Group A saw out on track the McLaren, Envision, Mahindra drivers as well as some important names involved in the championship fight like Cassidy, Wehrlein, Rowland, Dennis. Once again, the Envision drivers are the first on track. Who will get the first pole of the weekend in the damp London?
The championship leader has the best early time in 1:15.06s, and move forward to the Duels alongside Wehrlein, Hughes and Dennis. The McLaren driver signs the first lap in the 1:13s with 6 minutes to go, but times are already evolving fast as reigning champion Dennis pulls a 1:12.88s.
Hughes is the only driver to pit midsession as the intensity of the rain decreases. With three minutes to go Buemi goes fastest, in the top 4 with Wehrlein, his teammate Frijns and Rowland.
The Mahindras are also making a slight appearance in the battle to advance, with Mortara signing a 1:36s while De Vries had cycled in the lead in the earlier stages.
Hughes’s pit was cause by front tyre damage which did not allow him to resume the session, thus forcing him to start from the last place.
In the last heated moment of the session Wehrlein signs the fastest lap in 1:10.927s, and will get to keep battling for a Pole that is getting more and more important, joined by the Envision drivers and Rowland.
Championship leader Nick Cassidy won’t move on to the Quarter Finals, ending ninth in the group and definitely favouring other contenders like Evans and the Porsche driver himself.
Gunther leads Group B with a 1:11.085s after the first set of attempts, followed by Evans, Vandoorne and Daruvala. The Kiwi lowers again the benchmark to 1:10.878s, as all the drivers on track pit for fresh tyres.
Photo credits: Formula E | Sam Bagnall
Gunther hit the wall at Turn 9, losing a car piece but without too much drama, while the driver on the bubble is three times race winner in a row Antonio Felix Da Costa, last to return on track with 3 minutes to go.
ABT’s Muller, who will part ways with the team following this race weekend, jumps up to P2, with Vergne moving up to P3 as well.
Ultimately Evans’s earlier effort holds up for P1 in the group, with Muller, Nato and Vergne advancing as well for a very close group. Da Costa, the first who didn’t make the cut, was only 0.020s from the Frenchman’s time.
Buemi and Rowland face in the first quarter final. The Envision driver began the lap with a 0.185s advantage over his Nissan colleague, which grew to 0.305s by the second sector. Rowland closed a bit the gap in the final sector, but in the end the Swiss prevails.
Up next are Frijns and Wehrlein, with the Dutch driver strongly in the lead for the first half of the lap. The championship contender closed the gap to 0.010s in Sector 2 and ultimately secures his Semi Final spot by only 0.004s.
Third Duel of the day features Nato and Muller. The duo are pretty close throughout the first sector, with Nato gaining a 0.137s lead at the halfway point of the lap, and going on to win the round.
Lastly Evans and Vergne face off. The Kiwi driver began the lap strongly with a 0.160s advantage. The DS PENSKE driver tried to catch up, but Evans was on fire and increased his gap to over half a second.
The first Semi Final features Wehrlein and Buemi. The Porsche driver was ahead in the first turns, but Buemi developed a 0.136s lead over the first sector, increased to 0.425s by the finishing line.
Evans and Nato compete for other spot, but no history as well as the Jaguar driver gets the job done in his quest to reduce his distance from his teammate holding the top spot in the drivers ‘standings. The Envision driver began the Final with 0.08s over the Jaguar man, but Buemi ultimately made a small mistake at Turn 16, allowing Evans to develop a 0.069s advantage, which his enough to grant him Pole Position and the three additional points that solidify his P2 in the standings, only 9 points from championship leader and teamm
