FP3-
Despite having Round 6 already and collecting lots of data, practice makes perfect as the grid headed back out for another session.
All drivers got lap times in, but Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries slowed whilst he was on the track, he managed to make his way back to the garage and got out later on in the session to finish ninth.
ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller, topped the timesheets for a while in the middle of the 30 minute session, with the team looking to get more points on the board this weekend.
However, it was Robin Frijns who managed to go quickest. The Envision driver crossed the finish line in last and 18th Saturday, but moved up to 17th after post-race sanctions were applied.
Qualifying-
NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes achieved the third Julius Baer Pole Position of his Formula E career, as he took on two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne in the final of the qualifying Duels.
It’s a great result for Hughes, especially given he was demoted to the back of the grid for not having his car’s fire extinguisher armed during the session.
During the final Hughes had the advantage in sector one, but Vergne claimed it back in the second sector. However the Brit, ended up two-tenths ahead at the chequered flag.
Things went from bad to worse for Antonio Felix da Costa, as he had his lap time deleted in the final stages of the group in 11th. Misano not quite going his way after the disqualification.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hughes, P2: Vergne, P3: Wehrlein, P4: Mueller, P5: Bird, P6: Vandoorne, P7: Frijns, P8: Cassidy, P9: Dennis and P10: Rowland.
Round 7-
Pole sitter Hughes led cleanly away with Vergne and Wehrlein plus the rest of the pack following close behind, with the top three as they’d left the gird at the end of Lap 1.
Drivers jostled to find space and clean air over the early laps – desperately trying to avoid the pinch points at Turn 8 & 9 and fall foul of contact.
On Lap 4, Hughes and Vergne were the first to jump for Attack Mode. From there, Hughes ceded the race lead to the DS Driver, having led until that point while Wehrlein and Cassidy then jumped for Attack Mode and occupied P1 and P2 respectively at the end of Lap 5.
ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller was next to lead, with the top 10 pretty much level on usable energy remaining on Lap 7, while Robin Frijns caught his wing in contact, sending him straight on and into gravel, requiring the Safety Car to be deployed for his recovery.
On lap 9, the race went green once again with Mueller leading Wehrlein and Cassidy away, while most of the pack leapt for Attack Mode activations.
On Lap 11, thing went from bad to worse again for Antonio Felix da Costa after as he got contact at Turn 1 which required his front wing to be replaced which then pushed him down the order.
Mueller hit the front again on lap 13, with Wherlein behind, while Rowland picked his moment to push – taking third from Wehrlein before moving into the race lead, as Mueller was shuffled first ot third by the Nissan then reigning champion Jake Dennis.
Wehrlein looked to be in the box seat with 10 laps to go – the Porsche driver with a massive 2% usable energy in hand on those around him.
On lap 18, the German driver leapt to the front of the field with enough in-hand to punch his way through the air out front to the finish.
Rowland took the lead through Sector 1 on Lap 20, looking to gain track position with five tours to go. The German’s engineer was over the radio to his driver to make a move for P1 with four laps to run with the lead pair pulling two seconds on third-placed Dennis.
Wehrlein seemed powerless, though with his battery derating – overheating – heading into the final lap. Drama though saw Wehrlein swoop by the Nissan as Rowland slowed to a crawl, running out of usable energy long before the flag.
Dennis followed him home with Cassidy pipping Mueller on the line for third position – heartbreakingly close to silverware for the ABT CUPRA squad.
The full top 10 are – P1: Wehrlein, P2: Dennis, P3: Cassidy, P4: Mueller, P5: Fenestraz, P6: Sette Camara, P7: Vergne, P8: Hughes, P9: Daruvala and P10: Bird.
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