Jean-Éric Vergne will start the first race of the Diriyah E-Prix double-header from pole position, after defeating Mitch Evans in the Final.
Vergne wasn’t a favourite for pole by any means, but he performed brilliantly throughout the session. To get to the final, Evans defeated Jake Dennis, whilst Vergne defeated qualifying’s surprise performer, Sérgio Sette Câmara. Dennis’ lap in the Semi-Finals was faster than the Brazilian’s, meaning he’ll start from third ahead of Sette Câmara in fourth.
Completing the top eight on the grid are Norman Nato, who was unfortunate not to progress to the semi-finals, Pascal Wehrlein, Nick Cassidy and Maximilian Günther.
How qualifying unfolded
Group A
Group A was dubbed as the ‘Group from Hell’ by some of the drivers, as it featured several of the quickest stars in the championship. Heavy hitters like Mexico City winner Wehrlein, reigning World Champion Dennis, last season’s Diriyah race two pole sitter Jake Hughes, Free Practice 1’s fastest driver Oliver Rowland and both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers were in the group.
Halfway through the session, it was Wehrlein at the top of the group, with Dennis, Cassidy and Evans completing the all-important top four. Despite good laps from Hughes, Rowland and Robin Frijns, the top four remained unchanged at the end of the session. The only change was that Cassidy topped the group with a 1m 12.619s, ahead of Dennis, Wehrlein and Evans.
Group B
Notable drivers in Group B were Sébastian Buemi, who claimed pole in Diriyah ahead of the first race 12 months ago, Free Practice 2 pacesetter Nato, Günther and the most successful driver around the Saudi Arabian venue, Sam Bird.
After the first proper runs, it was Sette Câmara who remarkably topped the group to the surprise of most. Completing the top four with five minutes remaining were Günther, Bird and Stoffel Vandoorne. It was all change at the end though, as Vergne went the fastest, courtesy of a 1m 12.856s, with Sette Câmara, Günther and Nato joining him in the duels.
Quarter-Finals
Quarter-Final number one was an all-Porsche powertrain affair, as Wehrlein went up against Dennis. Last season, Wehrlein and Dennis finished first and second in both races. Dennis was nearly three-tenths quicker through the first half of the lap; however, Wehrlein pulled back so much time in the second half of the lap. He couldn’t pull it all back though, with Dennis having gone 0.083s faster, courtesy of a 1m 12.527s.
The next quarter-final was another which promised so much, as Evans went up against Cassidy. Whilst it had all the ingredients to be an exciting duel, Evans’ lap was exceptional. He set a stellar 1m 12.313s, which was half a second faster than Cassidy’s time.
Next was a duel very few could’ve predicted, as Sette Câmara battled against Günther. Given his typically strong one-lap pace, Günther was the favourite; however, he was defeated by the ERT Formula E Team driver. Sette Câmara’s lap was four-tenths quicker than Günther’s, progressing him into his first Semi-Final of the Gen3 era.
The final duel of this stage saw Nato against Vergne. Nato set a 1m 12.475s lap which would’ve defeated both Sette Câmara and Dennis had he been in either of their duels. Sadly for him, he was against one of the fastest drivers in Diriyah. Vergne posted a sensational 1m 12.164s, the fastest lap of the E-Prix at the time.
Semi-Finals
Down to the final four drivers standing and the first semi-final saw Dennis against Evans, for a place in the first final of the Diriyah double-header. Through the first sector, it was Evans with an advantage of just under two-tenths of a second, although both drivers were flying. Evans had to set the fastest lap of the weekend at the time to defeat Dennis, thanks to a 1m 11.992s – the first 1m 11s lap of the event. Dennis was only 0.087s slower.
Hoping to go up against Evans in the Final were Sette Câmara and Vergne, in what was a tough duel to predict. Both drivers were good through the first sector, although Vergne was much stronger in the second half of the lap. The double Formula E Champion ended up going five-tenths quicker than Sette Câmara, after setting a 1m 12.125s.
Final
So the second final of Season 10 saw Evans against Vergne, with the Jaguar driver being the favourite following his strong time in the semi-finals. Despite Evans being the favourite, just 0.04s separated the duo through the first half of the lap, although it was the Kiwi with the edge.
The second half of the lap was done quicker by Vergne though, with him remarkably beating Evans to pole by 0.072s. Vergne posted a brilliant 1m 12.062s, which has seen him match Buemi as the record-holder for most poles in Formula E (16).
