The huge ‘squadron’ of British pilots present in Formula E is called to give more than one surprise at the London ePrix, before his public. And it was only necessary to wait for the first classification of the weekend for one of the local drivers to stand out above the rest. Jake Dennis has scored pole for Saturday’s race in London after beating Stoffel Vandoorne in the grand final of qualifying. With everything, the leader of Formula E can be very satisfied with the position of his rivals.
Stoffel Vandoorne was the leader in the first qualifying group after signing a 1:13.796 that allowed him to finish in first position. The Belgian surpassed Sérgio Sette Câmara by two tenths. For his part, Nick Cassidy finished third, while Maximilian Günther got the last ticket for the qualifiers after a sanction against Lucas Di Grassi for obstructing a rival, since the direction of the race eliminated the times of the Brazilian. Out of this final phase of the classification was Mitch Evansthe first of the eliminated title contenders.
In the second qualifying group, it left many more surprises, since Jake Dennis achieved the fastest time in Group B with a time of 1:13.846. The British driver led the way to the quarterfinals by beating Nyck de Vries, his teammate Oliver Askew and André Lotterer. Performance of each other that translated into the elimination of Edo Mortara and Jean-Eric Vergnethe other two remaining title contenders. Thus, the qualifying session for the leader Stoffel Vandoorne was very expensive.
Things got even better for Stoffel Vandoorne after beating André Lotterer by four tenths in the first quarterfinal match. For his part, Sérgio Sette Câmara accounted for Oliver Askew at the second crossroads. Nyck de Vries managed to beat Nick Cassidy in the third match of the quarterfinals, while Jake Dennis did not give Maximilian Günther options in the last quarterfinal matchup. Thus, a semi-final is drawn with the official Mercedes drivers as great favorites to win.
However, the forecasts were fulfilled only in one of the two semifinals. Stoffel Vandoorne beat Sérgio Sette Câmara by three tenths, but Nyck de Vries could not with Jake Dennis. The British driver, spurred on by his compatriots, jumped into the grand final with very little to lose and much to gain. And that was worth more than the theoretical superiority of the Formula E leader, so Jake Dennis with a time of 1:13.161 got the pole. Behind Dennis will start Vandoorne, De Vries, Sette Câmara, Askew, Günther, Cassidy and Lotterer. For its part, Edo Mortara starts ninth.
2021-22 Formula E London ePrix Qualifying (I)
Photos: FIA Formula E