Stoffel Vandoorne has secured his third Formula E pole position for the 2021 Rome E-Prix, beating Andre Lotterer and Oliver Rowland in a competitive qualifying session.
In a doubleheader weekend, Formula E returned to the streets of Rome for rounds three and four of the 2021 FIA Formula E World Championship. After a series of red flags in the morning practice sessions and a last minute adjustment to the circuit, nobody could predict who would come out on top in qualifying for round three.
The championship frontrunners (including Frijns and De Vries) formed a competitive group one. After some jostling for position on the outlap between the drivers, Mortara lost out, failing to make it to the line in time to set a competitive time.
Image Credit: @VenturiFE
Robin Frijins set the fastest lap time of the five drivers with both Evans and Da Costa making minor contact with the barriers during their fast lap. However all drivers in the session found themselves seriously off the pace set in morning practice.
Group two proved more competitive despite drivers reporting dampness around the opening corners of the lap. The two Dragon Penske cars of Muller and Sette Camara found themselves seriously struggling for pace whilst Pascal Wehrlein, despite pushing his Porsche to the limits of the track, could only manage the fourth fastest time overall. Rowland set the most impressive lap time of the session, over half a second clear over Frijns in second. Rowland’s time would not be beaten by any of the drivers in the following groups.
Image Credit: @Nissaedams
Group three provided a competitive mix of drivers with former race winners, Vergne, Di Grassi and Vandoorne all part of the penultimate group. Sims and Vandoorne decided to wait in the garages a little longer, biding their time whilst the other four drivers (Vergne, Lotterer, Di Grassi and Dennis) jostled for position on track with Di Grassi and Vergne close to making contact at the head of the pack. After all six drivers had finished their laps, Lotterer proved fastest, moving into second place and superpole contention.
The final group of qualifying came onto track as the rain started to fall in downtown Rome. Nick Cassidy set an immense first sector, comfortably the fastest of any of the qualifying runners. Unfortunately for Cassidy, his lap was ruined following a brief collision with the barriers and a suspected gearbox issue. Gunther was the only driver from the final group to make it into superpole.
BATTLE FOR SUPERPOLE
With rain increasing, track conditions worsened ahead of the start of the superpole session. Max Gunther was the first driver out to set a superpole time. The German driver appeared to struggle with oversteer throughout his lap, wrestling his BMW Andretti to the checkered flag and only managing to set a time of 1:39.7.
Image Credit: @DSTecheetah
Two time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne was the next driver to set his time, taking provisional pole eight tenths clear of Gunther after a clean lap. Di Grassi came out next and after putting together a strong final sector, moved four hundreds ahead of Vergne and into pole contention.
However, nothing could stop Stoffel Vandoorne who took his Mercedes EQ half a second clear of both Di Grassi and Vergne. This lap time would prove unbeatable despite competitive laps by both Lotterer and Rowland.
FINAL QUALIFYING RESULTS
S. Vandoorne Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
A. Lotterer Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
O. Rowland Nissan E.Dams
L. Di Grassi Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
J. E. Vergne DS Techeetah
M. Guenther BMW I Andretti Motorsport
R. Frijns Envision Virgin Racing
N. De Vries Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
P. Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
S. Buemi Nissan E.Dams
Featured Image Credit: @MercedesEQFE on Twitter
