Pole position for Mitch Evans in the first of the two London events, with a Jaguar in great form securing the entire front row. Alongside the New Zealander, in fact, will be Sebastien Buemi with the “customer” car of the Envision team.
A significant result for two reasons: on the one hand for the brand, because having so many Jaguar cars in the top eight positions, including the other Envision of Robin Frijns, can represent an important weapon to face Porsche in an attempt to gain points for the classification reserved for teams and for the manufacturers only.
On the other hand, it is also fundamental for Mitch Evans himself, because today’s pole position allows him to gain another three points on his teammate Nick Cassidy, who was already excluded in the groups today. The gap between the two has now been reduced from twelve to just nine points, with the opportunity to attempt an overtaking if the New Zealander, now second in the championship, were to continue to be among the protagonists also in this afternoon’s race on a track where track position plays a key role.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Pascal Wehrlein will start from the second row, joining Norman Nato, who was beaten by Evans in the second semi-final. For the German Porsche driver, who was beaten by Buemi in the head-to-head before the final, today’s race represents a great opportunity to recover points on Nick Cassidy, as well as to challenge Evans himself, who will start only two positions further up.
If Wehrlein was beaten by an Envision in the semi-final, in the second quarter-final it was actually the German who excluded one of the British cars, overcoming the obstacle Robin Frijns. The Dutchman had started the lap in the best possible way, immediately gaining a good advantage, but a second sector perhaps too much at the limit and a final split time not exactly perfect allowed the German to pass the round, relegating Frijns to the fourth row.
Alongside the Dutchman on the grid will be Oliver Rowland, one of those drivers who, at least mathematically, could aspire to win the title. It will undoubtedly be difficult for the home driver to achieve this result, given the gap in the standings, but already being able to access the duels in qualifying is a positive sign. In fact, on several occasions in the last few events the British driver had not shone in qualifying, thus finding himself forced to come back from behind: having achieved seventh place could be a chance to achieve a good result in the race.
![Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6n9xe9XY/s1000/jean-eric-vergne-ds-penske-ds-.jpg)
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
Among the protagonists of the duels is also Nico Mueller, a prized piece of the market. The Swiss once again showed an excellent performance, taking his ABT Cupra up to the sixth position, before being eliminated in the third quarter-final against Norman Nato, the driver he should replace next year, by less than a tenth. Fifth is Jean-Eric Vergne, capable once again of taking his DS to the duels, showing great consistency on the single lap, an aspect that puts the Franco-American team in the fight for a good result in the race.
Cassidy immediately eliminated in the groups
The two groups provided, as often in Formula E, immediate big surprises, in particular with regard to the elimination of the championship leader, Nick Cassidy. The New Zealander, in fact, failed to pass the trap of group A, finishing only in ninth position, about four tenths from the time set by Robin Frijns, the last valid to happen to the direct duels phase. This will force the championship leader to start from the ninth row, with an uphill race that could give his rivals a great chance to recover precious championship points.
Also eliminated from the same group were Jake Dennis, who despite himself had an inconsistent performance in qualifying this year, Sergio Sette Camara with the ERT, as well as the two Mahindras and the two McLarens, who also had to deal with the raindrops at the start of the session.
![Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0Rrv3pM0/s1000/nick-cassidy-jaguar-tcs-racing.jpg)
Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
If Group A provided surprises, Group B was even more closely contested, with 11 drivers within just three and a half tenths of a second. To give you a reference, the first four, namely Evans, Mueller, Nato and Vergne, who then moved on to direct duels, closed their best lap just a few hundredths of a second apart, thus being within just 77 thousandths of a second. Even thinner was the gap between the last in the standings, the Frenchman from DS, and the first of the excluded, Antonio Felix da Costa, separated by just over four hundredths.
Despite four victories in the last five events, during the season the Portuguese driver has often not shone in qualifying: if on other tracks this element was partially hidden by the fact that the tracks left ample space for battery management in the race, here it will be more difficult to recover from the ninth place, given the close walls and the slow corners that give greater value to the track position.
Alongside the Porsche driver, Max Gunther with the first Maserati and Sacha Fenestraz with the Nissan were also excluded, all within a tenth of the last time that would have been worth going through to the next round. Stoffel Vandoorne, at his last ePrix with the DS, was in more difficulty, with the Belgian preceding Dan Ticktum and Lucas di Grassi.
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