In the initial phase of qualifying, drivers were divided into two groups based on their championship positions, with Group A consisting of odd-numbered positions. This saw the likes of Mitch Evans taking to the track first, while newcomer Barnard awaited his turn.
Group A hit the circuit, with only four spots available for the subsequent qualifying duels. Led by Wehrlein, drivers including Rowland, Günther, and Da Costa joined the session, mindful of Monaco’s unforgiving track boundaries.
Drivers opted for cautious first runs, navigating the challenging circuit before returning to the pits. With time running out, they pushed harder in their final attempts.
Rowland sets the time to beat with 1:31.556, followed by Günther and Evans, Frijns just misses out close in with 0.04s behind.
The second half of the session saw Da Costa go to the top but Pascal Wehrlein quickly bests him and takes the top with 1:31.012. However, Mitch Evans swooped in with a time of 1.30.697, pushing Wehrlein below.
Evans crosses in. the 1:30s, with a time of 1:30.697 in Group A as Rowland struggled to improve and ended in sixth.
Robin Frijns narrowly misses out on the Duels by two thousandths.
Out:
Robin Frijns
Sergio Sette Camara
Nico Müller
Nyck de Vries
Oliver Rowland
Lucas di Grassi
Norman Nato
Group B
As qualifying continued with Group B, the session began with an announcement from the stewards that Norman Nato was under investigation for a technical infringement.
The drivers, including Dennis, Cassidy, Vergne, Buemi, Ticktum, Vandoorne, Mortara, Daruvala, Fenestraz and newcomer Barnard, made their initial runs. Vergne led early on as teams prepared for the second set of runs by fitting new tyres.
The first set of runs concluded without any significant incidents. Rookie Taylor Barnard was at the bottom of the leaderboard, focusing on accumulating experience.
Jake Dennis appeared to struggle with his Andretti car, lacking the grip necessary to be competitive and needing a significant improvement to make it to the duels.
During the final moments, Vandoorne topped with the fastest qualifying time of 1:30:593 followed by Cassidy (1:30.785) and Buemi 1:30.811).
Current World Champion Jake Dennis and both McLaren drivers were eliminated from further qualifying contention. These results placed the leading championship contenders ninth in their respective groups.
Out:
Jehan Daruvala
Edoardo Mortara
Sacha Fenestraz
Jake Hughes
Jake Dennis
Dan Ticktum
Taylor Barnard
Duels
In the quarter-final duels of the Monaco E-Prix qualifying session, each driver had only one flying lap to advance, benefiting from an additional 50kw/h of power.
Günther vs Wehrlein
Günther took to the track first, keeping pace with Wehrlein initially. However, as they approached the tunnel, Wehrlein began to pull away, eventually creating a significant lead of over half a second by the finish line, leaving Günther in his wake.
Wehrlein brings it home with a time of 1:29.886 and Günther with 1:30.425
Photo credits: Tag Heuer Porsche
Da Costa vs Evans
Da Costa, was first on track against Evans. Despite a strong start, da Costa couldn’t match Evans’ pace and confidence in his Jaguar. Evans dominated the duel, posting a time of 1:29.725, which was more than six-tenths faster than da Costa.
Buemi and Cassidy
Buemi led the way, aiming to turn around recent struggles with a strong lap. Cassidy, however, faltered slightly in the first sector, trailing initially. Nevertheless, he recovered impressively by the lap’s end, finishing 0.340 seconds ahead of Buemi and advancing alongside his Jaguar teammate.
Vergne vs Vandoorne
Vergne was quick off the line, closely matching Vandoorne through the first sector. However, Vandoorne accelerated away in the second sector, building a substantial lead. Despite Vergne’s vigorous attempt to close the gap, Vandoorne finished ahead by a decisive tenth of a second (1:30.012), securing his spot in the next round.
Semi-Finals
Pascal Wehrlein vs Mitch Evans
Wehrlein took the lead from the pit lane, determined to halt Evans’ dominant form.
Initially, Evans appeared to have the upper hand, but Wehrlein quickly found extra pace and mounted a strong challenge.
Evans made a critical error by running too deep into the chicane and crossing track limits, which compromised his lap. Wehrlein took advantage of this mistake, finishing more than four-tenths ahead of Evans and securing a place in the final.
Stoffel Vandoorne vs Nick Cassidy
Vandoorne started aggressively but over-pushed going into the Saint Devote corner, losing valuable time right from the beginning. Cassidy seized the opportunity to extend his lead through to the middle sector. However, Cassidy clipped the wall at the swimming pool chicane, derailing his previously strong performance. This error allowed Vandoorne to advance to the final, despite his earlier setback.
Finals
The competition narrowed down to a duel between DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. Vandoorne, eager to make amends for earlier errors, was first out of the pits, warming his tyres. Despite a flawless execution at Saint Devote, he trailed Wehrlein by over a tenth at the end of the first sector.
Vandoorne picked up pace in the second sector, aiming to overtake Wehrlein, but the Porsche driver maintained his speed. By the end of the lap, Wehrlein had secured a substantial lead (1:29.861), finishing the lap 0.433 seconds ahead of Vandoorne.
This performance clinched pole position for Wehrlein, marking his third pole of the season and solidifying his lead in the championship standings.
