Evans takes pole at Misano for first E-Prix, De Vries last
In qualifying for the sixth round of the 2024 Formula E championship in Misano, Italy, Mitch Evans will start this Saturday's E-Prix from first place. Jean-Eric Vergne finished second despite being fastest all weekend.
Formula E qualifying differs a lot from Formula 1. In the electric racing class, the field is split into two groups of 11 drivers. Both groups have 12 minutes to qualify in the top four. The top four from both groups will then advance to the duels.
Group A consists of the odd spots in the world championship. The first group included championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, Jean-Eric Vergne, Robin Frijns and Stoffel Vandoorne. After being the fastest twice in free practice, Vergne was also the fastest in this session. Wehrlein set the second-fastest time. Oliver Rowland had a big moment where he skidded down the track, but his previously set time was enough for third place. Maximilian Gunther also went through with the fourth fastest time.
Nyck de Vries the slowest
Group B consisted of the even spots in the world championship. Nick Cassidy made it to qualifying, whose participation after his crash in the second free practice was questionable for a while. Last year's world champion Jake Dennis slightly hit the wall in this part of the session, taking a long time to set a time. De Vries was the slowest in his Mahindra and will start the E-Prix from the last row. In the end, it was Jake Hughes, Mitch Evans, Sam Bird and Nico Müller who advanced to the duels.
Hughes looks to be the fastest of the field
In the quarter-finals, Wehrlein beat Rowland in the first duel. After a bad lap by Günther in battle with Vergne, it was also the Frenchman who advanced to the last four, then Evans beat his former teammate Sam Bird in the third duel. In the final duel, Jake Hughes beat German Nico Müller. In the semi-final, Hughes seemed to be on his way to winning, but he was disqualified for exceeding track limits. This allowed opponent Mitch Evans to advance to the final, in which he proved too strong for Vergne. So the first E-Prix of this weekend, the Jaguar driver will start from pole position.