Formula E visits Brazil this weekend, for the first ever Sao Paulo E-Prix. Stoffel Vandoorne, reigning world champion, returns to the top with DS Penske. The Aston Martin F1 reserve driver takes his first pole of Gen3 and his first with the team.
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Group Stages
Group A
Group A included: Vergne, Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Rast, Mortara, Lotterer, Hughes, Cassidy, Sette Camara, Rowland, and Muller.
So far in Season 9, the driver who topped group A has gone on to take pole position in three consecutive races (Hughes in Diriyah, Evans in Hyderabad, and Fenestraz in Cape Town).
Each driver was required to set one lap in the first six minutes of the group stage, and a lap in the second half of the session.
Wherlein set an early stormer, topping the group but being told by the TAG Heuer Porsche team that others looked to be doing a double preparation lap. As a result, he was quickly demoted by the two DS Penske cars coming up to pace.
The track temperature was extremely high in Sao Paulo, teams and drivers had to plan their sessions to ensure they get the most out of the tyres and not overheating them.
At the halfway point in the session, countryman Sergio Sette Camara stopped on track and brought out the red flag. He pulled to the side of the track after a technical fault with the braking system after hitting the infamously large bump in the Brazil circuit.
Sergio limped back to the pits, apologising over the radio for causing a red flag. The incident didn’t affect the other racers too much though, with the majority of the drivers having already returned to the pits.
Scott Elkins, Race Director, informed the drivers that they would have a 1 minute warning, allowing them to line up in the pit lane for the first time in Formula E’s history. The grid are typically released from their garages when the light at the end of the pits goes green, but the unique layout of the Sao Paulo pitlane prevents this.
Sette Camara was able to get back out onto the track after his software error, but was quickly under investigation for a red flag procedural infringement.
The drivers returned to the track to fight for a spot in the duels in the last few minutes of the session.
Wehrlein was one of the first to set a lap, looking quick but scraping along the wall in turn —. The German didn’t improve on his lap and was forced to go again.
Andre Lotterer had a similar run to Wehrlein, setting the fastest time in sector one but coming into the pits at the end of the lap and ending the session in 11th and last.
The drivers were pushing hard, everyone kissing the walls and fighting against the grip. The times were tumbling and those who made mistakes suffered the consequences, championship leader Pascal Wehrlein’s lap was only good enough for 8th on the grid.
Sergio Sette Camara would set a lap good enough for P5, but due to causing a red flag his fastest time was deleted by the FIA and he would finish P9 in the group.
Through to the duels:
- Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske
- Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing
- Edoardo Mortara, Maserati MSG Racing
- Jake Hughes, NEOM Mclaren
Group B
The remaining 11 drivers battled for a place in the duels: Dennis, Frijns, Buemi, Bird, Evans, Di Grassi, Nato, Fenestraz, Da Costa, Ticktum, and Gunther.
Robin Frijns stopped on the track at the pit exit in the opening minutes of the session on his return to the series after injury. He was confused by the system failure but got on his way after resetting the car. Unlike Sette Camara, Frijns did not cause a red flag and would not be subject to having his fastest lap time deleted.
The drivers were delayed in setting their laps in the first six minutes due to the yellow flag, they jostled for position and fought against each other to build gaps.
After the first laps were set, championship contender Jake Dennis put it in P2, behind Da Costa and ahead of Buemi and Nato.
Both Bird and Di Grassi failed to set competitive times in the first six minutes, but would avoid action from the stewards because they did set a lap, just not a very fast one. The discussion started because Di Grassi tapped the wall, slowing down and causing Bird to abort his lap.
By the midway point, it was a Porsche powertrain 1-2 with Da Costa ahead of Dennis. Da Costa took the win last time out in Cape Town but is yet to take pole in Season 9. Similarly, despite sitting P2 in the championship, Dennis is also yet to take a pole position this season.
Dennis left the pits with 1m 30s on the clock, cutting it close but ensuring he is one of the last across the line. Ticktum made a mistake on his last lap, locking up and aborting the run to go again, the drivers were clearly suffering with hot tyres around the Brazillians circuit.
The two Jaguars looked quick in the final stages, Bird sat P1 ahead of Da Costa, Evans and Dennis going into the final runs. Polesitter from the last race, Fenestraz, had a disappointing run, ending the session in 8th and being unqualified by his teammate.
It looked close for Evans but he scraped a place in the duels, barely ahead of 5th place finisher —.
