Sebastien Buemi took his 16th pole position in Formula E, the all-time record in the series and his 2nd pole of Season 9. The Envision driver carved his way through the different stages to put his car into the top spot for race 1 in Berlin.
Whilst Buemi and Envision soared, big names in the championship fight struggled in qualifying and will start further down the field than they hoped.
Group Stages
Friday’s practice session gave the drivers a good chance to get to grips with the ever-changing track surface around the Tempelhof circuit, and allowed the rookie drivers to get their first taste of Berlin.
Tire temperatures were key in qualifying – the drivers need to keep temperatures to a minimum during the group stages where multiple runs are taking place, but on single runs the temperature needs to be just high enough. The difference between cold and hot tyres can make or break a drivers session.
Group A
The drivers in group A were as follows: Vandoorne, Rowland, Da Costa, Evans, Mortara, Lotterer, Buemi, Cassidy, Sette Camara, Wehrlein and Muller.
Oliver Rowland came into qualifying unsure of what his Mahindra machine could do after suffering from issues in practice that limited his running. He completed only 8 laps in practice, as opposed to the average of 20+ by the other drivers.
The session got off to a quick start, with many of the drivers setting competitive times in the opening few minutes. Lap after lap the drivers pushed the limits further and further, trying to generate temperature in both the front and rear tyres whilst maximising speed around the Berlin circuit.
In the first runs, Vandoorne held on to P1 for most of the session in front of the two Envision’s. The three drivers looked so comfortable at the front that it became a question of who would take the 4th spot and advance into the duels.
All drivers filed into the pit lane for a fresh set of Hankook tyres to make sure that they have the coolest tyres possible for their final quick laps around the 6 minute mark.
With just under 4 minutes on the clock, both TAG Heuer Porsche cars were out of the top 4 and looked to be struggling for pace. The field was spread by only 0.649s, with the exception of Oliver Rowland having not set a truly competitive time.
The drivers were line astern into the final corner, building a gap and preparing for their final run. As the flag dropped, nobody looked to be improving on their earlier times and the order was relatively unchanged from the early parts of the session.
Vandoorne held onto P1 ahead of both Envisions, but the big surprise was Sergio Sette Camara sneaking into the duels and knocking out Jaguar man Mitch Evans.
Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein has struggled in qualifying this year, but he starts his home race in the worst position so far. Can he repeat the Diriyah masterclass and fight through the field to the front?
Mitch Evans and Edo Mortara did not advance through to the duels, a disappointment for both drivers who showed great pace in the opening stages of the weekend. They will start outside of the top 10 and try to bring home solid points.
Through to the duels:
- Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske
- Sebastien Buemi, Evision Racing
- Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing
- Sergio Sette Camara, Nio 333
Group B
The remaining 11 drivers battled for a place in the duels: Dennis, Hughes, Rast, Ticktum, Bird, Frijns, Gunther, Di Grassi, Vergne, Nato, and Fenestraz.
Group A showed the importance of the first few laps, and group B was no different. The laps set in the early parts of the 12-minute session were key to the final order.
The Mclaren’s set the early pace but were quickly displaced by those behind, this time around the drivers were so close in the first laps that nobody could predict the final order.
Bird stole top spot after his first runs, with Maserati MSG driver Gunther just 0.037s behind. Dan Ticktum looked lightning fast in his NIO, occupying a spot in the top 4 ahead of Dennis in the first 6 minutes.
Jake Hughes and Rene Rast almost mirrored the performance of the Porsche’s, lacking speed and struggling to break into that top 4 and into the duels. Hughes took his first pole position in Diriyah and has consistently made appearances in the duels, but Berlin bested the rookie and punished his mistakes.
Knowing that the first few laps were key to the order in group A, many of the drivers needed huge improvements to change their position and jump further up the order. For those in the top 4, the key was to consolidate their position and keep the car out of the wall.
At the drop of the flag, Bird improved marginally to further his advantage out front, but nobody behind made massive improvements to challenge those in the top 4.
Jean Eric Vergne was knocked out of the fuels, unable to replicate his teammate’s performance and failing to advance to the duels. Ticktum’s performance meant that both NIO’s were into the duels for the first time ever.
