After an eventful second Free Practice session, the drivers were ready to battle it out for pole position in Jeddah.
Antonio Felix da Costa led the second practice session for the Jeddah E-Prix, which ended prematurely under red flag conditions after Nyck de Vries crashed into the Turn 4 barrier while attempting to overtake Stoffel Vandoorne. The session, which was briefly interrupted earlier by Robin Frijns’ stoppage at Turn 13, saw Da Costa set the fastest time of 1:15.470, followed by Maximilian Günther in second and Jake Hughes completing the top three in his Maserati.
The practice session featured changing track conditions and several incidents, including Jake Dennis nearly hitting the wall at Turn 14, as teams and drivers prepared for qualifying and the evening’s Round 3 race.
Group A
As usual, Group A kicked off the Qualifying session. It was a strong start for rookie Taylor Barnard, who was leading the pack with a 1:18.200, followed by his teammate Sam Bird, who was 0.4s behind. In a surprising turn, De Vries, who was involved in a collision during Free Practice 2, was in the top 4, just above Günther.
The NEOM McLaren drivers were looking strong but Günther, De Vries and Evans got the best of Bird, and knocked him out of the top 4. The Jaguar duo, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, were off to a slow start, with both drivers below the top 4, but Evans stepped up to second, just behind Barnard, who was maintaining the lead. It was all purple sectors for the rookie, with a time of 1:17.505. Evans was just two thousandths behind, while Cassidy began reporting issues in his I-TYPE machine.
Unfortunately for Cassidy, he found himself knocked out after jumping into the top four, but Günther swiped his spot.
Group B
As Group B drove out, Oliver Rowland, had an advantage as Da Costa, the current Championship leader, did not make it through to the Duels. With 12 points separating the two, there was a chance for Rowland to close the gap.
Andretti’s Jake Dennis was the first driver to go the quickest, but was having problems with oversteer at the rear of his car. Pascal Wehrlein made his presence known by topping the timesheets with a 1:17.650s, ahead of Dan Ticktum, Jean-Éric Vergne (JEV) and Jack Hughes. However, Rowland was not letting Wehrlein stop him, as he snagged the top spot from the German driver.
While De Vries made it into the Duels, his Mahindra teammate Edoardo Mortara did not exit the garage or set a lap time, as required by the regulations. There was also an incident between Sébastian Buemi and Nico Müller, that has been noted by Race Control.
Wehrlein may have the pace in Saudi Arabia, but Rowland took Group B home, giving it his all during his final lap. Behind him was Hughes. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver had to make due with third, while Ticktum progressed in fourth. After struggling, Dennis had to abort his final lap and was out of Qualifying.
Duels
With the group stages over, the top four drivers from each group prepared to enter the Duel stages of Qualifying. Starting off the first-ever Duel stages in Jeddah, were De Vries and Günther.
Starting off their lap, both drivers were very, very close in time, but Günther started to get the best of De Vries, making a clean sweep after having the advantage over the first sector. Günther set a time of 1:15.472, while De Vries finished with a 1:16.216s.
Barnard and Evans made their way out for the second round of the Duels. While it looked like Evans would take this round, Barnard proved how quick he was, beating Evans by a mere 0.014s. What a win for his first appearance in the Duel stages.
Quarter-Final 2: Evans 🆚 Barnard
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 14, 2025
The rookie Barnard gets the better of Round 1 winner Evans to advance to the Semi-Finals. #JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/qRpidk1z2K
Hughes and Wehrlein were up next. However, Hughes ran his Maserati so deep and locked at his left, handing over the win to Wehrlein.
It was an easy win for Rowland, as he immediately pulled a lead, gradually going faster into the final sector. He went almost four tenths quicker than Ticktum.
Quarter-Final 4: Ticktum 🆚 Rowland
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 14, 2025
The all British Quarter-Final sees Rowland through to the Semi-Final. #JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/8TDWM3aFhv
Semi-Finals
If Barnard had made it through, he could have set a record as the youngest front-row starter or polesitter in Formula E. For that to happen, he needed to beat Günther, who was the youngest Formula E race winner. After a close fight and a snap of oversteer for Barnard, the rookie lost some time to Günther. The German driver held his own in the final sector and progressed through to the final.
After a brilliant lap from the reining World Champion, Wehrlein was through to the Duels, less than a tenth ahead of Rowland.
All German final
The stage was set for an all German battle for pole position. Wehrlein may have been the favourite, but Günther was here to fight. The DS Penske driver drove an amazing lap, finding an advantage in the final sector, to beat Wehrlein by nearly three tenths. This is Günther’s first pole position with his new team, after leaving Maserati at the end of Season 10.
The first-ever Pole in Jeddah 💪@ds_penske_fe's Maximilian Günther claims top spot! #JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/KegEeROkWN
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 14, 2025
What an exciting Qualifying session that was! All eyes will be on Maximilian Günther, to see if he can convert his pole position into a win.