But the main story of the session was Jake Dennis failing to make it into the group stages once again and committing to a midfield battle in the race.
Gunther made it through to the duels, securing top eight positions for both Maserati cars as they look to be bouncing back from a difficult start to the season.
Frijns ended the session in 10th, only ahead of Lucas Di Grassi who hit the wall and was not classified.
Through to the duels:
- Sam Bird, Jaguar TCS Racing
- Max Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing
- Antonio Felix Da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche
- Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing
The Quarter Finals
Heading into the duels, the quarter finals were as follows:
- Mortara V Cassidy
- Hughes V Vandoorne
- Da Costa V Gunther
- Evans V Bird
Quarter Final 1 – Mortara V Cassidy
Mortara left the pits ahead of Cassidy, both drivers frantically trying to manage the temperatures of both the brakes and tyres under the hot Brazillian sun. In previous sessions, almost every driver opted for a double preparation lap, but the duels layout means this isn’t possible.
Cassidy gained just over a tenth over Mortara through the first turn but Mortara would claw back the advantage and add some more. The two racers were split by next to nothing, Cassidy fought to regain some time over the Maserati driver but as they crossed the line it was not enough.
Mortara would advance by just 2 hundredths over Cassidy.
Quarter Final 2 – Hughes V Vandoorne
Jake Hughes has been a qualifying king this Season, consistently in the duels and taking his first pole in Diriryah. Reigning champion Vandoorne has struggled in the early part of the year, but is riding the momentum of some solid results.
The two were incredibly close through the early parts of the lap, separated by nothing until Hughes misjudged his braking point and threw away the lap. Jake had won every quarter final he had been in so far, but his mistake gave Vandoorne the win.
Quarter Final 3 – Da Costa V Gunther
This was Da Costa’s first appearance in the duels this season, but the Porsche man was on a high after winning in Cape Town.
Gunther kept his rival honest, keeping the gap small and threatening to take the win. However, it fell apart in the latter stages of the lap as Gunther bled time away and crossed the line over 2 tenths behind Da Costa.
Quarter Final 4 – Evans V Bird
The two Jaguar teammates battled it out in Quarter Final 4, one was guaranteed to progress but nobody could predict which one it would be.
Sam Bird does have a 5 place grid penalty for hitting his teammate in Cape Town, but the Brit needs to start as high up the grid as possible to reduce the effect of the penalty.
Evans built a gap early, commanding the duel and keeping Bird at arm’s length. He set the fastest lap of the weekend so far, advancing over Bird.
Bird set the fastest time of the losers, meaning he qualified 5th but will line up 10th with the penalty applied.
The Semi Finals
The next duels were as follows:
- Mortara V Vandoorne
- Da Costa V Evans
Semi Final 1 – Mortara V Vandoorne
Edo Mortara came into this duel with 7-1 wins in his last 7 duels appearances, one of which was against his rival Stoffel Vandoorne.
Vandoorne went behind Mortara and the two were split by next to nothing throughout the lap. They both put up a solid fight but it would be Vandoorne who came out on top as they crossed the line.
Semi Final 2 – Da Costa V Evans
Evans has been in the duels for four races in a row, but rival Da Costa is making his duels debut for Season 9.
The Jaguar man was the favorite going into the duel, holding a lead over Da Costa for the better part of the lap. But as Da Costa crossed the line, Evans’ lead suddenly plummeted and he handed the win to Da Costa after making an error in the last few corners.
Despite the loss, Evans would line up 3rd on the grid.
The Final – Da Costa V Vandoorne
On his first appearance in the duels this season, Da Costa found himself in the final against reigning world champion Stoffel Vandoorne
Both drivers are looking to bring the fight to Wehrlein and Dennis at the top of the championship standings, and with both title rivals starting outside of the top 10 being at the front gives them a great chance to capitalise.
Antonio left the pits first, leading the way and hoping to take his first pole of the season with a fast charging Stoffel just behind.
The duel got off to an easy start, Da Costa marginally ahead of Vandoorne but the pair were split by next to nothing. Both drivers placed their cars perfectly for what is arguably the most important lap of their weekend. Vandoorne pulled a small gap over Da Costa in the last turn and crossed the line with 6 hundredths in his hand.
Stoffel picks up 3 points and will lead the grid away for the first ever Sao Paulo E-Prix, Antonio picks up his highest start of the season and will certainly look to challenge for his second win in a row.
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