Group A
The second qualifying session of the Berlin E-Prix started with Group A out of the track.
With the first few flying laps over, Paul Aron sets the pace with the first top time on the board, handing it over to both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers, with Mitch Evans leading. The Jaguars were separated by a close 0.004s. Following Evans and Nick Cassidy were Lucas di Grassi and Maximilian Günther.
The drivers pitted for a fresh set of tyres for the second half of the session which saw Antonio Felix Da Costa gain an advantage.
With three minutes to go, ABT Cupra’s Di Grassi places himself in the top four, with a 0.074 gap to the pack leader Evans, who is in the 1.02s. Meanwhile, his teammate Kelvin Van der Linde is eleventh in the group with a time of 1:14.276.
Di Grassi was determined to make a repeat of yesterday’s performance however, he brushes the wall in the final corner, slowing him down.
As Group A’s session came to a close, Cassidy made his way onto the top of the timesheets, with Da Costa right behind. He was pushed out as Maserati driver Günther jumped into second and Eduardo Mortara claimed a spot within the top four.
Ultimately, it was Cassidy, Günther, Evans and Mortara through to the duels.
Group B
Group B heads out for their session, with Pascal Wehrlein, who has been a strong qualifier this season.
After an unlucky day yesterday, the Andretti drivers Norman Nato and Jake Dennis were looking to turn things around, placing in the top four.
DS Penske drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne were looking strong with Vandoorne taking the top spot and Vergne in third with 1:02.633s at the halfway point of the session. In between the DS Penske sandwich is Wehrlein with a 0.024 gap to the lead, Vandoorne with 1:02.557s.
In an unexpected turn of events, Dennis and Nato shoot to the top of the leaderboard, marking a complete turnaround from yesterday.
Vergne missed out on the duels by just 0.092s, but joining the Andretti drivers are Vandoorne and Wehrlein.
Duels
Günther and Evans were the first pair to duel. What started out as a very close battle, ended with Evans on top.
Mortara was yesterday’s pole setter, but he could not keep up with Cassidy today. Both Jaguars had to battle it out in the semi-finals.
Norman Nato, who placed 22nd in yesterday’s session, had a complete turnaround, eliminating Vandoorne.
Taking advantage of Wehrlein’s poor run, Dennis beats the Porsche driver with a 1:02 flat. It was teammate versus teammate in the semi-finals. Evans took on Cassidy and Dennis faced off against Nato.
The first team who battled it out was Jaguar, with Evans quicker at the start. Cassidy, who was stronger in the middle sector, caught up to Evans, taking his spot in the final.
Norman Nato was faster than Dennis by a tenth but lost his advantage in T9, which sent Dennis to the finals.
Jake Dennis and Nick Cassidy faced each other for pole position. Both drivers were closely matched with Cassidy taking the advantage by 0.007s. Ultimately, the Jaguar did not have a great run out of the hairpin, giving Dennis his first pole of the season.
