022 seconds short.

SF2: Nico Müller vs. Edoardo Mortara

The duel between the two Swiss drivers was extremely close! Mortara took the first sector, Müller took the second, but in the third sector Mortara stepped up a gear and secured his place in the final.

Final: Nyck de Vries vs. Edoardo Mortara

The two Mahindra drivers started the lap close together. However, de Vries was consistently just a little bit ahead. He continued to extend his lead throughout the lap. This secures his first pole position since the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix, when de Vries was still driving for Mercedes.

The top 10 for Sunday’s race in London are de Vries, Mortara, Wehrlein, Müller, Evans, Barnard, Cassidy, Ticktum, Felix da Costa and Buemi. Dennis will start the race from 16th on the grid.

The race in London starts at 16:05 (CEST). e-Formula.news will be covering the race as usual via our Formula E live ticker – perfect as a ‘second screen’ for true fans!

Results, starting grid & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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