It’s about to get real. Evans qualifies on pole, but with a grid penalty it’s Cassidy starting from P1 for the London E-Prix!
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Sam Bloxham
The time has come – and the fight is on. It’s about to get down to the wire in this qualifying session ahead of the first race at the London E-Prix. It’s been a 24 points difference between P1 and P2 in the championship, so who will be victorious? Before that, let’s find out the grid for Round 14.
In Group A, we’ve had Dennis, Evans, Vergne, Da Costa, Bird, Vandoorne, Rast, Mortara, Lotterer, Sette Camara and Frijns. The whole squad made it onto the track as soon as possible. First driver to set a lap time was Mortara, with the time of 1:18.068s. The times started to tumble down very fast, with Evans, and Dennis bringing it below 1:12s from the get-go. After the initial laps, it’s was Evans, Dennis, Bird and Vandoorne in Top 4. With five minutes left on the clock, it was Dennis, Mortara, Sette Camara and Evans who would progress into the duels at this stage of qualifying. The top 3 went back to the pits, but soon emerged for the last runs. With everyone back on track, seven out of 11 drivers got their times below 1:12s. Checkered flag and the four drivers that advanced to the duels were: Dennis, Evans, Vandoorne and Rast.
Group B consisted of Cassidy, Wherein, Gunther, Buemi, Nato, Hughes, Fenestraz, Di Grassi, Ticktum, Muller and Merhi. Green light and everyone went out on track. The first driver to set a lap time from Group B was Cassidy, with 1:11.604s. He was followed by Gunther, Di Grassi and Wehrlein, although the Kiwi has been the only driver to go below 1:12s at tthe start of the group qualifying. With seven minutes left of the session, it was Buemi, Nato, Muller and Gunther who would advance to the duels at that stage. Majority of the drivers went back to pits before going for their last stints, but in the meantime, the championship contender Cassidy left his garage earlier than others to prep himself for the final laps. The four drivers who advanced to the duels were: Cassidy, Buemi, Ticktum, and Wehrlein.
In the meantime, Lotterer was being investigated by the FIA for crossing the finish line twice after the checkered flag.
Duels – Quarterfinals
Vandoorne vs Evans
Winner: Evans
Rast vs Dennis
Winner: Dennis
Tikctum vs Buemi
Winner: Buemi
Wehrlein vs Cassidy
Winner: Cassidy
Duels – Semifinals
Dennis vs Evans
Winner: Evans
Cassidy vs Buemi
Winner: Cassidy
Duels – Finals
Cassidy vs Evans
Winner: Evans
