Formula E championship leader Antonio Felix da Costa will lead an all-DS Techeetah front row for the Berlin Tempelhof opener after a mighty qualifying performance.
Da Costa – winner from pole in Marrakesh when the series last raced five months ago – was quickest in group qualifying despite running in the opening session when track conditions were ostensibly at their worst.
He then put in a superb 1m06.799s qualifying lap to beat reigning champion team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne to the superpole top spot by 0.322s.
Andre Lotterer starts third for Porsche, just 0.013s ahead of Sebastien Buemi’s Nissan.
Mercedes’ lead runner Nyck de Vries qualified fifth, with Jerome D’Ambrosio’s Mahindra rounding out the superpole pack.
Da Costa was the only driver from the opening group to make it into super pole, with his nearest championship rivals Mitch Evans and Alexander Sims starting only ninth and 17th.
Other points frontrunners out of position include Lucas di Grassi down in 21st and Maximilian Guenther in 13th.
Alex Lynn was the best of the newcomers/returnees/team-movers in 12th on his Mahindra debut, with DTM champion Rene Rast even more impressive as he put his Audi 14th for only his second FE start and his first since 2015.
But the former occupant of Rast’s Audi – Daniel Abt – was only 22nd for NIO333, ahead of Dragon’s rookie new recruit Sergio Sette Camara.
First practice pacesetter Oliver Rowland qualified eighth but will drop to the back with a 20-place grid penalty for an inverter change on his Nissan.
That penalty feels slender compared to the 60-place penalty James Calado has been landed with for his myriad component changes after a day of mechanical misery on his Jaguar.
Qualifying was his first complete lap of the day and he treated it as effectively a shakedown given his grid position would be irrelevant.
Qualifying Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Group 1 | Group 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | António Félix da Costa | DS Techeetah | DS E-TENSE FE20 | 1m07.122s | 1m06.799s |
| 2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | DS E-TENSE FE20 | 1m07.274s | 1m07.121s |
| 3 | André Lotterer | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m07.454s | 1m07.235s |
| 4 | Sébastien Buemi | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | 1m07.267s | 1m07.248s |
| 5 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | 1m07.308s | 1m07.302s |
| 6 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M6Electro | 1m07.488s | 1m07.371s |
| 7 | Sam Bird | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE06 | 1m07.492s | |
| 8 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM02 | 1m07.521s | |
| 9 | Mitch Evans | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type IV | 1m07.555s | |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | ROKiT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | 1m07.563s | |
| 11 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE06 | 1m07.581s | |
| 12 | Alex Lynn | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M6Electro | 1m07.646s | |
| 13 | Maximilian Günther | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.20 | 1m07.685s | |
| 14 | René Rast | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team | Audi e-tron FE06 | 1m07.777s | |
| 15 | Edoardo Mortara | ROKiT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | 1m07.826s | |
| 16 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team | Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 | 1m07.993s | |
| 17 | Alexander Sims | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.20 | 1m07.996s | |
| 18 | Neel Jani | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m07.996s | |
| 19 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 FE Team | NIO FE-005 | 1m08.089s | |
| 20 | Nico Müller | Geox Dragon | Penske EV-4 | 1m08.118s | |
| 21 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team | Audi e-tron FE06 | 1m08.136s | |
| 22 | Daniel Abt | NIO 333 FE Team | NIO FE-005 | 1m08.554s | |
| 23 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | Geox Dragon | Penske EV-4 | 1m08.628s | |
| 24 | James Calado | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type IV | 1m10.194s |