Through to the duels:
- Sam Bird, Jaguar TCS Racing
- Max Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing
- Dan Ticktum, NIO 333
- Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti
The Quarter Finals
Heading into the duels, the quarter finals were as follows:
- Cassidy V Buemi
- Sette Camara V Vandoorne
- Ticktum V Gunther
- Dennis V Bird
Quarter Final 1 – Cassidy V Buemi
This was only the second time that both Envision’s made it into the duels, but it also meant that only one of them could advance into the semi-finals at Berlin.
Cassidy was out first, going wide in turn 1 but minimising the loss and continuing on with the lap. Buemi was tighter into turn 1 and built a gap of 0.150s after the first few corners. The gap stretched slightly to just over 2 tenths in the middle sector, but Cassidy was catching and that gap didn’t last long.
Buemi had a sloppy few corners in the last sector, losing almost all of the advantage as Cassidy crossed the line. The Swiss driver managed to hold onto the win by a small margin – the two Envision’s were split by 0.078s at the flag.
The fan predictor placed their bets on Nick Cassidy to come out on top in the battle of the Envisions, but it was Buemi who would beat his younger teammate.
Quarter Final 2 – Sette Camara V Vandoorne
Sette Camara’s best start of the season so far was 13th, and his advancement into the duels meant that he would already beat this, regardless of the result.
Vandoorne took pole last time out, and held a healthy advantage over the NIO throughout the whole lap. The gap was around 3 tenths, and Vandoorne kept his nose clean and brought his DS Penske across the line to take the win.
Vandoorne makes it through to the semi-finals whilst Sette Camara has his best qualifying result of the year so far in Berlin.
Quarter Final 3 – Ticktum V Bird
The other NIO of Dan Ticktum made his first duels appearance of the year in Diriyah, taking 4th on the grid that day. The Maserati team have made huge improvements from the start of the year, and are in a position to challenge those higher up the grid.
The two drivers were separated by next to nothing in both the opening and middle sector, but Gunther made a big mistake into the turn 9 hairpin. He bled time away, losing out to Ticktum by over 2 tenths and not advancing.
Ticktum makes it into the semifinals for the second time this season.
Quarter Final 4 – Dennis V Bird
Dennis went out ahead of Bird, the two Brits having only faced each other once since duels were introduced.
Dennis looked unsteady in the first few corners, the backend of the car moving around and losing time to Bird. The Jaguar kept it neat and tidy but Dennis clawed back some time in the final sector to keep the gap under a tenth.
Across the line, Sam Bird clung onto a 0.06s advantage and solidified his position. He would advance to the semi-finals whilst his teammate looked on in the garage.
Despite losing, Dennis set the fastest time of the losers and will start the race from 5th on the grid, a good result for the Avalanche Andretti driver.
The Semi Finals
The next duels were as follows:
- Buemi V Vandoorne
- Bird V Ticktum
Semi Final 1 – Buemi V Vandoorne
Seb Buemi went out ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, both drivers trying to warm their tyres in preparation for an important lap. Both Buemi and Vandoorne have taken pole in Season 9 and know how important these laps are.
Buemi had a marginal lead in the early stages, a tenth over Vandoorne who looked a little unsteady but was on the charge. The gap varied throughout the lap but Buemi held onto the lead.
At the flag, Sebastien would advance to the finals and Vandoorne would take P3 on the grid for the race.
Semi Final 2 – Bird v Ticktum
Neither Bird nor Ticktum have taken pole this season, but they were both staring down the barrel of a shot at it.
Bird had an early lead over Ticktum, looking comfortable and clean on the road but Ticktum wouldn’t let him off that easily. The NIO racer gained some time back, but the gap would remain at 0.135s across the line.
Ticktum put in a very impressive time, and would start 4th on the grid to match his highest start this season as Bird made it to the final.
The Final – Buemi V Bird
Two experienced drivers fighting it out for pole position in Berlin, both Bird and Buemi have raced in every Berlin E-Prix to date.
The two drivers are side by side in the championship, looking to capitalise on the disappointing performance by championship leader Wehrlein and bring themselves back into the title battle.
Bird was out ahead of Buemi, keeping consistent to his laps and aiming for a low 1.05min. However, Buemi had the upper hand and gained an early 2 and a half tenth lead over the Brit.
Across the line, Bird was 2 tenths slower than his best lap and was 0.137s behind his rival. Sebastien Buemi took pole in Berlin and took the record for most poles in Formula E history.
It’s a Jaguar powertrain front row, as Envision are a customer team to the Jaguar factory, and a huge result for the championship fight. The points from pole mean Buemi jumps Bird in the standings, but the opportunity for huge points comes in the race.
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