Puebla E-Prix: Wehrlein grabs pole in dramatic qualifying
Pascal Wehrlein bagged his and Porsche’s second Formula E pole for the maiden Puebla E-Prix as the top six in the points dashed their chances in Mexico by tripping over another.
The ex-Sauber Formula 1 driver led the way through the group stages and then delivered a last-ditch flier in a close superpole contest to net himself and the team a second career pole position, both of which have been scored in Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Wehrlein used his group two running order and the windfall of track evolution to top the early pace with his stellar 1m23.505s effort that moved him 0.3s ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne.
Then the last to run in the top-six dogfight, Wehrlein dropped a tiny 0.005s off the pace through the opening sector before posting the best second sector of the day to recover.
A slightly messy run through the high-speed Turn 15 banked corner meant he lost the fastest overall final sector but an eventual 1m23.78s put him on pole by 0.058s.
Oliver Rowland, the practice pacesetter, missed out on top spot courtesy of a douse of oversteer through Turn 12, having briefly held provisional pole ahead of Jake Dennis.
Dennis, leading a revived BMW Andretti team, again found an affinity with a permanent track after his Valencia E-Prix victory, storming to the second row of the grid with third.
Vergne, meanwhile, battled to fourth ahead of a controlled but unremarkable lap from Maximilian Guenther as a major sector two mistake dashed Edoardo Mortara’s hopes when the Venturi Racing driver ran comfortably slowest by 2.1s in the superpole bout.
Alexander Sims was the first driver to miss out on a shot at pole with a seventh-place effort, but he still bucked the general trend of the group three runners who struggled for pace.
Alexander Sims, Mahindra Racing, M7Electro
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
After a massive 0.5s gain in the first sector alone between the opening group and those in group two, it looked like track evolution would hugely benefit those last on to the track.
But that theory fell apart in group three, with Lucas di Grassi the only other driver to join Sims inside the top 10 as rival Porsche racer Andre Lotterer landed a subdued 11th place.
The sportscar veteran was pipped by a final group run from Sergio Sette Camara for Dragon Penske Autosport, despite the Brazilian nearly spinning with a mistake at Turn 12.
But he and debutant team-mate Joel Eriksson will drop to the back of the grid courtesy of their 20-place grid drops following an inspection of their invertors and a seal break.
Rene Rast had completed the top 10 for Audi courtesy of his group two effort.
A shambolic group one entry from the top six in the points put reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa down to a lowly 12th and a full 1.376s off the best group time of Wehrlein.
DS Techeetah driver da Costa had been joined in the session by Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries, Mitch Evans and Stoffel Vandoorne but the big hitters will line up down the order after tripping over each other.
Antonio Felix Da Costa, DS Techeetah, DS E-Tense FE21
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
In view of the anticipated track evolution, all six cars toured together on their out-lap and squabbled three-wide in places and side-by-side through the final Turn 15 banked corner.
Across the line, Frijns suffered a massive locked up on the approach to Turn 1 as Sam Bird tried to throw his Jaguar Racing car up the inside of Vandoorne, who also locked up.
That massively delayed the trio and also eliminated the clean air de Vries had created for himself by dropping back on the preparation lap.
This paved the way for da Costa and Evans to break away, with da Costa beating 13th-quickester Evans by 0.053s before the whole cohort slipped down the order.
Eriksson’s first attempt at Formula E qualifying netted him 14th ahead of Nick Cassidy and Mercedes racer de Vries.
Behind Bird in 20th, a group four start for Nissan e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi looked like the platform on which to rebuild his disappointing season. But he only clocked 21st.
The 2015-16 champion only eclipsed points leader Frijns, Vandoorne and spinner Tom Blomqvist.
Puebla E-Prix qualifying superpole results
| Cla | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche Team | 1'23.780 | |
| 2 |  Oliver Rowland |  DAMS | 1'23.838 | 0.058 |
| 3 | Jake Dennis |  Andretti Autosport | 1'23.879 | 0.099 |
| 4 | Jean-Eric Vergne |  Techeetah | 1'24.282 | 0.502 |
| 5 | Maximilian Gunther | Andretti Autosport | 1'25.095 | 1.315 |
| 6 |  Edoardo Mortara |  Venturi | 1'27.217 | 3.437 |
| View full results | ||||
Group qualifying results:
Related video
Previous article
Puebla E-Prix: Rowland leads incident-filled practice sessions
Next article
Buemi set for grid penalty to solve “fundamental” Nissan e.dams car woes
#ThinkingForward with Susie Wolff
Jaguar Racing: Monaco E-Prix Highlights
Jaguar Racing: Sam Bird Monaco Garage Tour
Why Audi was right and wrong in Formula E's loophole row
OPINION: With Audi's Formula E exit imminent, it had nothing to lose in London by attempting to vault Lucas di Grassi into the lead by pitting him under the safety car. Scorn directed at the team for putting glory before ethics should instead be pointed at a rulebook that allowed such a move in the first place
Why Formula E's London return delivered anarchy in the UK
Formula E landed for a London E-Prix for the first time since 2016, at the indoor-outdoor circuit around the ExCeL. Featuring the birth of renewed title pushes, a long-awaited maiden win and the second race's controversy, the round proved to be an exhibition of the electric series' anarchic nature
Why consistency can't be relied upon for Formula E title success
It's commonly upheld as the most straightforward method of racking up titles. But, due to the unique qualifying format used in Formula E, a consistent approach can actively work against a driver and make their life harder in races. So with four races to go, is now the time to ditch the tried-and-tested approach for a win-or-bust mentality?
How Bird's crash recovery became Formula E's fairytale of New York
After crashing in practice during the opening session at the New York City E-Prix, Sam Bird immediately had a recovery job on his hands. But the Jaguar driver rose through the order and secured victory in the second race - and with it, the championship lead. Here's how an Englishman in New York became top of the heap
Why Formula E is plotting a major change of philosophy
Formula E has become famed for its unpredictability, which can yield exciting races - but it can be argued that it robs the all-electric championship of a clear narrative and doesn't adequately reward the best drivers. The series wants to change that, and renew its philosophy ahead of the introduction of its next-generation car
How Puebla's high-altitude encounter gave Formula E's new leader breathing space
With the usual Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez venue unavailable to Formula E, it visited the little Puebla circuit to keep its foot in the door in Mexico. A near-winner two years ago, Pascal Wehrlein looked in swaggering form throughout the weekend - but a breathless final encounter helped put Edoardo Mortara in the driving seat
The half-term report cards of each Formula E team in 2020-21
In an eventful Formula E season, punctuated by rain and energy-conservation controversy, the 12 teams contesting the championship have endured many challenges in the opening seven races. Here's how they've got on across the first half of the season.
How Formula E stood up to F1 comparisons in Monaco
OPINION: It was no surprise to anybody that the laptimes achieved by Formula E cars on the full Monaco circuit were much slower than Formula 1. But perhaps the more relevant comparison was in the racing spectacle, where FE delivered in spades
