Sebastien Buemi became the first repeat polesitter of Formula E’s 2023 season after beating Jaguar’s Sam Bird in the final duel.
Buemi denied Bird a first pole in two years despite calling his final effort a “s*** lap” on his team radio after beating Bird. Bird’s fastest lap of qualifying came in his semi-final duel, with the Jaguar driver two tenths slower than that effort in the final.
Buemi, who claims the Formula E pole record with his 16th qualifying-topping lap, defeated his Envision team-mate Nick Cassidy in the quarter finals and then beat defending champion Stoffel Vandoorne to set up a final duel with Bird who’d beaten Dan Ticktum and Jake Dennis.
Vandoorne who hasn’t finished on the podium so far this season will start third on the grid ahead of NIO 333’s Ticktum who continued his strong run of single-lap results.
Dennis – without a point in the last three races – earned Avalanche Andretti’s first duel appearance since the Mexico City season-opener and was the fastest of the quarter-final losers, leaving him fifth on the grid.
He’ll share the third row of the grid with Envision’s Cassidy who has risen to third in the drivers’ championship after three successive podiums.
Sergio Sette Camara made it into the duels for the first time as a NIO 333 driver as he was fourth fastest in his group. Sette Camara will start seventh ahead of Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther who made a mistake at Turn 9 during his quarter final duel with Ticktum.
Sao Paulo E-Prix winner Mitch Evans and two-time series champion Jean-Eric Vergne just missed out on a place in the duels as the fifth fastest drivers in their respective initial qualifying groups.
The factory Porsches failed to translate its strong practice pace into a good qualifying as points leader Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa struggled to 15th and 19th on the grid.
The Mahindra-powered cars occupied four of the last five places on the grid with Abt Cupra’s Robin Frijns – who returned to action after an injury absence last time out in Sao Paulo – sharing the back row of the grid with Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland.
Qualifying Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sébastien Buemi | Envision Racing | Jaguar I-TYPE 6 | 1m06.086s | 1m05.601s | 1m05.414s | 1m05.605s |
| 2 | Sam Bird | Jaguar TCS Racing | Jaguar I-TYPE 6 | 1m05.975s | 1m05.595s | 1m05.535s | 1m05.742s |
| 3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | DS E-Tense FE23 | 1m05.978s | 1m05.393s | 1m05.524s | |
| 4 | Daniel Ticktum | NIO 333 Racing | NIO 333 ER9 | 1m06.145s | 1m05.592s | 1m05.67s | |
| 5 | Jake Dennis | Avalanche Andretti | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.171s | 1m05.656s | ||
| 6 | Nick Cassidy | Envision Racing | Jaguar I-TYPE 6 | 1m06.156s | 1m05.679s | ||
| 7 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | NIO 333 Racing | NIO 333 ER9 | 1m06.204s | 1m05.761s | ||
| 8 | Maximilian Günther | Maserati MSG Racing | Maserati Tipo Folgore | 1m06.055s | 1m05.878s | ||
| 9 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar TCS Racing | Jaguar I-TYPE 6 | 1m06.265s | |||
| 10 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | DS E-Tense FE23 | 1m06.193s | |||
| 11 | Edoardo Mortara | Maserati MSG Racing | Maserati Tipo Folgore | 1m06.354s | |||
| 12 | Jake Hughes | NEOM McLaren | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | 1m06.309s | |||
| 13 | André Lotterer | Avalanche Andretti | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.415s | |||
| 14 | René Rast | NEOM McLaren | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | 1m06.418s | |||
| 15 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.493s | |||
| 16 | Norman Nato | Nissan | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | 1m06.518s | |||
| 17 | Nico Müller | ABT CUPRA | Mahindra M9Electro | 1m06.496s | |||
| 18 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | 1m06.571s | |||
| 19 | António Félix da Costa | TAG Heuer Porsche | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.498s | |||
| 20 | Lucas Di Grassi | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M9Electro | 1m06.574s | |||
| 21 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M9Electro | 1m07.104s | |||
| 22 | Robin Frijns | ABT CUPRA | Mahindra M9Electro | 1m06.775s |
