It’s time to set the grid for the impending Formula E race in Sanya, with drivers ready to take on the challenge of Qualifying. The two Practice sessions have seen a variety of drivers on top, with Mahindra definitely a team to watch here on the Chinese streets. In fact, Mortara led FP1 and settled for P2 in the later second practice.
Group A take the Qualifying field for Sanya Formula E qualifying
After the first set of timed attempts, Di Grassi led from Cassidy, Mortara and Muller, in what will be for sure an incredibly tight group. A yello flag was caused with 2 minutes left in the session, as Martí ran long at the hairpin. Thus, the session will be decided by a single final flying lap, with big names including championship leader Evans currently at the back.
However, the Jaguar man managed to get to P3, advancing to the Duels along Drugovich, Barnard and Cassidy. As a consequence, surprisingly Mortara, with the highest number of poles of the current FE season, and in spite of a strong Practise performance, didn’t manage to improve on his final lap. In spite of his three push laps, Porsche’s Muller failed to advance either.
Group B’s turn
The first set of early benchmarks sees Wehrlein leading from Rowland, De Vries and only previous Sanya E-Prix winner Vergne. Ticktum moves up to P2, only 0.06s off the Porsche man. Afterwards, he runs to the limit of collision at Turn 4.
Unexpectedly , a yellow flag was issued in the final seconds of the session, as Maloney stops on track after making contact with the wall going into Turn 2. Neither Günther, nor da Costa manage to improve, as Wehrlein leads from De Vries, Ticktum and Dennis.
Quarter finals
Evans and Barnard face off in the first Duel of the day. The Penske young talent began on top, with Evans leading in the second sector, and the championship leader eventually moving on by a thousandth of a second.
Cassidy and Drugovich face off next, with the Andretti man in clear control from the first turns. Ultimately, he developed 0.400s of advantage, building off the confidence of his first ever Formula E podium.
Ticktum and de Vries are on next, with the Cupra man leading in the first sector and the former F1 driver catching up in the second. Ultimately, it’s Ticktum who gets the chance to continue Formula E Qualifying in Sanya.
Dennis began his lap with over 0.300s of advantage over Wehrlein. In spite of running into a bump in the final sector, reached as he was rather wide, the Andretti man managed to advance to the Semifinals.
Semi finals
Evans and Drugovich compete in the first semi final. Drugovich began with a 0.053 advantage in the first sector, which once again grew to almost 0.100s in the middle sector. While Evans succeeded in reducing the gap to the Brazilian, he failed to advance.
Dennis, which had also previously made contact with the wall at Turn 7, began with a slight advantage over his fellow Porsche powered colleague. However, Ticktum made a mistake at Turn 9, running far too wide into the hairpin, as Dennis sets the best time seen in China so far in 1:05.425s.
Final
In a completely bright fluorescent yellow final, Andretti teammates Dennis and Drugovich battle for the three points awarded for Pole. The young Brazilian began his lap 0.063s faster than the Brit, who then built on an impressive second lap half to develop a 0.6s lead by the halfway point of the lap and over 1s by the end of the lap.
In fact, Drugovich had made a Turn 11 mistake, running inside off the racing line. It’s Jake Dennis’s first pole since Jakarta 2025.
Read complete Sanya Qualifying results here
