It’s time to se the grid for the first Formula E race in Tokyo, as the grid gets ready for Qualifying. Thus far, the Japanese circuit has been home to a quiet and rainy nighttime FP1 session, as well as the first red flag of the weekend in the earlier FP2.
Unfortunately, following his earlier crash at Turn 16, Andretti’s Felipe Drugovich will no be able to take part in the session, with the American team aiming at having him around for the race.
Group A is underway!
Rowland, Nato, Di Grassi, Barnard, Dennis, Mueller, Cassidy, Wehrlein, Eriksson exited first as part of Group A.
At the halfway point in the session, Rowland led from Nato, Dennis and Di Grassi. Only these first four exited the pits in the first part of the session. Rowland didn’t manage to advance to the following segment as he lost the rear early on at Turn 4 on his final attempt , having to satisfy himself with a P8.
Ultimately, Dennis, Mueller, Cassidy and Barnard advanced, with the latter kicking away into the not passing zone championship leader Pascal Wehrlein.
Group B on next in Formula E Qualifying in Tokyo!
Several fast drivers are encompassed into this second group, including top 2 finishers in FP2 Mortara and Ticktum, but also championship contender Evans.
At the halfway point in the session, Evans led in 1:14.062 from Maloney, de Vries and da Costa, as Mahindra appears to be confirming the speed shown throughout the first rounds of the 2025/2026 season. Evans made slight contact with the wall, as the Jaguar man is definitely trying to push to make up for his pointless weekend in Shanghai.
In a shocking upturn of events, Evans failed to complete his final flying lap due to lack of feeling and consequently was bumped out of the Duels stage.
Da Costa, Mortara, Vergne and Ticktum will advance instead, with both Citroën Racing drivers moving on to the next stage in the week of remembrance of Cyril Blais.
In a shocking upturn of events, none of the top three championship contenders will be starting Round 14 from the top eight, whereas da Costa in fourth and Dennis in fifth led the two groups stages.
Quarter Finals
Former championship leader Nick Cassidy faces Nico Müller in the first Duel of the day. The Porsche man began with a consistent 0.378s advantage over the Kiwi, which he was able to maintain throughout the second segment and increase to over 0.400s in the final leg of the lap.
Barnard and Dennis are the next contenders for a Semi-Final spot. The DS Penske man had a slight lead by the first corners, with Dennis overturning his performance to improve his lap time by 0.120s.
Vergne and Mortara compete in the third Quarter Final. Yet again, the duo was incredibly close in the first turns, with the Italian-Swiss developing a 0.200s gap to the Frenchman by the middle sector. Mortara advances, in spite of Vergne catching up a bit.
Finally, Ticktum and da Costa are the last contenders. The Jaguar man appeared in control for the first two sectors, building up three tenths of advantage. While Ticktum reduced the gap in the last corners to 0.096s, it was not enough to overturn the result.
Semi Finals
Müller and Dennis face in the first Semi Final of the day. The official Porsche man began with a slight delay, a which increased due to a small mistake. Ultimately, he didn’t manage to complete his lap, as he severely hit the wall at the Turn 12 chicane after losing control at Turn 11.
Da Costa began in the lead in the second semi final, but Mortara was able to upturn the final result in spite of the Jaguar man being the first man to set a lap time below 1:12s.
Final
Dennis and Mortara will compete for the first three points of the racing weekend. It was an incredibly close lap, as Mortara was fastest in the first sector and Dennis in the second, reducing his gap to the Mahindra man to 0.104 from over two tenths.
Ultimately, the Andretti talent secured the deal, going faster by 0.031s. It’s a third seasonal pole for the Brit, definitely aiming to reduce his distance to the top contenders.
Complete results here.
