Image: Duncan White
Pascal Wehrlein from Tag Heuer Porsche has secured the top spot for today’s Monaco E-Prix in an intense qualifying session where several drivers showed their potential to win. The German driver delivered an impressive performance when it mattered most, outperforming Stoffel Vandoorne from DS Penske in the final battle to claim his 10th pole position in the FIA Formula E championship. The Jaguar TCS Racing duo of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans are in third and fourth place respectively, with both cars demonstrating their strength in the morning session. Jean-Eric Vergne from Penske is in fifth position, followed by Sebastien Buemi from Envision Racing in sixth, Antonio Felix da Costa in seventh, Max Günther in eighth, Robin Frijns in ninth, and Jehan Daruvala in tenth.
HOW QUALIFYING UNFOLDED
GROUP A
Evans continued his strong performance from the morning session, waiting until the final moments to snatch the top spot with a lead of three tenths over Wehrlein. Günther and da Costa closely followed in third and fourth place. Oliver Rowland missed out and ended up in ninth position, with his Nissan lacking pace on a single lap. Robin Frijns, who showed great potential in both practice sessions, narrowly missed out on the duel by a mere two thousandths of a second.
GROUP B
Both DS Penskes successfully made it through to the next stage, with Vandoorne leading the group and Cassidy in second place, followed by Vergne in fourth. Buemi was sandwiched between the Penske drivers in third place. Last year’s pole-sitter, Jake Hughes, could only manage eighth place, while Jake Dennis once again struggled in qualifying and ended up in ninth position. Taylor Barnard, a last-minute replacement for the injured Sam Bird, will start from the back of the grid with a lap time seven tenths slower than Dan Ticktum in tenth place.
POLE IN MONACO!!! 🏆🇲🇨
Pascal Wehrlein secures the top spot at the iconic Circuit de Monaco!
DUALS – QUARTER-FINALS
In the first quarter-final, Günther went up against Wehrlein in what seemed to be a closely matched battle. However, the Porsche driver dominated and secured a place in the semi-finals with a time half a second faster than the Maserati driver.
The second quarter-final featured Evans, who has been in great form throughout the weekend, against da Costa. Despite the Portuguese driver’s determination to overcome his qualifying struggles, he had no answer for Evans, who finished a significant six tenths ahead.
In the third quarter-final, Buemi’s untidy lap ended his chances against Cassidy, whose lap was clean and precise, securing him a lead of three tenths.
The final quarter-final was between the Penske teammates, Vandoorne and Vergne. Vandoorne managed to make it through by a margin of one tenth, while Vergne’s chances were dashed in the first sector after a mistake.
SEMI-FINALS
Evans seemed poised to make it to the final, but a mistake midway through his lap ruined his chances. Wehrlein took advantage of the opportunity and secured his place in the final with a lead of over four tenths. However, with a second row start guaranteed, it would be unwise to underestimate the Jaguar driver.
The second semi-final saw Vandoorne go wide at Saint Devote, giving Cassidy a golden opportunity to make it into the final. However, after brushing the wall at the swimming pool section, the second Jaguar also failed to progress, allowing the Belgian driver to battle for pole position.
FINAL
Vandoorne had no answer for Wehrlein, who claimed pole position with a lead of over four tenths, setting a time of 1:29.861. With strong performances from Porsche, Jaguar, and Penske powertrains, the race promises to be an exciting and unpredictable contest.