Formula E Sunday qualifying in Tokyo: Mortara secures pole position

Edardo Mortara secured pole position for Sunday’s Formula E race in Tokyo with a flawless final duel against Antonio Felix da Costa. The two Porsches drivers Nico Müller and Pascal Wehrlein finished qualifying in tenth and eleventh place. Max Günther could only manage 15th.

Group A: Jaguar dominates

After the third free practice session on Sunday was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions had been cancelled, qualifying resumed in Tokyo in the afternoon. The new championship leader, Mitch Evans, started in the first group. Alongside him, Jake Dennis, Antonio Felix a Costa, Nico Müller, Sebastien Buemi, Felipe Drugovich, Joel Eriksson, Jean-Eric Vergne, Taylor Barnard and Norman Nato were all vying to progress to the duels.

The green starting flag was waved on time, but the drivers did not head straight out onto the track. The reason was a red light at the pit lane exit. However, race director Marek Hanaczewski informed all the drivers that they could ignore the red light at the pit exit and head out onto the track. Due to the brief delay, the session was extended by 30 seconds. Following this announcement, the drivers headed straight onto the track to get their first few minutes of track time on Sunday.

The track continued to dry out, but water was still clearly visible, particularly on the start-finish straight.

An incident occurred between Buemi and Drugovich. Drugovich prevented Buemi from overtaking in Turn 16. The incident was noted by the race stewards.

The two Jaguars performed strongly. Shortly before the end, Evans took the lead, closely followed by Müller and his team-mate Felix da Costa. Further improvements followed from other competitors. Barnard briefly took the lead but was pushed back to third place as the two Jaguars further improved their times. Felix da Costa was the fastest with a lap time of 1:15.157 minutes. Nato managed to secure the last of the top four positions. Felix da Costa, Evans, Barnard and Nato thus progressed to the duels.

Müller, Vergne, Buemi, Drugovich, Dennis and Eriksson were eliminated in the group stage of qualifying.

Group B: Mahindra put in a strong performance

In the second group, German drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Maximilian Günther battled it out for their places in the duels. They were joined by reigning world champion Oliver Rowland, Edoardo Mortara, Nick Cassidy, Nyck de Vries, Pepe Marti, Dan Ticktum, Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney.

Group B drove onto the track straight away. Rowland reported vibrations in his car.

The two Mahindras driven by Mortara and de Vries took the lead shortly after qualifying began, followed by Rowland. Then the two Cupra Kiros driven by Ticktum and Marti stepped up their pace. Wehrlein followed suit and slotted into fourth place between the two Mahindras.

Günther struggled in Turn 11 and took the emergency exit to get back onto the track.

In the end, the two Mahindras stepped up their pace significantly once more and pushed their way back to the front. Mortara set the fastest time in the group with a lap time of 1:14.216 minutes, thereby qualifying for the duels. De Vries, Ticktum and Rowland also progressed.

Marti and Wehrlein set exactly the same time in the end, but with a time of 1:14.798 minutes they could only manage 5th and 6th position respectively and were thus eliminated in the group stage. Along with them, Cassidy, Günther, Maloney and di Grassi also failed to progress.

Quarter-finals

QF1: Taylor Barnard vs. Mitch Evans

The first quarter-final saw a rematch of a battle we last saw in Sanya. Evans won that one. This time, however, things turned out differently on the streets of Tokyo:

Barnard got off to a very good start and ended up creating a lead of over half a second. In the end, the Briton finished 0.555 seconds faster that the New Zealander. This saw Barnard progress to the semi-final of the qualifying round.

QF2: Norman Natovs v Antonio Felix da Costa

In the second quarter-final, we saw a clash that had never before taken place in this line-up.

Felix da Costa got off to a good start in the first sector. Nato made up some ground in the second sector, but a faster third sector then secured Felix da Costa’s place in the semi-finals. In the end, the two drivers were separated by 0.207 seconds.

QF3: Dan Ticktum vs. Nyck de Vries

Ticktum and de Vries have already faced each other twice in qualifying this season. Most recently in Sanya, and before that in Monaco. On both occasions, Ticktum secured victory. This time was no different: Ticktum was dominant from start to finish of the decisive lap. He was faster than the Dutchman in all three sectors. A gap of 0.427 seconds separated the two in the end. This secured Ticktum’s place in the semi-finals.

QF4: Oliver Rowland vs. Edoardo Mortara

It has already been two years since Mortara and Rowland faced each other in qualifying – also in Tokyo at the time. Rowland won on that occasion. This time, however, Mortara secured victory against the reigning world champion with ease. The Briton lost a lot of time in the very first corner. In the end, 1.207 seconds separated the two. Mortara thus progressed comfortably to the semi-finals.

An incident at Turn 1 for Oliver Rowland 👀

He does not progress into the Semi-Finals #TDKTokyoEPrix #FormulaE pic.twitter.com/zmzQz4M1eT

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 26, 2026

Semi-finals

SF1: Antonio Felix da Costa vs. Taylor Barnard

Felix da Costa and Barnard last had the chance to race against each other in qualifying at Monaco. Two months ago, Felix da Costa won. This time was no different. Both drivers started very close together. However, Felix da Costa had a slight edge and managed to maintain it through the first two sectors. It was only in the third sector that Barnard managed to set a faster time. But it wasn’t enough.

In the end, 0.127 seconds separated the two. Felix da Costa thus progressed to the final.

SF2: Dan Ticktum vs. Edoardo Mortara

Ticktum and Mortara last faced each other in Monaco, where Ticktum came out on top. This time, things went differently:

Mortara got off to a good start, Ticktum closed the gap in sector two, but Mortara dominated sector three once again. Ticktum had a brush with the wall in the final corner. A gap of 0.160 seconds separated the two drivers at the end of the lap, and Mortara was once again through to the qualifying final, just as he had been the previous day.

Final: Antonio Felix da Costa vs. Edoardo Mortara

The head-to-head battle between Mortara and Felix da Costa had already taken place the previous day in the semi-finals. Mortara won the day before.

Felix da Costa didn’t hit the apex correctly in Turn 1 and lost time. Mortara, on the other hand, drove a flawless lap: Fastest sector times in all sectors

The moment Edoardo Mortara took Julius Baer Pole Position 🙌#TDKTokyoEPrix #FormulaE pic.twitter.com/hpIrpzIXd3

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 26, 2026

This means the top 10 for Sunday’s race in Tokyo are Mortara, Felix da Costa, Ticktum, Barnard, de Vries, Nato, Evans, Rowland, Marti and Müller.

Sunday’s race in Tokyo takes place at 1.05 pm (CEST). e-Formula.news will be covering the race as usual via the Formula E live ticker – perfect as a ‘second screen’ for true fans!

Results, starting grid & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)