FE | Diriyah 2: Rowland stands out in a qualifying full of surprises

If there is one concept that goes well with Formula E, it is unpredictability. In the electric category everything can change from one day to the next and so it was also this weekend which includes a double round in Saudi Arabia, starting from the name of the poleman, which is no longer that of Jean-Eric Vergne, but that of Oliver Rowland in qualifying full of surprises.

The British driver from Nissan in fact managed to beat Robin Frijns' Envision in the final, in what was a day full of satisfactions for the Japanese brand having brought both cars into the top 8. Rowland, who also gave Nissan the first three points of the season thanks to today's pole, he beat his New Zealand rival by around two and a half tenths in a final in which he took the lead from the first sector, without ever leaving it until the checkered flag thanks to a clear superiority in all three half-times.

However, it is not just the name of the poleman that is surprising, because the qualification for the second round had many twists and turns already in the first phase, given the elimination of most of the top riders already in the groups. Of eight cars powered by Porsche and Jaguar powertrains, dominating the last championship and the start of this world championship, only two managed to access the direct clashes, namely those of Robin Frijns and Nick Cassidy, with the latter who will start from third position.

Alongside the New Zealander from Jaguar there will be Stoffel Vandoorne, in a weekend full of joys so far at DS Penske. After the pole and podium obtained yesterday, the team brought both its cars with the characteristic black color with gold accents into the top eight, with the concrete opportunity to bring home important points for the classification in today's race.

Opening the third row will be an excellent Jehan Daruvala, a young debutant from Maserati who managed to access the direct clashes for the first time after two qualifications lacking in satisfaction, in which some flaws had also emerged due to obvious inexperience. Aside from the elimination in the last eighth of the final against Oliver Rowland, which arose following the gap accumulated in the first and third sectors, for the young Indian the fifth place finish still represents an excellent starting point in view of the race. The goal is now to bring home the first points of the season, a challenge that is anything but simple given the group of riders behind him ready to count on their greater experience in managing the battery in the race to attempt a comeback.

Jake Hughes returns to the top eight and will start from sixth position after losing his quarter-final against Nick Cassidy with a deficit of around six tenths: after a good start to the round, the Englishman from McLaren made mistakes smudges, progressively slipping until the heavy gap achieved at the finish line.

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Jehan Daruvala, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore

Starting from the fourth row will be Sacha Fenestraz in the other Nissan and Jean Eric Vergne, poleman of the first round. After the podium achieved yesterday, the minimum objective is to at least confirm the top ten, trying to gain experience in a race which, compared to Friday's, will include one lap less with the same amount of energy available, limiting on paper the efficiency problems of the Powertrain DS compared to other competitors.

If on Friday the qualifying rounds didn't hold any major surprises, except for Sergio Sette Camara's access to the next phase, on the contrary today's qualifying sessions shuffled the rankings and the grid ahead of the race. Only two cars from the Porsche-Jaguar duo managed to get through the first round, while the other six single-seaters powered by the Powertrains of the two manufacturers who dominated the last world championship were immediately eliminated.

In the first group to make the cut were in sequence Sacha Fenestraz, Robin Frijns and the two DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne. On the contrary, immediately out is the world championship leader, Pascal Wehrlein, eliminated for the first time this year in the group stage after having managed to achieve a top 8 on both occasions in the first two rounds of the championship: the German will thus start from tenth position. Same fate with the same modalities also for the Maserati standard bearer, Max Gunther, twelfth on the grid and one and a half tenths behind Vandoorne, the last driver to record a time valid for access to the duels.

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

Equally disappointing was Mitch Evans' performance, only seventh in group A, which will force him to start from the seventh row on the starting grid for this evening's race. Also eliminated were Dan Ticktum with the ERT, Nyck de Vries with the Mahindra and Normal Nato with the first Andretti, who yesterday was able to earn a place in the top eight thus avoiding the cut. Antonio Felix da Costa closes group A, despite himself having another disappointing qualifying which will see him start from the back of the grid.

However, it wasn't just the first qualifying round that held surprises, because there was no shortage of twists and turns in group B too. Of the top drivers only Nick Cassidy managed to bring his official Jaguar to the duels, while all the other top drivers were forced to get out of their cars early. Sebastien Buemi in fact missed out on the duels by around seven hundredths of a second, recording the fifth best time of his group, clearly not enough to proceed to the next phase.

Furthermore, in the final minutes the Swiss was the protagonist of a bad impact with the barriers after having blocked the rear under braking, which forced the stewards to display the red flag. For the mechanics of the Envision team, the hours preceding the race will therefore be challenging, in which they will have to evaluate and repair the damage to the front part of the single-seater, with the hope that the chassis has not been damaged. If Buemi manages to start without penalty, he will line up in eleventh place.

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

Sergio Sette Camara, yesterday's great protagonist of qualifying, was also eliminated, as was Sam Bird, who went wide at the braking point at turn 18 in his last attempt, fortunately without major consequences other than exclusion. Same fate also for the winner of the first round in Saudi Arabia, Jake Dennis, who will have to start from the eighth row, in fifteenth position.

Concluding the line-up there will also be Nico Muller, Edoardo Mortara with the Mahindra and Lucas di Grassi with the other ABT, also powered by the Indian company's Powertrain.