The second Formula E qualifying of the London E-Prix weekend has come to an end, and it’s Dan Ticktum fastest – his first pole position! However, he will drop five places due to a penalty, so Nick Cassidy will start first.
Group A
Drivers: Rowland, Cassidy, da Costa, Mortara, Dennis, de Vries, Evans, Müller, Bird, Frijns, Maloney
The first group heads out for the first part of qualifying. In the first couple of minutes, drivers were on build laps to prepare the tyres, as the fight for the Top 4 began. With seven minutes to go, push laps have started. Cassidy started with a 1:08.832, followed by teammate Evans.
And red flag! Da Costa went sideways on his first push lap, then went straight into Turn 1. Porsche told him to stop, due to a technical problem – probably the gearbox. The car was brought back to the garage, and mechanics immediately work on it to get it ready for the race.
With 4:45 minutes to go, the green flag is being waved. Jaguar pushed on the out lap, while the other’s followed slightly slower. It’s important to get as many laps in, as possible. In the end, Rowland misses out on the Top 4, as well as both Andretti’s. Mortara with a strong lap to be P1!
Group A result
Group B
Drivers: Wehrlein, Barnard, Vergne, Ticktum, Günther, Buemi, Vandoorne, Hughes, di Grassi, Nato, Beckmann
And it’s the second group, who enter the track. Like in Group A, the first couple of laps were used for building the tyres to prepare for the push laps. Six minutes to go, and we finally enter the exciting part of this session. The drivers start to push – replays show Nato being aggressive at Turn 9.
Wehrlein set the fastest lap with a 1:08.640, just ahead of Vandoorne in the Maserati. However, the DS Penske’s still needed to improve and Günther and then Ticktum went quicker than Wehrlein! Vergne fifth briefly, only 0.043 seconds to Buemi. Di Grassi had a moment in the final sector on his lap.
Two minutes to go, and stewards investigate Günther for impeding Barnard. Chequered flag is being waved, and Nato just couldn’t make it into the Top 4. Beckmann didn’t improve on his lap and stayed last.
Group B result
Quarter Finals
Into the quarter-finals we go, and the first duel is between Evans and de Vries. The Mahindra driver had a heavy lock up into Turn 9 on his out-lap. Laps started, and Evans was 0.129 seconds quicker in sector 1. At the end of the lap, de Vries was 0.038 seconds off. Evans through.
In the second duel, it’s Cassidy against Mortara. Mortara locked up heavily into Turn 1, so his lap was over. He reports that he lost the brakes. Cassidy only needed to finish the lap to get through. He does so with a 1:07.130.
In the third duel, Wehrlein is challenging Günther. The German fight was kicked off by the Porsche, who lost 0.115 seconds down on the DS Penske. Günther gained more time throughout the lap and beats the former world champion!
Vandoorne and Ticktum go into the fourth and final duel. The Briton started strongly and kept the pace over the whole lap, beating his Belgian rival by nearly a second. It’s a 1:07.021 for Ticktum – strong lap!
Semi Finals
Two duels ahead, and we start with Evans against Cassidy. The Jaguar duel starts with Evans being first over the line. Strong first sector by Cassidy, who is a tenth faster than Evans in sector 1. Evans pulled it back, as Cassidy made a mistake! And Evans is slow through Turn 20! Cassidy is faster!
To explain: Evans was slow to let Cassidy through into the finals. This is due to Cassidy being behind Wehrlein in the championship standings and could beat the German for second place.
The second duel of the semi-finals has started, Günther against Ticktum. The Cupra Kiro is quicker through sector 1, while Günther struggled with the balance. Ticktum beats the German by 0.294 seconds and is through into the final.
Final
Cassidy and Ticktum will fight for first place in qualifying, but it’s going to be Cassidy who starts on pole! Ticktum still has to serve his 5-place grid penalty in the race later after colliding with Evans in the race yesterday.
Nevertheless, both cars enter the track for the final. Cassidy had some oversteer in the middle part of the first sector. Ticktum is faster there, and he continues to stay faster through sector 2. Over the line, the Briton is the fastest overall! Strong performance!
Stay tuned for Race 2 and the closure of Season 11 in the capital of the United Kingdom!
