By Carlo Platella
It is Jean-Eric Vergne who conquers the first pole position in Diriyah, on one of the most technical tracks of the season. The two-time world champion got the better of Mitch Evans after a very heated final, played down to the thousandths of a second. The race is expected to be particularly heated, with all the protagonists announced in the first four rows of the grid. Maserati is also present with Maximilian Gunther, while Sergio Sette Camara surprises with ERT.
Qualifications
Jean-Eric Vergne's form is clear from the first phase of qualifying, where the Frenchman is the fastest in his group. In the direct elimination phase, the DS standard bearer first got the better of Norman Nato, and then prevailed in the semi-final over the surprising Sergio Sette Camara, who nevertheless celebrated fourth place on the grid with ERT. In the final Vergne meets Mitch Evanswith which he gives rise to a heated duel which ends in favor of the DS driver by just 72 thousandths, valid for pole position and three world championship points.
Mitch Evans and Jaguar are satisfied with the front row, after starting qualifying with access to the knockout phase. In the same group, Nick Cassidy, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis also advance together with the New Zealander, completing the leading quartet of last championship. The two Jaguar drivers compete in a direct clash in the quarter-finals, where Cassidy comes out the worst, starting from seventh place in the race. Evans, on the other hand, qualified with the best time in the quarterfinals, a feat repeated in the semi-final where he prevailed by less than a tenth over a tenacious Jake Dennis, third on the gridbefore surrendering to Vergne in the final.
Pascal Wehrlein, winner in Mexico City, will start from sixth place on the grid, after going out in the quarter-finals against Jake Dennis. Nick Cassidy and Maximilian Gunther will start behind the German. Maserati thus managed to access the direct elimination phase for the second time in a row, however immediately surrendering to Sette Camara's ERT. Stoffel Vandoorne, eleventh overall, and Antonio Felix Da Costa surprise in the negative. The second Porsche driver, as well as a former world champion, will start in twentieth position, thanks to the three position penalties he received in Mexico. The first Diriyah E-Prix will start at 6pm Italian time.
The starting grid
| Position | Pilot | Squad | Time |
| 1 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | 1'12”062”' |
| 2 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | 1'12”134”' |
| 3 | Jake Dennis | Andretti | 1'12”079”' |
| 4 | Sergio Sette Camara | ERT | 1'12”611”' |
| 5 | Norman Born | Andretti | 1'12”475”' |
| 6 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche | 1'12”610”' |
| 7 | Nick Cassidy | Jaguar | 1'12”821”' |
| 8 | Maximilian Gunther | Maserati | 1'12”892”' |
| 9 | Sam Bird | McLaren | 1'13”147”' |
| 10 | Edoardo Mortara | Mahindra | 1'13”791”' |
| 10 | Jake Hughes | McLaren | 1'13”207” |
| 11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | 1'13”167”' |
| 12 | Robin Frijns | Envision Racing | 1'13”272” |
| 13 | Sebastien Buemi | Envision Racing | 1'13”186”' |
| 14 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan | 1'13”350”' |
| 15 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | 1'13”294”' |
| 16 | Nico Muller | ABT Cupra | 1'13”531”' |
| 17 | Lucas di Grassi | ABT Cupra | 1'13”729”' |
| 18 | Dan Ticktum | ERT | 1'13”446”' |
| 20 | Antonio Felix Da Costa | Porsche | 1'13”446”' |
| 21 | Jehan Daruvala | Maserati | 1'38”900”' |
| 22 | Nyck de Vries | Mahindra | 1'14”254”' |
#Formula #Diriyah #pole #Vergne
