Oliver Rowland has taken pole position in the first race of the Seoul ePrix after beating Pascal Wehrlein in the grand final of qualifying. In a session marked by rain, the British Mahindra driver has been able to deal with the track conditions and with the strangers that his ‘Gen2’ has caused him at several key moments and will start in first position. In the fight for the Formula E title, Jean-Eric Vergne is already ruled out, while Mitch Evans will start third, with Edo Mortara sixth and leader Stoffel Vandoorne seventh.
The first qualifying session of the Seoul ePrix was held on wet asphalt, which has given an extra complexity to their dispute. Only Group A has partially dodged the liquid element, in a duel in which Edo Mortara has prevailed with a time of 1:22.397. Jake Dennis has seconded the Venturi driver after finishing at 44 thousandths. For its part, Sérgio Sette Câmara and the leader Stoffel Vandoorne have obtained the other two tickets for the final phase taking advantage of the appearance of the rain at the end of the session.
Group B has played its entire session on a wet trackresulting in times some eight seconds slower than those of their Group A peers. Complex conditions in which NNick Cassidy has crashed into the guards, just like an Alex Sims which has even caused a brief red flag. Pascal Wehrlein topped the timesheets ahead of Oliver Rowland, Lucas Di Grassi and Mitch Evansthe latter with a sanction that in the end was not such and allowed him to get the last ticket for the quarterfinals.
If the elimination of Jean-Eric Vergne in Group B definitively separated him from the fight for the titlein the first quarterfinal matchup, a direct duel was drawn between Edo Mortara and Mitch Evans, the other two pursuers of Stoffel Vandoorne. Duel that clearly fell on the side of Mitch Evans. For his part, Lucas Di Grassi prevailed in the second semi-final, while Oliver Rowland imposed the law on him in the third match, not without trouble. Finally, the leader Stoffel Vandoorne fell in the fourth match against a very solid Pascal Wehrlein.
Lucas Di Grassi got Mitch Evans out of the fight for pole in the first semi-final, while Oliver Rowland beat Pascal Wehrlein in the second, with a great cross that left Wehrlein’s ‘kiss’ to nothing in the previous round. The final between Di Grassi and Rowland fell on the British side and Oliver Rowland will start from pole in the first race of the Seoul ePrix. For the times marked at each crossing, Mitch Evans will start third and Pascal Wehrlein fourth, followed by Jake Dennis, Edo Mortara, leader Stoffel Vandoorne and Sérgio Sette Câmara.
2021-22 Formula E Seoul ePrix Qualifying (I)
Photos: FIA Formula E