Wehrlein takes crucial pole position for Round 16 in London E-Prix
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein took pole position after an exciting qualifying session for Round 16 in London, ahead of teammate Nico Müller in an all-Porsche final.
Jaguar's Mitch Evans finished the session third, ahead of home favourites Dan Ticktum and Jake Dennis, the championship leader only limited to fifth on the grid for the race.
Envision Racing's Joel Eriksson started sixth on the grid, ahead of the other works Jaguar of António Félix da Costa, while Citroën's Jean-Éric Vergne was the only non Porsche or Jaguar-powered car making it into the duels, in eighth.
AS IT UNFOLDED - Qualifying for the London E-Prix
Group A
Qualifying in Group A would feature the big hitters at the front of the championship, including leader Jake Dennis, Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein, and the Mahindra duo of Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries.
While the drivers proceeded on their build laps, a scuffle ensued between Dennis and de Vries, as they nearly collided at Turn 19 on their preparation laps.
Despite being on their warm up laps, both drivers raced each other all the way through the ExCel Arena, running each other close all the way through the circuit, as the intensity level remained high between both during the session.
A further collision towards Turn 10 brought the attention of the stewards, with both drivers set to be investigated after the session.
Despite the early fight on track, Dennis lifted himself into the top four, alongside Wehrlein, Mortara and Ticktum initially.
Late into the session, though, a twist would ensue as neither Mahindra driver made it through to the duels stages, at a critical point of the season. A mistake for Mortara at Turn 16 ended his attempt to make it through, and the form man in qualifying wouldn't be able to add to his pole tally so far.
de Vries managed to climb up into fourth, but was beaten by the Citroën of Vergne, while Nick Cassidy put himself up only into sixth in Group A.
In his final race weekend, Lucas di Grassi would endure a difficult qualifying, setting the slowest time in Group A, just behind Nissan's Norman Nato.
Through to the duels: Wehrlein, Dennis, Ticktum, Vergne
Group B
The second group of qualifiers featured an anomaly: Four Jaguar-powered cars run by the works squad and their customers Envision Racing were all slotted into this group. Reigning champion Oliver Rowland and Porsche's Nico Müller were also in the session.
In what was set to be a crucial 10 minutes, both Rowland and Jaguar's Mitch Evans were looking for a clean session, in order to follow their closest championship competitors Dennis and Wehrlein into the duels stages.
Rowland left no margin for error on his first flying lap of the session, as he nearly got sideways at Turn 13, as he and Evans climbed into the top four. Sébastien Buemi put himself up into fourth in his final Formula E weekend.
António Félix da Costa had made a mistake at Turn 9, before another mistake at Turn 16 left the Jaguar man down in seventh in the standings.
With 48 seconds to go, Rowland sat fifth in Group B, chasing the crucial time in order to make it into the duels stages of qualifying.
A moment of oversteer through the kinks of Turn 14 and 15, and a lock-up at Turn 16 cost him a shot at going through into the duels stages, with Rowland set to start only on the seventh row of the grid for the race. Meanwhile, da Costa made it three Jaguar-powered cars in the duels stages, joining his teammate as he knocked Buemi out by eight milliseconds on his final flying lap.
Joel Eriksson, though, ensured Envision Racing put one car through into the duels stages, finishing third in Group B and outqualifying his teammate.
Through to the duels: Müller, Evans, Eriksson, da Costa
Duels Stages
Quarter finals
The first quarter final saw Dennis face off against Ticktum for a spot in the semi finals. The Cupra Kiro man had secured pole at London in 2025, before a grid penalty dropped him down the order.
Despite running neck and neck through the lap, Ticktum delivered a stellar lap to knock the championship leader out of contention in qualifying, limiting him to a start between fifth and eighth on the grid.
The second quarter final featured Vergne and Wehrlein, with potential for yet more shocks to follow. Yet, a good first sector from Wehrlein saw him hold a tenth of a second in advantage, before he extended the margin even further.
Despite losing time towards the final sector, the Porsche man pulled out a lap that was good enough to take him through into the semi finals.
Eriksson faced off against Evans in an exciting third quarter final. The Jaguar man was slightly down on his rival as they exited the first sector. However, Evans pulled off an improved middle sector, enough to put him close to a quarter of a second ahead.
The gap would grow to four tenths of a second, with Evans still in the race to claim pole for Round 16 and add to his tally going into the race.
The final semi final between da Costa and Müller would be another heavyweight duel, between title rivals Porsche and Jaguar.
The Portuguese driver would have to push harder, given the bent steering on his car, and still kept it close with the Porsche man until the final sector. Eventually, Müller made it into the semi final, set to face Evans in his clash to make it through to the final.
Through to the semi finals: Ticktum, Wehrlein, Evans, Müller
Semi finals
Heading into the semi finals, it would certainly prove to be an exciting finish, with two title contenders and another teammate in the hunt to deliver a support act.
Wehrlein would face off against Ticktum, in an exciting semi final. Ticktum, a form driver, stood a chance of reaching the final for the second London race in succession.
The Porsche man, though, sat a marginal 27 milliseconds ahead going into the first sector. However, Ticktum was able to claw back time through the chicanes in the middle sector.
However, he would run deep into Turn 16, before completing the lap well down, as Wehrlein moved his way into the final.
The second semi final between Müller and Evans remained hard fought, as the Swiss driver eked out an advantage after a sector. Evans closed down the gap to 36 milliseconds after two sectors.
Despite a difficult run into Turn 16, the Porsche man did enough to make his way into the final, joining teammate Wehrlein in the finals, with Evans starting from third on the grid for the race.
Through to the final: Wehrlein, Müller
Final
It would be an all-Porsche finale, with the team now guaranteed three championship points in their quest to close down Jaguar in the constructors' standings. A 14-point gap would now stand at 11 points, going into the race.
As both Porsche drivers rounded the ExCel Arena for their flying laps, Wehrlein initially sat 68 milliseconds down after one sector, even extending the gap to over a tenth of a second.
However, coming around the final corner, Müller slowed down as he crossed the line, in order to ensure teammate Wehrlein took home the points for pole, and cut the gap to Dennis ahead from five points to only two, heading into the race.
It would be a Porsche front row lockout, and here is how the qualifying session panned out in London!
Classification - Qualifying (Round 16)
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
Nico Müller (Porsche)
Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)
Jake Dennis (Andretti)
Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)
António Félix da Costa (Jaguar)
Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)
Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing)
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)
Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)
Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)
Oliver Rowland (Nissan)
Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)
Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)
Norman Nato (Nissan)
Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Lucas di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Max Günther (DS Penske)
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