Oliver Rowland has secured pole position for round nine of the FIA Formula E Championship in Mexico, ahead of Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.
Following the controversy of yesterday’s race, many drivers were seeking redemption in Round nine qualifying. But could Wehrlein maintain his dominant pace from Saturday or would another challenger rise from the ashes?
As usual, the championship leaders headed out in group one. The warm up lap saw some bold maneuvers from De Vries who jostled with the other drivers to reach the front of the queue. Meanwhile, for Vandoorne and Da Costa it was a last second dash to the line to start their laps. This resulted in both drivers being affected by traffic for their qualifying laps.
However, the drama didn’t stop there for the opening group of qualifying. Sector one witnessed minor contact between Da Costa and Vandoorne whilst Rast went off the track, disrupting the lap of Frijns. Rast had his lap time deleted after the session and will start the race from the back of the grid.
None of the group’s six drivers were able to set a highly competitive lap time with Vandoorne quickest of the pack.
Group two timed their laps much better, leaving plenty of room to each other. Dennis and Vergne looked impressive in the first sector, with the Brit comfortably 3 tenths ahead of Vergne in second. Dennis maintained his advantage until the end of the lap, securing a position within superpole.
In a repeat of yesterday’s qualifying, all drivers in group two made it into superpole contention. But the session proved disappointing for Sam Bird who was the slowest of the group despite showing some good pace during the weekend.
Yesterday’s pole sitter Wehrlein was in group three, with many asking could he replicate his incredible qualifying form from yesterday?
Gunther was the first driver to start his fast lap but suffered oversteer in turn seven. Oliver Rowland went purple in sector two which pushed the British driver into superpole contention. Both Lynn and Wehrlein also set competitive lap times allowing them to enter the top six with just one group remaining.
All six drivers in group four were down in the first sector with Turvey collecting some debris on track. Despite some impressive laps by Buemi and Blomqvist neither were able to enter contention for superpole.
SUPERPOLE
DENNIS
ROWLAND
VERGNE
LYNN
WEHRLEIN
MORTARA
After setting the sixth fastest time in group qualifying, the Venturi of Mortara was the first to set his superpole time. The Swiss driver went wide in the first corner but held onto it well in the opening sector. In the middle sector he was four tenths down on the most competitive times from group qualifying but brought it home to set a benchmark time of 1:23.8.
Yesterday’s pole sitter Wehrlein the next driver out. The German driver was two tenths up on Mortara following the first sector, pushing his Porsche to the limit. Wehrlein struggled in the middle sector and lost significant time in the final corner. Despite this, the Porsche went one tenth clear.
Alex Lynn set the next time and managed to get ahead of Wehrlein in sector one, with the Brit narrowly behind the German in sector two. As he crossed the line, the Mahindra could only manage second, five hundreds away from Wehrlein.
Shortly after setting his lap time, Lynn was placed under investigation by the Stewards for a technical infraction. His superpole time was later deleted, demoting Lynn to starting sixth on the grid.
Despite looking promising in the opening sectors, Vergne lost a lot of time in the final sector which set him fourth behind Mortara. The two time champion will no doubt be hoping to move further up the order during the race!
Rowland was the penultimate driver to take to circuit and quickly gained on Wehrlein in sector one. The Brit gained significant time in the final sector which put him on provisional pole by two tenths with only Dennis yet to set a time.
So could Formula E rookie Jake Dennis snatch pole position?
Dennis looked strong in the first sector, up on Rowland by a tenth. However, the BMW struggled in the second sector, locking up and flat spotting his tyres. This ultimately destroyed Dennis’ lap and relegated him to sixth position (fifth following Lynn’s penalty).
Will it be redemption for Wehrlein? Or can Rowland secure victory? Follow Overtake Motorsport for race coverage.
