Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Autosport
Autosport
Sport

Diriyah E-Prix: Vergne edges Evans to pole for opening race

The DS Penske driver put himself 0.012s up on Evans after the first sector, but found himself fractionally behind the Jaguar ace after coming through the second timing zone.

A final sector time just over a tenth up allowed Vergne to claim top spot with a 1m12.062s and by a margin of only 0.072s, the Frenchman’s first Formula E pole since Jakarta in 2022.

Evans set the fastest lap in the entirety of qualifying – a 1m11.992s as he became the only driver to go below the 1m12s barrier – to progress into the final at the expense of reigning champion Jake Dennis.

The Andretti driver had dropped two tenths back by the second sector but reduced the gap to only 0.087s at the line.

ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara proved to be the surprise of qualifying, making it as far as the semi-final stage but ultimately losing out in his battle against Vergne by nearly half a second.

Vergne had set the fastest time in the quarter-final stage of the duels, posting a 1m12.164s that was more than three tenths clear of Andretti driver Norman Nato, who had headed FP2 earlier in the day.

A quicker time in each of the three sectors allowed Sette Camara to progress to the semi-finals at the expense of Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther, while the closest quarter-final margin was only 0.083s, as Dennis just got the better of Porsche driver and Mexico City E-Prix winner Pascal Wehrlein.

A 1m12.313s was enough for Evans to comfortably beat Jaguar team-mate Nick Cassidy in their quarter-final duel, the latter suffering a scruffy lap and finishing more than half a second behind his fellow Kiwi.

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 (Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images)

Cassidy had headed the opening qualifying group with a 1m12.619s from Dennis, Wehrlein and Evans as the quartet were covered by less than four tenths.

Jake Hughes missed out on the chance of progressing to the duels by two tenths after running wide at T18 on his final effort when set to improve, as the McLaren driver headed Robin Frijns (Envision) and Oliver Rowland (Nissan).

Abt Cupra drivers Nico Muller and Lucas di Grassi, as well as Mahindra pairing Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries, brought up the rear of the group.

Just 0.077s covered the top four drivers in the second qualifying group, with Vergne’s 1m12.856s proving quickest from Sette Camara, Guenther and Nato.

Like his McLaren team-mate, Sam Bird was the first driver to miss out on a duel spot as he finished fifth ahead of the second DS Penske of Stoffel Vandoorne and Sebastien Buemi, ensuring both Envision drivers missed out on the duels.

Sacha Fenestraz took eighth for Nissan while for the second race in a row Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa failed to progress from his group and will be demoted three places on the grid for his collision with Muller in Mexico.

Dan Ticktum (ERT) and Jehan Daruvala (Maserati MSG) completed the order, the latter heading to the pits on his final run.

Formula E Diriyah E-Prix I - Starting grid

 
 
   
Driver Info
 
 
Cla Driver # Time km/h
1 France J. Vergne DS Penske 25

1'12.062

124.592
2 New Zealand M. Evans Jaguar Racing 9

+0.072

1'12.134

124.468
3 United Kingdom J. Dennis Andretti Formula E 1

+0.017

1'12.079

124.563
4 Brazil S. Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 3

+0.549

1'12.611

123.650
5 France N. Nato Andretti Formula E 17

+0.413

1'12.475

123.882
6 Germany P. Wehrlein Porsche Team 94

+0.548

1'12.610

123.652
7 New Zealand N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing 37

+0.759

1'12.821

123.294
8 Germany M. Gunther Maserati Racing 7

+0.830

1'12.892

123.174
9 United Kingdom S. Bird McLaren 8

+1.085

1'13.147

122.744
10 United Kingdom J. Hughes McLaren 5

+1.145

1'13.207

122.644
11 Belgium S. Vandoorne DS Penske 2

+1.105

1'13.167

122.711
12 Netherlands R. Frijns Envision Racing 4

+1.210

1'13.272

122.535
13 Switzerland S. Buemi Envision Racing 16

+1.124

1'13.186

122.679
14 United Kingdom O. Rowland Nissan e.Dams 22

+1.288

1'13.350

122.404
15 France S. Fenestraz Nissan e.Dams 23

+1.232

1'13.294

122.498
16 Switzerland N. Müller Team Abt 51

+1.469

1'13.531

122.103
17 Brazil L. di Grassi Team Abt 11

+1.667

1'13.729

121.775
18 United Kingdom D. Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 33

+1.384

1'13.446

122.244
19 Switzerland E. Mortara Mahindra Racing 48

+1.729

1'13.791

121.673
20 Portugal A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team 13

+1.305

1'13.367

122.376
21 India J. Daruvala Maserati Racing 18

+1.992

1'14.054

121.241
22 Netherlands N. de Vries Mahindra Racing 21

+2.192

1'14.254

120.914
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.