Pascal Wehrlein will start on pole position for the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix, after defeating Sébastian Buemi in the all-important final.
Wehrlein claimed his fourth career Formula E pole at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez by 0.251s, courtesy of setting a 1m 13.298s in the first final of Season 10.
Both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers were knocked-out in the semi-finals; however, both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans have a one-place grid penalty. Because of this, Maximilian Günther will start from third, with Cassidy in fourth and Evans in fifth. Completing the top-eight on the grid are Jake Hughes in sixth, Robin Frijns in seventh and Stoffel Vandoorne in eighth.
2023 Mexico City winner and reigning World Champion Jake Dennis was shockingly eliminated in the group stage and will start from the seventh row of the grid, provisionally. It was a disappointing qualifying for all of the Porsche-powered drivers, except Wehrlein, obviously.
How qualifying unfolded
Group A
Some big names in regard to the expected title fight were in the first qualifying group of Season 10. Group A included the likes of Season 8 World Champion Vandoorne, Season 9 Vice-Champion Cassidy and Wehrlein. Rookie Jehan Daruvala was also in Group A for his first-ever Formula E qualifying session.
At the halfway point, it was Wehrlein who sat at the top of the group courtesy of a 1m 14.208s, ahead of Sam Bird, Cassidy and Norman Nato. However, the circuit continued to evolve in the closing minutes, resulting in significant change to the crucial top-four places.
Come the end of the session, it was Frijns who set the quickest time in the group, with his 1m 13.807s having been good enough for P1. Close behind him was Vandoorne, Cassidy and Wehrlein, with those progressing to the duels being separated by just seven-hundredths of a second.
Daruvala finished ninth on his qualifying debut, ahead of 2023 pole sitter Lucas di Grassi, with the duo to start the race from the ninth and 10th rows of the grid respectively.
Group B
The second qualifying group featured some giants of the all-electric series, including the reigning World Champion Dennis, Free Practice 2 pacesetter Evans and two-time Formula E Champion Jean-Éric Vergne. Other key drivers in Group B were Günther, António Félix Da Costa and the returning Nyck de Vries.
It was Dennis who topped the Group B timesheets six minutes into the session, with him having been provisionally joined in the crucial duel places by Evans, Sérgio Sette Câmara, staggeringly, and Free Practice 1’s fastest driver, Hughes.
Similarly to Group A, the top-four places changed considerably in the closing minutes, with Günther having set the quickest time in the group, courtesy of a 1m 13.691s. He was closely followed by Hughes, Sébastian Buemi and Evans. Dennis could only manage seventh in the group after locking-up at Turn 5, with him to start from the seventh row of the grid as a result.
The times were once again incredibly close, with Günther in first and De Vries in 11th having been separated by just eight-tenths of a second, whilst just eight-hundredths separated first to fourth.
Quarter-Finals
The opening quarter-final saw Cassidy up against Vandoorne, with the Jaguar driver’s time having been two-tenths faster in the first sector. Cassidy ended up defeating Vandoorne with ease, as an error by the DS Penske driver resulted in the Belgian’s lap-time being 0.262s slower than the Kiwi’s.
Quarter-final number two featured Porsche’s only driver in the duels, Wehrlein. The German went up against Group A’s fastest driver, Frijns. Whilst Frijns was rapid in the group stage, he made a huge error at the start of his lap in the quarter-final, which resulted in his overall lap being over two-seconds slower than Wehrlein’s.
Next up was Buemi against Hughes, with the NEOM McLaren driver having been three-tenths of a second faster than the Season 2 Champion through the first sector. However, Buemi pulled it all back and more in the second and third sectors, to progress to the semi-finals.
The final Quarter-Final featured Evans and Günther, in what was expected to be a rapid duel. Evans’ lap was absolutely sensational, as he set a 1m 13.103s – the fastest lap of the weekend at the time. His lap was four-tenths quicker than Günther’s and was comfortably enough to progress to the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
Staggeringly, three of the four drivers in the semi-finals were powered by a Jaguar powertrain, highlighting just how good the British manufacturer are looking this season.
The first semi-final put two 2023 championship contenders against each other – Cassidy and Wehrlein. Through the first sector, and only 0.2s separated the two drivers, although it was Cassidy who narrowly had the edge. However, Wehrlein had a brilliant end to the lap, helping him defeat the Jaguar driver and secure a spot in the final.
Hoping to meet Wehrlein in the final were Buemi and Evans. Just like the first semi-final, less than a tenth of a second separated the two drivers, although it was Buemi with the advantage. The Swiss driver built on his advantage to go three-tenths of a second faster than Evans and progress to the final.
Final
Buemi against Wehrlein in the first final of Season 10 certainly wasn’t what was expected, given how good Evans in particular looked throughout free practice.
Nevertheless, it was Wehrlein who had the edge over Buemi through the first sector by 0.143s, although the Envision Racing driver is a menace in the final sector. However, the veteran could do nothing on this occasion, as Wehrlein claimed pole position by 0.251s and, most importantly, three points for securing P1.
The opening race of 2024 gets underway at 20:00 GMT.
