Nico Muller took his maiden Formula E pole position, within the Hard Rock stadium at the Miami International Autodrome, defeating Felipe Drugovich in the final to take the top spot for the Miami E-Prix.
Moving to the Hard Rock Stadium for the 2026 season, there was a level of mystery for the teams and drivers coming into the race weekend. However, the experience didn’t translate into results, as the big names were eliminated in the group stage.
By the finals, it came down to Muller and Drugovich, both vying for their maiden pole positions, with Drugovich facing his first duel appearance.
The reigning champion was knocked out of Group A
In Group A, Oliver Rowland led the field with just four minutes to go. Behind him was his Nissan teammate, with a gap of 0.547s. However, behind Norman Nato, the margins were narrow and the times were dropping.
Lucas Di Grassi embarked on a push lap, with a slight slide in Turns 7 and 8, with the rear of the Lola struggling through the push lap. However, he caught Rowland in the final corner,s abandoning his lap and preparing for a second push lap.
Di Grassi still shot to the top of the leaderboard, but it didn’t last long, as Nick Cassidy crossed the line with a time of 56.845s, followed closely by Nick de Vries.
Further through the order, Edo Mortara and Sebastien Buemi made contact. The Mahindra driver called the radio to report damage to his car, as the incident was under investigation.
In the final ten seconds, Norman Nato crossed the line, moving from fourth to first, securing his place in the duel’s stage. Nico Muller made it into the duels as he found himself fourth after the chequered flag.
As the session ended, Nato, Cassidy, de Vries and Muller made it through to the duels, with Mitch Evans just missing out in fifth with reigning champion Rowland behind him.
Pepe Marti showed a decent performance, ending the session in seventh. Finishing ahead of Mortara and Buemi, who struggled to find pace following their collision, and Lucas Di Grassi, who ended the session last.
To make Buemi’s struggles worse, he received a three-place grid penalty following the collision with Mortara.
Porsche struggles continue in Group B
In Group B, all eyes were on Dan Ticktum, who was the fastest driver in the earlier practice session. The Brit has shown impressive pace so far this season, but has struggled to convert it into results.
With four minutes remaining in the session, Maximillian Gunther held the top spot as the field worked on building up the pace, and the times began to drop.
Antonio Felix da Costa put in the first push lap in the field, managing a 56.837s with a healthy 0.2s gap ahead of the rest of the field. However, with many drivers on double push laps, Barnard shot to the top of the times.
The sensational rookie from last season crossed the line with a time of 56.562s. Joel Eriksson found a place in the top four as he settled in third with Gunther in fourth behind him.
Yet, as the time ticked down, the Porsche engine troubles continued as the Porsche-powered cars continued to struggle to make it into the top four.
Wehrlein took the chequered flag, only able to go fifth, but he fell to sixth as Felipe Drugovich put together an impressive lap, which saw him take the final duel’s position.
As each driver finished their laps, Barnard, Da Costa, Eriksson and Drugovich made it through to the duel stage of qualifying.
Porsche faced substantial challenges, as Wehrlein, Dennis, and Ticktum all failed to advance beyond the group stages. Gunther came within a mere 0.14 seconds of progressing, while Maloney and Vergne joined the ranks of Porsche-powered cars.
An unexpected duel’s result
De Vries and Cassidy went head-to-head in the quarter finals of the duels, with De Vries heading on his lap first. De Vries led the initial part of the lap. While Cassidy struggled to put together a smooth lap, falling 0.2s away from the Mahindra driver.
The Mahindra driver took the chequered flag with 0.1s on Cassidy. He progressed to the next stage of the duels.
Muller and Nato were the second pair to compete for a place in the semi-finals, with the Porsche driver going on track first. Nato fell behind the Swiss driver by just 0.072 seconds, and as Nato ran deep into the final corners, Muller took victory and progressed to the next stage.
Eriksson led Da Costa around the Miami International Autodrome. However, Da Costa quickly caught the Envision rookie, leading the Envision by 0.1s. Following a difficult start to the season, Jaguar received a much-needed result, making it through to the semi-finals.
Barnard entered his duel against Drugovich as the clear favourite, showcasing his remarkable qualifying skills in his rookie season. Yet, though Drugovich veered wide in the final corner, he held onto the lead by the slimmest of margins.
Unfortunately, Barnard fell short of reaching the semi-finals, missing out by a mere 0.001 seconds.
De Vries and Muller went head-to-head in the first semi-final, the Mahindra leading the Porsche around the track. Muller took less curb in the first corner, putting a slight margin between him and De Vries.
Muller bested the Mahindra driver, making it through to the finals.
Drugovich went head-to-head with Da Costa in the second semi-final, the rookie taking on his first Formula E semi-final. He managed a 55.393, the fastest time of qualifying so far, as Da Costa fell short of the impressive time.
Felipe Drugovich challenging for pole at Andretti’s home race for the first time in his career, fighting against Nico Muller.
Muller takes first Formula E pole for Porsche
Nico Muller embarked on his push lap in the finals as the favourite, with his experience giving him the edge. However, Drugovich managed the fastest lap of qualifying overall in the semi-finals and couldn’t be counted out.
While Muller stayed steady throughout the lap, Drugovich closed the gap in the final stages but failed to surpass the Swiss driver, who took the chequered flag to take pole.
In just his third race with the German team, Muller found success starting first for the first time in his career. Alongside him will be Felipe Drugovich, putting in an impressive performance early in his Formula E career.
READ MORE – Formula E 2026 Miami E-Prix – Qualifying Results
Discussion about this post