The first pole of the Misano weekend ends up in the hands of Mitch Evans, who was able to put his Jaguar ahead of everyone in qualifying by beating Jean-Eric Vergne in the final. The New Zealander, with the only Jaguar car capable of overcoming the group stage, hit the start from the pole by about two tenths, making the difference in the second sector: in the first and third half-times, in fact, the times with the French team DS were roughly equal, while in the central section Evans accumulated those hundredths needed to secure first position.
There is a hint of regret for Vergne himself, given that the transalpine driver had finished in the lead not only in the two free practice sessions, but also in group A at the start of qualifying. For the Frenchman, however, it is an excellent starting point, in a race that will most likely be a group race, with continuous exchanges of position to stay in the wake and manage energy. However, it will be important to be able to stay in the leading group, so as to be in the top positions when the time comes to attack at the end.
Second row for the world championship leader, Pascal Wehrlein, who will start from third place with the first of the two Porsches after being beaten by Jean-Eric Vergne in the first of the two semi-finals. At his side will be Jake Hughes, who closed up a gap of around three tenths due to some mistakes during his lap: for the Brit it is still a positive qualifying after a few ePrixes in which he had had difficulty finding that idea on the flying lap which, at the beginning of last season, had been one of his strong points.
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Sam Bird will start from the fourth row: until a few corners from the end, the Englishman was fighting to get through, but despite himself he suffered an unconvincing last sector, making up for almost half a second at the finish line.
Similar story, but on the contrary, for the other McLaren, that of Jake Hughes, who was able to beat Nico Mueller in the last quarter-final and then flew to the semi-finals, with a good part of the three tenths of advantage accumulated precisely in the final sector. However, this is an excellent qualifying for the ABT Cupra and for the Swiss driver, who thus gives continuity to the good performances seen in qualifying in the last rounds, with the third top ten in the last three race weekends.
Starting from the third row will be Oliver Rowland, who was beaten in the first duel of the quarter-finals by Pascal Wehrlein, despite initially looking like he could get the better of the German: however, a small shot in the second sector took him to the grass before the long bend, it cost him those cents which later proved to be decisive for going through to the next round.
Eighth on the grid is Max Gunther, who suffered several mistakes during his lap, starting with a very violent pass on the external bollard after the bend, which caused the car to “wheelie”, negatively impacting the stopwatch. This allowed Vergne to easily get through the round with an advantage that exceeded seven tenths.
Nico Muller, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, M9Electro
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
The groups: some of the contenders for the world championship are out
Group A reserved few surprises compared to other events, with Jean-Eric Vergne leading at the end of the first heat with almost two tenths of an advantage over Pascal Wehrlein, thus following up on the excellent performances seen in the two free practice sessions, in which he had always finished in command. Oliver Rowland was also able to reach the duels, with a Nissan that also showed good indications here, continuing the good work seen in the previous ePrix, despite an off-track right on the finish line during his last attempt. Max Gunther also did well, last of the qualifiers with just 25 thousandths of an advantage over Robin Frijns, first of the eliminated with the Envision.
If one of the two Nissans managed to overcome the first qualifying round, the other, that of Sacha Fenestraz, stopped in sixth place in group A, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa, who at least in qualifying was unable to follow up on his happy Tokyo weekend. Lucas di Grassi was also out, about two tenths behind Gunther after a setup change following the last free practice session of the morning, ahead of what is perhaps one of the biggest surprises of these qualifying sessions, namely the elimination of Stoffel Vandoorne.
Yesterday the Belgian had completed the DS one-two, while today he was unable to find the right starting point on the flying lap, which will lead him to start from the ninth row. Further behind are Jehan Daruvala with the other Maserati and Sergio Sette Camara with the ERT, who will start from the back after a long run at the first chicane.
Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
If group A reserved few surprises, the situation is very different for the second qualifying round, with the exclusion of some excellent names, starting with the drivers who are fighting for the world championship. Nick Cassidy in fact missed out on passing the round by just five thousandths, placing himself in fifth position immediately behind Nico Mueller, the last to record a sufficient time to overcome group B. Likewise, the two Jaguar customers of the Envision team, with Sebastien Buemi sixth and Robin Frijns excluded in group A: it was therefore up to Mitch Evans to keep the honor of the British brand high in the duels, then winning pole.
As seen in Tokyo, the two Jaguar-powered teams seem to struggle slightly more in qualifying, but in the race it could be a different story, given that energy management, one of the strengths of the English Powertrain, will be fundamental on this track.
The two customer Porsches of the Andretti team of Norman Nato and Jake Dennis were also out: it wasn't a particularly clean session for the reigning world champion, not only because of the laps canceled due to track limits, but also because he came into contact with the wall right at the exit of the first chicane, damaging the left rear part of his car. Dennis will therefore start from the penultimate row, ahead of Nick de Vries, who continues to show some signs of difficulty in his adaptation to the Gen 3 of Formula E. Also eliminated in the second group
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