Formula E heads to Diriyah for a double header beneath the lights of Saudi Arabia. Sébastien Buemi takes his 15th pole position in qualifying for race 1, and this marks the start of a miserable weekend for the Maserati MSG team with both drivers suffering incidents throughout qualifying.
Group Stages
Group A
The drivers in group A and B were decided by their current championship place – odd vs even numbers.
Group A included Hughes, Fenestraz, Mortara, Da Costa, Rowland, Ticktum, Nato, Cassidy, Dennis, Günther and Di Grassi.
With no support series present in Diriyah this weekend, dust settles on the track between Free Practice 2 and qualifying. The drivers out first in group A get to grips with track conditions, cleaning the surface as they go.
Ticktum was out first, setting a bench time and Jake Hughes was next to set a lap as they got acclimated with the track. Hughes bested Ticktum’s opening time before fellow rookie Sacha Fenestraz went 4 tenths quicker.
Just 5 minutes into the session the red flag was shown as Max Günther hit the wall in turn 11. The Maserati driver suffered a harsh front left lockup, coming into the corner with too much speed and understeering into the tech pro barriers with suspension damage for the second time in 2 sessions. Günther had an incident in FP2, getting onto the dusty part of the track in turn 16 and understeering into the wall, scraping along it and damaging his left hand side.
When the red flag was lifted, all 11 drivers piled onto the circuit eager to set a time in the best conditions possible. With the surface still not clean, being last across the line was crucial to take advantage of the track at its best.
With 2 minutes to go the other Maserati MSG driver Edoardo Mortara followed the fate of his teammate – hitting the wall heavily in turn 16 and suffering terminal suspension damage to the rear of his car. Mortara limped back to the pits as the Maserati team principal held his head in his hands. After scoring no points in round one at Mexico City, Maserati were looking to bounce back this weekend.
At the drop of the flag, the man sitting in P1 was Oliver Rowland. NEOM Mclaren rookie Jake Hughes came across the line to put himself into the top position as others behind finished their laps. Behind Hughes and Rowland came Ticktum and Di Grassi, the two Mahindras showing their speed in the Gen3 era and following from the success of Di Grassi’s pole position in round 1. Rowland bounced back from a tough weekend in Mexico, where he ended the group stages and started the race last.
Through to the duels:
- Jake Hughes, NEOM Mclaren
- Oliver Rowland, Mahindra Racing
- Dan Ticktum, NIO 333
- Lucas Di Grassi, Mahindra Racing
Group B
The remaining 11 drivers battled for a place in the duels – Rast, Vandoorne, Lotterer, Wehrlein, Vergne, Bird, Evans, Buemi, Müller, Sette Camara and Van Der Linde.
Nico Müller did not take part in qualifying for round 2 in Diriyah after suffering a crash in FP2. New man at Envision Kelvin Van Der Linde stepped up into the race seat and made his debut in Formula E after Robin Frijns’ injury in Mexico City.
After a disappointing show in Mexico qualifying from both Jaguars and DS Penskes, they looked to impress in round 2 and secure places in the duels.
Buemi was the first to set a lap in group B, laying the benchmark at a 1m.10.3s as the other 11 drivers chased the fastest time. Both Jaguars looked quick as the session got underway, both Bird and Evans occupied spots in the top 4 as the clock ticked below 5 minutes.
A big moment for Wehrlein when he caught a slow going Sette Camara into the final corner, almost running into the back of the NIO man. Sette Camara was unaware of Wehrlein’s presence but it was the Porsche driver’s quick reflexes that saved the two from a nasty accident. The incident was placed under investigation by the stewards for impeding.
Going into the final runs, Buemi was P1 ahead of Pascal Wehrlein, Sette Camara and Jean Eric Vergne. Despite being quick off the blocks the two Jaguars found themselves outside of the top 4 going into the final laps.
As the chequered flag came out, the other NEOM Mclaren man Rene Rast put his car into the top spot before Sam Bird pulled a monster lap to steal P1. His teammate Mitch Evans followed suit, dragging his car into 3rd spot at the end of the session. A deserved result for the Jaguar racers, separated by Buemi and the returning Rene Rast.
Once again the two DS Penske drivers Vergne and reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne were out in the group stages, and would start the race in the thick of the midfield.
