DS Techeetah pair Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa grabbed the front row for the first leg of Formula E’s Berlin title decider, in a bad session for Mercedes and Robin Frijns’ chances.
With the track swept after Friday afternoon practice but not between practice two and qualifying, and the concrete Tempelhof surface always a curveball, the usual Formula E qualifying script was substantially skewed and the superpole sextet featured drivers from all four qualifying groups rather than favouring only later runners as usual.
Double champion Vergne was fastest in both group qualifying (from group 2) and superpole, earning him all four bonus points and moving him up to 10th in the standings – 23 points from leader Nyck de Vries.
He pipped reigning champion team-mate da Costa – who had reached superpole from group 1 – by 0.073s to claim pole.
Lucas di Grassi (13th in the championship, 33 points off) qualified third on Audi’s farewell weekend, ahead of fellow title contender Edoardo Mortara’s Venturi Mercedes. Mortara is currently 21 points from the championship lead in ninth place.
The two group 4 interlopers in superpole – Norman Nato and Sebastien Buemi, both out of title contention – share row three.
Mercedes had a car in group 1 and a car in group 3, yet both struggled to find grip.
Championship leader Nyck de Vries starts only 19th and Stoffel Vandoorne’s long-shot title bid is surely over after he managed just 22nd place.
Robin Frijns, currently second in the points, slewed wide at the first corner on his group 1 lap and starts right back in 23rd for teams’ championship leader Envision Virgin. His team-mate Nick Cassidy qualified 13th.
Miserable Berlin form crushed Jaguar’s title bid last season but it’s still in with a shout this time. Though a three-place grid penalty for hitting Nato in London leaves Sam Bird (third in the points) starting 15th, Mitch Evans got within 0.013s of a superpole place from group 2 and starts seventh.
Practice pacesetter Jake Dennis was eighth from group 1, his and Maximilian Guenther’s BMWs sandwiching Pascal Wehrlein in the best-placed Porsche.
Alex Lynn’s London win put him into sixth in the championship and therefore group 1. He could only manage 21st on the grid for Mahindra.
Qualifying Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Car | Group 1 | Group 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | 1m06.239s | 1m06.227s |
| 2 | António Félix da Costa | DS Techeetah | DS E-Tense FE21 | 1m06.486s | 1m06.3s |
| 3 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | 1m06.555s | 1m06.427s |
| 4 | Edoardo Mortara | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | 1m06.426s | 1m06.442s |
| 5 | Norman Nato | RokIT Venturi Racing | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | 1m06.425s | 1m06.489s |
| 6 | Sébastien Buemi | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM03 | 1m06.509s | 1m07.011s |
| 7 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | 1m06.568s | |
| 8 | Jake Dennis | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | 1m06.592s | |
| 9 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.612s | |
| 10 | Maximilian Günther | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | BMW iFE.21 | 1m06.627s | |
| 11 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.DAMS | Nissan IM03 | 1m06.658s | |
| 12 | Sam Bird | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar I-Type 5 | 1m06.713s | |
| 13 | René Rast | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Audi e-tron FE07 | 1m06.729s | |
| 14 | Nick Cassidy | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | 1m06.736s | |
| 15 | André Lotterer | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E | Porsche 99X Electric | 1m06.789s | |
| 16 | Alexander Sims | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | 1m06.814s | |
| 17 | Tom Blomqvist | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | 1m06.837s | |
| 18 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-5 | 1m06.852s | |
| 19 | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | 1m06.902s | |
| 20 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 Formula E Team | NIO 333 001 | 1m06.948s | |
| 21 | Alex Lynn | Mahinda Racing | Mahindra M7Electro | 1m06.972s | |
| 22 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-Benz EQ | Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 | 1m07.006s | |
| 23 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin Racing | Audi e-tron FE07 | 1m07.156s | |
| 24 | Joel Eriksson | Dragon / Penske Autosport | Penske EV-5 | 1m07.815s |
