Image: Alastair Staley courtesy of Formula E
NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes continued his impressive qualifying performance with an outstanding first place on the grid for this afternoon’s second Misano E-Prix.
Hughes achieved fourth place in yesterday’s qualifying session but was disqualified, resulting in him starting from the back of the grid. Today, he will be hoping for better luck as his composed and exceptionally fast driving allowed him to surpass DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne in the final showdown.
Pascal Wehrlein, who finished last in yesterday’s race after a collision with Vergne, will start in third place, while Nico Müller secured an impressive fourth place. Hughes’ teammate Sam Bird is in fifth position, increasing McLaren’s chances of success. Stoffel Vandoorne is in sixth place, followed by Robin Frijns in seventh and Nick Cassidy in eighth.
Jake Dennis, who finished second in yesterday’s race after starting in 17th place, will be aiming for a victory after qualifying in ninth position. Yesterday’s winner, Oliver Rowland, completes the top 10.
Antonio Felix da Costa, who was disqualified despite his sensational win yesterday, faces a difficult challenge starting from the very back of the grid.
HE IS INCREDIBLY FAST 🚀@JakeHughesRace performs exceptionally well throughout the entire qualifying session and secures the @JuliusBaer Pole Position for the #MisanoEPrix! 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/VcSn5bG1dd
GROUP A
Max Günther and Vergne set the early pace, with Nyck de Vries also showing promise. However, it was Nick Cassidy who claimed the top spot in the end, with Robin Frijns, the fastest in FP3, coming in second. Nico Müller finished in third place, followed by Vergne in fourth.
Yesterday’s winner, Oliver Rowland, Max Günther, and Antonio Felix da Costa were the most notable drivers eliminated from this group.
GROUP B
Jake Hughes continued his impressive one-lap performance by topping the second group, finishing over a tenth of a second ahead of Wehrlein. Bird managed to secure a spot in the duels in the final moments, taking third place ahead of Vandoorne.
Dennis once again failed to advance, missing out by the narrowest of margins. Yesterday’s pole-sitter, Mitch Evans, also failed to make it through.
QUARTER-FINALS
The first duel was not even close, as Müller dominated Frijns by seven tenths of a second, with the German falling just three hundredths short of the one minute sixteen mark.
In the Vergne vs. Cassidy duel, both drivers broke the time barrier, but it was Cassidy who surprised everyone by outperforming Vergne. However, due to exceeding track limits, Cassidy was quickly eliminated, allowing Vergne to move on to the semifinals.
The Bird vs. Wehrlein duel was also incredibly close, with the German narrowly surpassing the Englishman. Lap times continued to drop as the competition intensified.
Hughes picked up where he left off on Saturday, securing a spot in the semifinals with a blistering time of 1:16.413, six tenths faster than Vandoorne.
SEMI-FINALS
Müller had no answer for Vergne in their semifinal duel, with the ABT Cupra finishing a whole second behind Vergne’s time. This once again demonstrated that the Penske team will be a strong contender during the race.
Hughes overcame the challenge of Wehrlein, narrowly advancing to the final by a mere five hundredths of a second. The Birmingham native is determined to prove his worth after a disappointing qualifying session that compromised his race yesterday.
FINAL
In a highly-anticipated match-up following yesterday’s session, Hughes secured a stunning pole position with a time of 1:16.538, two tenths ahead of Vergne. With two unexpected teams performing exceptionally well this weekend, the prospect of an exciting E-Prix is extremely high.