Rookie Cassidy takes superb Rome Formula E pole amid rain

Rookies Nick Cassidy and Norman Nato secured shock front row places in a hugely challenging wet ABB FIA Formula E World Championship qualifying session in Rome.

Conditions were extremely slippery throughout, but did improve slightly as the group stages progressed – allowing some unusual names from lower down the championship standings to thrive.

Envision Virgin driver Cassidy had not scored a point in FE until today. He was quickest in the 7am practice similar in similar conditions, and then produced a 1m52.011s lap in superpole.

Nato was fastest of all for Venturi in group qualifying, then looked at stages of his superpole lap like he might pip Cassidy and give his team only its second FE pole.

But he ultimately fell short by 0.332s.

Pascal Wehrlein only made it into superpole because his Porsche team-mate Andre Lotterer – who had been second quickest to Nato in group qualifying – was ruled to have gone over the power limit with a spike on his qualifying lap.

While Lotterer had his lap deleted and dropped to 22nd, Wehrlein was by far the quickest of the initial superpole runners and looked well-placed for the top spot before Cassidy and Nato’s brilliant laps.

Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne starts fourth but was 2.3s off Cassidy’s pace.

Maximilian Guenther’s BMW and Alexander Sims’ Mahindra completed the superpole sextet, with Nato’s team-mate Edoardo Mortara adding to a strong morning for Venturi in seventh.

Nissan is relatively well-placed as Oliver Rowland and Sebastien Buemi line up eighth and 10th, either side of Dragon Penske Autosport driver Nico Mueller.

Saturday winner Jean-Eric Vergne is all the way back in 21st on the grid. He had the worst of the conditions in group one, but was 5s off pacesetter Sam Bird even in that session.

Bird’s time hung on for 11th on the grid, alongside Jaguar team-mate Mitch Evans.

Other frontrunners out of position include reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa in 15th, Mercedes’ Diriyah winner Nyck de Vries in 18th and Robin Frijns of Envision Virgin in 19th.

Oliver Turvey rejoined the action in his rebuilt NIO333 after Saturday morning’s heavy practice pile-up. He qualified 17th.

Sergio Sette Camara and Jake Dennis ended up on the back row of the grid thanks to the Dragon driver crashing on his qualifying lap and a warning light on Dennis’s BMW preventing him from taking to the track at all.

Qualifying Results