E-Prix Diriyah-1, Qualifying: pole Vandoorne, last Giovinazzi | FormulaPassion.it

The great anticipation for the debut of the new Formula E qualifying format has materialized with the pole position of Stoffel Vandoorne, first driver to win a direct challenge in the final. The Belgian of Mercedes thus obtained the first three points of the season of the 2022 world championship, defeating the British Jake Dennis in the battle valid for the start at the pole of the first Diriyah E-Prix, which will start at 18:00 Italian time. A qualification that first began with the debut of the group Group Acomposed of eleven pilots that they fought for 11 minutes totalto ensure the passage of the round, reserved for the first four classified: in the last stages of the test, with the progressive evolution of the track, they qualified for the quarter-finals Frijnsauthor of the best time, together Bird, Vandoorne, and Rowlandthe latter at the top of the standings of the second free session staged today.

Obviously, the same rules and the same procedures also apply to the Group B. However, contrary to what happened in the first group, in the last minute the impact against the Swiss’s barriers was recorded Mortaraauthor of an error in braking at the exit of corner 1. Thanks to the display of the yellow flag, the drivers were thus denied the possibility of lowering their time, with De Vries, Cassidy, Dennis and Lotterer passed to the quarter-finals. First nightmare qualification, however, for Antonio Giovinazziin last position at the end of the Group B test.

The Mortara accident forced the Race Direction to delay the appointment with the quarter finals, with the new regulation that provides for a single lap to resolve the direct challenge between drivers, from this round onwards. The first ever, between André Lotterer and Frijns, saw the victory of the German Porsche, first qualified in the semifinals with only 9 cents ahead of the Dutchman. Nothing to do for Sam Bird against either Jake Dennis, second driver to advance in the time trial battle with the Englishman of the Jaguar. Challenge on the hundredths of a second even between Vandoorne and Cassidy, with the former McLaren driver who defeated the Australian from Envision for 7 cents. In conclusion, the picture of the semifinals ends with the victory of the reigning world champion De Vriesauthor of the fastest lap ever of the heat against Rowland, delayed by 7 tenths.

With these results, the start of the semifinals materialized with the match between Lotterer and Denniswho decided the first finalist in the history of this format of Formula E: to cover this honor was the Briton of Andretti, able to exploit an uncertainty of the German challenger to guarantee himself the possibility of fighting for pole, also establishing the fastest time of all qualifying and thus getting 1 point. In the second heat, between Vandoorne and De Vries, the reigning champion, on the other hand, paid a delay of 4 tenths from the Belgian, with the latter having achieved the first final in the history of this category. In the latter, the pole position he then reported the signature of Vandoorne.

INCREDIBLE! @svandoorne WINS three intense duels to claim the @juliusbaer Pole Position for Round 1 👏⚡️

🇸🇦 2022 #DiriyahEPrix pic.twitter.com/jLjkubWFEj

– ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 28, 2022

With the calculation of the best times in the previous rounds, the following starting grid will kick off the first race of the 2022 world championship in Diriyah.

E-Prix Diriyah-1, qualifying: starting grid