Formula E | Qualifying | São Paulo E-Prix | Dennis takes pole due to Wehrlein penalty - Motorsport

Spread the love

Wehrlein went fastest in qualifying, though Dennis takes pole for the Formula E São Paulo E-Prix because Wehrlein received a penalty.

After FP1 was cancelled due to technical issues, the first real running of the 2025/26 season came in an extended FP2. Pascal Wehrlein set the benchmark with a 1:09.85 for Porsche. Mahindra backed up its testing promise with Nyck De Vries and Edoardo Mortara near the front. While Dan Ticktum, reigning champion Oliver Rowland and former São Paulo winner Mitch Evans stayed in the mix at the end of FP2. With qualifying right around the corner, it was time to figure out who will lead the pack into the first corner in São Paulo and into the first race of the 2025/26 Formula E season.

Ahead of the new season, the FIA and Formula E rolled out a tighter qualifying format to boost pace and clarity. Group runs lasted just 10 minutes, with the old six-minute timing rule dropped. Officials also tweaked the Duel clocks, bringing the full session closer to one hour. While the Groups-and-Duels structure remained in place.

Group A

With 10 minutes on the clock, the track went green as Zane Maloney goes out for the first push lap of the season. As the 10 drivers start to warm up their tires, the first rookie is out on track with Pepe Martí in the CUPRA KIRO tried to put himself into the Duel stages. Next to him, Joel Eriksson in the Envision was ready to start his first qualifying as a full-time driver for Envision.

As it is the final year of the GEN3Evo car before the series switches to the GEN4 next season, the teams and drivers were focusing on speed and energy saving. With 4 minutes left on the clock, Maloney was fastest, followed by Rowland, Jake Dennis, and Antonio Da Costa. Though the order switched quickly as Dennis went fastest, and Martí going up to third, leaving Maloney and Rowland finishing the top 4 in Group A at this point.

With 2 minutes left on the clock, Maloney left his car due to assumingly technical issues, as Da Costa took the fastest time and Jean Eric Vergne putting the Citroën up on third. As the time ran out, all drivers, apart from Maloney, went for another push lap as they tried to secure their spot in the duels. Mortara finished his fast lap and pushed Rowland out of the top 4 removing the reigning champion from the Duels.

Through to the Duels: Da Costa, Vergne, Mortara, Dennis
Out in Group A: Rowland, Müller, Martí, Günther, Eriksson, Maloney

Group B

Group B went out on track in São Paulo for their first qualifying of the 2025/26 Formula E season. With the first push laps coming in, Buemi set the tone, putting his Envision on top. Though, rookie Drugovich went faster and put his Andretti on top with 4 minutes left on the clock. Meanwhile, none of the drivers had the possibility to put out their fastest lap as they were still warming up their tires.

As the started to push for their fastest lap, Drugovich hit the wall, causing a red flag. Leaving only enough time to set one fast lap before the time ran out. During the red flag, di Grassi left his car as he suffered from issues, meaning both Brazilian drivers won’t make it to the Duel stage of this Formula E Qualifying session in São Paulo. With both Lola Yamaha Abt cars out of the Duels due to technical issues, it was a bad start for the team.

As the track went green again the remainign 8 drivers of this session needed to quickly warm up their tires to put in one fast lap. Meanwhile Pascal Wehrlein did his first fast lap going fastest followed by Evans and de Vries. Though Norman Nato and Dan Ticktum went first and fourth pushing Evans out of the Top 4. As Taylor Barnard hit the wall at the end of his fastest lap putting him in P7.

Through to the Duels: Nato, Wehrlein, De Vries, Ticktum
Out in Group B: Evans, Buemi, Barnard, Cassidy Drugovich, Di Grassi

Mortara vs. Vergne

Mortara is the first of the two drivers to hit the track in the first duel of the Formula E season, followed by Vergne. With only one push lap per driver, Mortara put his car in front of Vergne with only margins between them. Though, Vergne was quick to follow as he tried to catch Mortara. As Mortara crossed the line with a 1:10.291, Vergne seemed to have a problem keeping up with the Mahindra, putting Mortara through to the Semi Finals.

Dennis vs. Da Costa

The Andretti driver started his fast lap, followed by Da Costa, who managed to build an advantage ahead of Dennis. Though Dennis crossed the line with a 1:20.218 Da Costa tried to catch up. Even though Da Costa had an advantage in the first sector, Dennis saved it in the last sector, putting the Andretti Driver into the Semi Finals.

De Vries vs. Wehrlein

De Vries was the first out on track for the third Qualifying Duel, as Wehrlein caught up to him fast. In fact, he was able to put the Porsche on top of De Vries. While De Vries tried to catch up to Wehrlein, the German Driver out qualified De Vries. Ultimately, he crossed the line with a 1:09.802, making it through to the Semi Finals.

Ticktum vs. Nato

As Ticktum went out on track, Nato was quick to follow the British driver. Though, Ticktum seemed to have a small advantage to Nato, as the Nissan driver tried to catch up to Ticktum. Meanwhile, Ticktum put in a 1:10.137, Nato wasn’t able to catch the CUPRA KIRO, putting Ticktum through to the Semi Finals. With his time, Ticktum is the second-fastest car on track, with only Wehrlein topping his time.

Semi-Final 1 – Mortara vs. Dennis

Mortara went out for the first Semi-Final Qualifying round in São Paulo and for this Formula E season. The swiss started with a small advantage ahead of Dennis. Meanwhile, Dennis tried to catch up to Mortara, who crossed the line with a 1:10.063. Dennis goes through to the Final Qualifying round and into the fight for pole position with a margin of only 0.023 seconds ahead of Mortara.

Semi-Final 2 – Ticktum vs. Wehrlein

With Wehrlein being under investigation for wheel spinning in the pit lane, it is unclear what the consequences of this would be. In fact, this is a new regulation for season 12. Ticktum was the first to go out in the second semi-final, as both of them use the Porsche powertrain it was margins between them throughout this qualifying. As Wehrlein picked up a slight advantage, Ticktum went over the line with a 1:09.878. Though, Wehrlein beat the Brit with only 7 hundredths between them.

Pole – Dennis vs. Wehrlein

Before the Final round of Formula E Qualifying in São Paulo, the Race Control handed Wehrlein a 3-place grid penalty for wheel spinning in the pit lane. Meaning, however this round will go, Dennis will be on pole for the Race later today in São Paulo, his first since Jakarta last season. As Dennis went out first on track to set his final fast lap, Wehrlein followed with a small advantage ahead of the Andretti. Though, Dennis tried to catch the Porsche ahead who was nearly two tenths up during the second sector. Wehrlein increased his advantage over Dennis and won the final round of this qualifying, winning 3 important points at the start of the season, though he will start the race from fourth.