It’s time for the second Formula E qualifying session of the weekend at the Berlin E-Prix. The rain has stopped, while the track was still damp. However, with cars creating a dry line, track improvement will be crucial here.
Group A
The first group, containing ten drivers (Di Grassi couldn’t take part), is heading out for the first part of qualifying. First laps are incoming, Rowland takes P1 with a 1:08.419 for a brief moment, as the track improves while the tyres are being heated up. Vergne up to P1 then, and Vandoorne beats the lap time with a 1:05.553.
Günther – who will serve a 3 place grid penalty in the race later – then into P1 before Vandoorne and then Vergne again take the lead. Track improvement is crazy right now, everyone improves at this point! For all drivers, it’s key to keep improving. The last driver over the line will have the best track! An incident between Vergne and Vandoorne has been noted.
Even more improvements, into the 1:02’s, as four drivers were pretty much having similar lap times. And red flags! Hughes found the barrier at Turn 2, going straight into the barrier. As of now, he is through, but his car is totalled. No chance, he can take part in the duels and because he caused a red flag, his fastest lap has been deleted. That promotes Rowland to P4.
Group A result
Group B
Green light for Group B, with the other eleven drivers, after a delay due to Hughes’ crash. The track has dried over the past 20 minutes and the racing line has appeared. So there won’t as much of a track improvement like in Group A. We could see strong laps under a minute here.
Cassidy was on a quick lap, but Jaguar decided to order him to the pit lane. Evans took first from Müller and Frijns. Da Costa was the to put in a lap under a minute, Mortara followed. Evans, Frijns and Müller also pit – they were waiting for the final run with the best track conditions.
Wehrlein with a huge lap then, 59.048. The chequered flag was waving, with Da Costa, Drugovich (his lap was deleted) and Cassidy not improving, while Evans just misses out on the duels. Müller is through! And another twist: Rain has started to fall again…
Group B result
Quarter Finals
Into the quarter-finals we go, and the first duel is between Ticktum and Barnard. Ticktum is starting the British duel was around a tenth quicker than Barnard… strong lap by Ticktum who is ahead by 0.606 seconds. The rain might have had an impact on the McLaren’s lap.
In the second duel, it’s Rowland against Vandoorne. An important duel for Rowland, who has to throw the car around the first corner, it doesn’t seem to be quick at all. However, he is slightly faster than the Maserati and is through by 0.349 seconds
In the third duel, Frijns is challenging Da Costa. The Envision driver had his first 350kw lap of the day, it’s very close between both drivers – Da Costa is slightly quicker… and makes it through into the semi finals, just ahead of Frijns.
Müller and Wehrlein form the fourth and final duel. The German-speaking duel underway, but Müller made a slight mistake into Turn 2, while Wehrlein increased his advantage to over half a second. The Porsche driver is 0.618 faster. 57.855, strong lap!
Semi Finals
Two duels ahead, and we start with Ticktum against Rowland. Again a British duel… will it be a two out of two for the Cupra Kiro driver? He started strong, and was quicker than Rowland! He continued on to stay consistent and beat the Nissan driver by 0.121 seconds.
The second duel of the semi-finals has started, Da Costa against Wehrlein. The Porsche duel starts with the Portuguese. However, Wehrlein is super quick over one lap and beats his teammate by 0.648 seconds. It’s a 57.756 for the German home hero.
Final
Who will take pole for the second race of the weekend in Berlin? It’s a quick Ticktum against a quick Wehrlein! The Briton is the first on track, he didn’t get the apex in Turn 2, so Wehrlein is slight up on his rival. Another improvement on the advantage, and the reigning world champion takes Pole for his home race with a 57.850 seconds.
Stay tuned for Race 2 in the capital of Germany!