Through to the duels:
- Sam Bird, Jaguar TCS Racing
- Sébastien Buemi, Envision Racing
- Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing
- Rene Rast, NEOM Mclaren
The Quarter Finals
Heading into the duels, the quarter finals were as follows:
- Ticktum v Rowland
- Di Grassi v Hughes
- Evans v Buemi
- Rast v Bird
Quarter Final 1 – Ticktum v Rowland
The two Brits faced each other for the first time in quarter final 1 as they advanced from group A. Ticktum crossed the line first, with Rowland quickly catching. At the first few corners, all was even between the two as they were separated by mere hundredths of a second. In the second half of the lap Ticktum extended his lead over Rowland as the Mahindra man looked to struggle with the grip of the tyres. The gap was half a second in Ticktum’s favour at the flag as he advanced to the Semi-finals for the first time.
Quarter Final 2 – Di Grassi v Hughes
Hughes followed Di Grassi out but looked to have picked up possible damage on his out lap, dragging a piece of advertising board around with him before it fell off. Di Grassi set the pace early but rookie Jake Hughes would not let him get away. The Mclaren driver chipped away at Di Grassi and ended the session just over 3 tenths ahead of the pole sitter in race 1.
Quarter Final 3 – Evans v Buemi
The Jaguar of Mitch Evans left the pits first, looking to make amends after the results of round 1. Evans set the standard high in the first few corners, taking a chunk of time over his rival Buemi. In the mid part of the lap, Buemi snatched this time back, recovering the lost time and coming out on top of Evans to win his first duel in Formula E. Buemi finished the match up over 2 and a half tenths ahead.
Quarter Final 4 – Rast v Bird
The final quarter final set experienced racers Rast and Bird against each other as they both fought to advance. Rast left the pits first and looked to follow the path of his young rookie teammate Hughes. The two were separated by nothing through the lap as neither looked set to dominate the battle. At the flag Bird edged ahead of Rast, advancing to the semi finals with just under 2 tenths in hand. Despite losing the duel, Rast set the quickest time of the losers and will start the race from P5.
The Semi Finals
The next duels were as follows:
- Hughes v Ticktum
- Buemi v Bird
Semi Final 1 – Hughes v Ticktum
Hughes beat Ticktum in the Mexico City quarter finals and the two brits came together again in Diriyah. In their respective quarter finals, the two were separated by just over a tenth.
Hughes went out ahead of Ticktum as they battle for a spot on the Diriyah E-Prix front row. Separated by almost nothing, Hughes had a scary moment after scraping the inside wall in the first half of the lap and losing 2 tenths to Ticktum. Hughes clawed this back over the second half of the lap but Ticktum was ahead going into the final corner. In dramatic fashion, Ticktum looked set to succeed before a massive slide saw him narrowly miss the wall and bleed time away. The battle ended with Hughes on top, a result Ticktum will be disappointed by.
Semi Final 2 – Buemi v Bird
The two experienced racers are both celebrating their 100th Formula E race this weekend, fighting for the top spot – the two cars run by Jaguar powertrains The veteran racers were evenly matched across the first half of the lap with nothing to split them apart. Buemi kept his cool and came home to lead Bird by just under tenth of a second. The Envision racer is guaranteed a front row start for the first time since Berlin 2020, 33 races ago.
Both racers were quicker than Hughes but Sam Bird will start P3 ahead of Dan Ticktum
The Final – Hughes v Buemi
The rookie Jake Hughes has shown incredible pace on debut after securing P3 in qualifying and missing out on a podium in round 1 at Mexico City. Hughes fighting for his first ever pole position in only his second FE race and Buemi fighting to equal the record of most pole positions, his last pole came in 2019 – one of the most experienced racers against a brand new rookie.
Hughes left the pits first, fighting the grip of the tire and narrowly missing the walls. The two were separated by nothing throughout the whole lap, swapping advantages over one another. Hughes fought against a loose rear end and Buemi battled to keep his Envision car on the road.
Hughes set the benchmark as a 1m 9.4s, equalling his best time set as he waited for Buemi to show his hand. Buemi came steaming across the line to take the flag and finished just 4 hundredths ahead of Hughes.
Sébastien Buemi equaled the most pole positions in Formula E, starting at the head of the field for the 15th time and on his 100th race.