The stage was set for race day two at the Monaco E-Prix double header. Ahead of the second race, qualifying took place at the Principality – but who came out on top?
What happened in yesterday’s Monaco E-Prix?
Taylor Barnard took a surprise pole for Round 6 in Monaco, but his race hopes faded after a late crash dropped him to 16th. Oliver Rowland, starting second, overtook Barnard mid-race and held off Nyck de Vries to claim his third win of the season.
The race saw two Full Course Yellows—one after Da Costa hit the wall, and another due to a technical issue for Evans. Strategic use of Attack Mode and pit boosts shuffled the order, with Müller briefly leading.
Dennis received a 5-second penalty for a full-course yellow infringement, affecting his podium chances. De Vries secured second, his first podium of the season and since 2022.
All eyes were now set on the drivers who wanted to redeem themselves after yesterday’s race.
In FP3, Mitch Evans topped the timesheets, followed by Jake Dennis and Nyck de Vries. With the rain starting to pour down just in time for Qualifying, the stage was set for a thrilling second fight for Pole at the Monaco E-Prix.
Group A
The odd-numbered drivers in the Championship standings made their way to the grid for their 12-minute session to get into the duels.
The first fastest lap were clocked by Da Costa, Di Grassi, Frijns and Evans, none of them going under the two-minute mark. After everyone put in their first fast lap, Da Costa was the quickest with a 2:01.17.
Oliver Rowland had a difficult moment in the rundown to the Grand Hotel Hairpin, having to reverse the car in a 180-degree spin.
On the second try for the fight for the Duels, Nyck de Vries set a 1:59.926. But Da Costa followed with a 1:58.746 and Rowland with a 1:57.628.
Zane Maloney, hoping for a better Qualifying result today, set a 1:58.251, just +0.153 slower than Rowland, who currently sat in P1.
With the final minute ticking down at Qualifying of the Monaco E-Prix Dan Ticktum set a 1:56.779. Da Costa and Mitch Evans got into a minor hassle. But even though Da Costa’s lap was slightly compromised, he set a 1:56.100. Rowland set another good lap, finishing the session in P3 with a lap of 1:56.529. De Vries was flying on his final lap, setting a 1:55.385 and ending the session on top of the timesheets. Ticktum set a 1:56.770 and progressed into the Duels.
De Vries, Da Costa, Rowland, and Ticktum progressed to the Duels.
Out were Maloney, Di Grassi, Hughes, Nato, Evans, Frijns, Mortara.
Group B
The second group, the even-numbered drivers in the Championship, also took on the track in the wet.
Cassidy was the first driver to set a fast time with 2:02.092, but Wehrlein immediately went quicker with a 2:01.260. Vandoorne seemed to be struggling with his Maserati, putting him into P10 for the time being. David Beckmann set a time of 2:01.950, which got him into P4 before the second runs started. Vergne set purple sectors all around, finishing his lap with a time of 1:54.863.
Nico Müller, struggling with issues in yesterday’s Monaco E-Prix, took the emergency exit into T1, but returned to the track quickly. Jean-Eric Vergne set a 1:54.86, with Vandoorne following him, setting a quicker lap of 1:54.763.
Red Flag
Sam Bird ran straight into the barriers at Sainte Devote – almost a replica of his crash that broke his hand a year ago. He was able to step out of the car uninjured. The replay showed: He locked up going into turn 1, brushed the wall with his front left tyre and ended with a heavy crash in the barrier of Sainte Devote.
The session resumed with 2:46 minutes left on the clock after a repair to the TechPro barriers in Turn 1.
With so little time left, the drivers rushed to the starting line, with the track still being wet.
Every driver made it in time, with the fast times rolling in.
Cassidy improved, setting a 1:53.794, followed by current World Champion Wehrlein who set a 1:53.690. They were pushed down the order by the drivers who put in their laps after them. Buemi, setting a purple middle sector, set a 1:52.480, going quickest in this session. Buemi was not happy about how the run to the starting line went, complaining about other drivers slowing him down.
Vergne put his DS Penske on P2, clocking in a 1:53.163. He was followed by Vandoorne and Günther. These four drivers proceeded to the Duels.
Out were: Wehrlein, Dennis, Cassidy, Barnard, Beckmann, Müller, Bird.
Quarter Finals
Rowland vs. Da Costa
Rowland hit the track as the first driver in this one-lap shootout. The track slowly dried up, but the tarmac was still mostly wet.
Rowland and Da Costa were close in time, but Da Costa was a little slower heading into Sector 2, down by more than 0.5 seconds in the end. Da Costa then began to catch up, reducing the gap down to 0.341 seconds. But he was off by a second in the middle sector, ending the lap 1.423 seconds slower than Rowland.
Ticktum vs. De Vries
Ticktum was the leader of this duel, putting in his lap in front of De Vries.
The Brit was looking for traction going up to the Casino, with De Vries catching up quickly. After sector 1, De Vries was quicker by 1.545. The gap didn’t really get closer. Ticktum ended the lap with a 1:53.120, and De Vries finished almost 5 seconds quicker than him. A mistake out of the tunnel cost Ticktum the move up to the Semis.
Ticktum got into trouble later, being investigated for Qualifying procedure.
Vandoorne vs. Vergne
Vandoorne led this duel against his old teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. They weren’t on par during the first sector at all, JEV being almost a second quicker right from the start. Vandoorne ended the lap with a 1:49.238, JEV with a 1:48.481. Even though Vergne brushed the wall slightly, he got the better lap in and proceeded to the Semis.
Günther vs. Buemi
Günther led this quarter-final of the Monaco E-Prix, with Buemi struggling in the wet, losing rear stability on his way down from the Casino.
But Günther struggled, too, with getting too close to the white line, actually leaving the track with all four wheels – this lap will probably be deleted. But drama struck, with Buemi also leaving the track at the swimming pool chicane! So that were track limits violations for both drivers in one duel.
Regarding the time, Günther set a 1:46.689, Buemi a 1:49.371, which means Günther would proceed.
Semi Finals
De Vries vs. Rowland
De Vries ran over the starting line first, but ran off into the emergency exit of Sainte Devote. He continued his lap, thinking this run was over, but Rowland did exactly the same and went off into Turn 1, too.
De Vries was told to continue his lap, but Rowland recovered a little better from his exit into Sainte Devote. In the end, Rowland was 2.562 seconds quicker than De Vries.
Günther vs. Jean-Eric Vergne
The DS Penske teammates went head-to-head into this lap, with Günther leading this duel.
After sector 1, Vergne was 0.106 seconds quicker than Günther. But going into the swimming pool chicane, both drivers went over the white lines again!
Vergne was quicker, but his time was deleted for track limits. Shortly after, Günther’s time was deleted, too.
Final
Because both times the DS Penske drivers were deleted, the stewards decided not to run the final, which means Oliver Rowland took pole position without having to run in the final.
More info came in, with a suspended three-place grid penalty awarded to Oliver Rowland, after exiting the pit lane under red light at the beginning of Qualifying.
Full FE Qualifying results from the Monaco E-Prix Round 7
- Oliver Rowland
- Nyck de Vries
- Maximilian Günther
- Jean-Eric Vergne
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Antonio Felix da Costa
- Sebastian Buemi
- Dan Ticktum
- Pascal Wehrlein
- Zane Maloney
- Jake Dennis
- Lucas di Grassi
- Nick Cassidy
- Jake Hughes
- Taylor Barnard
- Norman Nato
- David Beckmann
- Mitch Evans
- Nico Müller
- Robin Frijns
- Sam Bird
- Edoardo Mortara
