After yesterday’s bad day, ending outside the points zone, Nick Cassidy takes pole position for the second round in London, with the fight for the world championship becoming increasingly open. In addition to first place on the grid, the New Zealander also scored three additional points for pole position, which brings him to just four points from Pascal Wehrlein and just one point from teammate Mitch Evans.
The New Zealander from Jaguar beat an excellent Max Gunther in the final with the Maserati, yesterday one of the great protagonists of the race before a problem with the Powertrain put him out of the game. The German driver could be one of the drivers who can decide the title, given that the top three in the world championship are not only within four points in the standings, but also in the first four positions on the grid.
Pascal Wehrlein will start from the second row, having been beaten in the first semi-final by Nick Cassidy, one of the title rivals for the current championship leader: the German Porsche driver was unable to find the right spark at the decisive moment, being defeated by around two tenths.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche Motorsport
Photo by: Kutal Mete Tekin
Alongside him will be his closest rival in the standings, Mitch Evans, who is just three points behind the Stuttgart-based driver: the New Zealander was beaten by just 46 thousandths by Gunther in the second semi-final.
Good qualifying for Sam Bird, who was eliminated in the first duel of the quarter-finals, the one against Pascal Wehrlein, who was able to prevail with a large and comfortable advantage over the British McLaren driver.
The two DSs of Jean Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne will start in the top eight: the Frenchman was eliminated by his “Powertrain” teammate Max Gunther with his Maserati, while the Belgian was eliminated by another of the world championship contenders, Mitch Evans.
Excellent performance by Robin Frijns who, despite being beaten by Cassidy in the third round of 16, was able to bring his Envision to the duels. Yesterday the Dutchman had been the victim of a bad accident in which he had suffered some contusions: after a medical check-up in the morning, the doctors gave him the ok to participate in the event.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
Few surprises in the duels
There were no major surprises in either Group A or Group B, with the main protagonists of the title fight able to access the duels. In the first elimination round, Cassidy, who had a very disappointing day yesterday that made him lose the top spot in the rankings, managed to prevail over Pascal Wehrlein, Sam Bird and a good Robin Frijns.
On the contrary, Oliver Rowland failed to go fifth in Group A, 6 hundredths behind the British Nissan driver. Perhaps the most surprising exclusion was that of Sebastien Buemi, who failed to go beyond ninth place, which will also earn him the ninth row on the starting grid.
Also eliminated in Group A are Dan Ticktum with the ERT, Jake Hughes with the other McLaren, Sacha Fenestraz with the second Nissan and Jake Dennis, who will close the grid. While it is true that the exclusion of the British driver, as well as his starting position, are a surprise, it is also true that during this season the reigning champion has often been the author of anonymous performances on the single lap, despite himself.
Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
In Group B, the values on the field met expectations, with Max Gunther, protagonist of the race on Saturday before he was stopped by a technical problem, able to impose himself with the best time ahead of Mitch Evans, one of the three contenders for the title. Likewise, the two DS of Stoffel Vandoorne, who yesterday was the author of an anonymous qualifying, and Jean-Eric Vergne, fourth with an advantage of only five thousandths over the first of the eliminated, Antonio Felix da Costa with the Porsche, also managed to pass the round.
It was not a good day for Norman Nato who, after the first second row achieved yesterday, today was unable to repeat himself, finding himself excluded together with the two ABT Cupra of Lucas di Grassi and Nico Mueller, in addition to the ERT of Sergio Camara and the two Mahindras closing the group.
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