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Berlin E-Prix: Dennis takes first Formula E pole of 2024 after stunning turnaround

The Briton and his Andretti team put in a remarkable turnaround from yesterday having qualified on the back row of the grid before retiring in the race.

Dennis pulled out a margin of 0.034s in the opening sector against Cassidy, the Jaguar driver having taken yesterday’s win at the Tempelhof Airport circuit after a superb under-the-radar drive.

Cassidy’s deficit grew to 0.241s through the middle sector, though, after running wide at the Turn 9 left-hand hairpin.

Despite Dennis getting out of shape on the exit of the final turn, his 1m01.819s proved to be the fastest time throughout qualifying and left him 0.231s ahead at the line.

It was two-by-two in the semi-final duels as the Jaguar and Andretti team-mates faced off against each other.

Marginally missing the apex at the Turn 6/7 hairpin cost Mitch Evans against Cassidy, as the former put in a lap that ended 0.151s slower, while Norman Nato found himself one-tenth ahead on Dennis in the opening sector but dropped time over the rest of the lap, finishing 0.022s behind.

Dennis got the better of Pascal Wehrlein by 0.168s in the quarter-finals after the Porsche driver brushed the wall on the exit of Turn 2, as Nato beat Stoffel Vandoorne in their battle by a margin of only 0.032s.

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 (Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images)

A scruffy final sector cost yesterday’s polesitter Edoardo Mortara in his quarter-final duel against Cassidy – who posted the fastest lap in qualifying with a 1m01.994s – with the Mahindra driver losing three tenths but only 0.254s in arrears at the line.

Evans maintained a one-tenth advantage across the lap to progress at the expense of Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther.

Having finished last in both qualifying groups on Saturday, Andretti’s Dennis and Nato had earlier topped the second session as less than one-tenth covered the top five drivers.

Jean-Eric Vergne, the runner-up in yesterday’s Berlin race, was the driver to miss out as DS Penske team-mate Vandoorne and Wehrlein progressed.

Envision’s Joel Eriksson finished sixth, ahead of Jehan Daruvala (Maserati MSG), Sergio Sette Camara (ERT) and Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz.

McLaren’s Taylor Barnard finished 10th having taken his first points finish in Formula E on Saturday in just his second start, as Jordan King (Mahindra) completed the group order.

Antonio Felix da Costa once again just missed out on progressing to the duels after finishing fifth in the opening qualifying group, the Porsche driver only 0.062s away from the cut-off point.

Cassidy had topped the session with a 1m02.544s as one-tenth covered the top four consisting of Guenther, as well as Evans and Mortara who set identical times.

Also failing to progress were Abt’s Lucas di Grassi, Jake Hughes (McLaren) and podium finisher in the opening Berlin race, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland.

Dan Ticktum finished ninth but will serve a 40-place grid drop, converted into a 10-second stop/go penalty during the race, after the gearbox and MCU aboard his ERT were changed overnight.

Envision’s Paul Aron and the second Abt of Kelvin van der Linde completed the group which was separated by 0.425s.

Formula E Berlin E-Prix Qualifying Result

   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Time km/h
1 United Kingdom J. Dennis Andretti Formula E 1

1'01.819

137.142
2 New Zealand N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing 37

+0.231

1'02.050

136.631
3 France N. Nato Andretti Formula E 17

+0.291

1'02.110

136.499
4 New Zealand M. Evans Jaguar Racing 9

+0.399

1'02.218

136.262
5 Belgium S. Vandoorne DS Penske 2

+0.239

1'02.058

136.614
6 Germany M. Gunther Maserati Racing 7

+0.346

1'02.165

136.378
7 Germany P. Wehrlein Porsche Team 94

+0.398

1'02.217

136.265
8 Switzerland E. Mortara Mahindra Racing 48

+0.429

1'02.248

136.197
9 France J. Vergne DS Penske 25

+0.791

1'02.610

135.409
10 Portugal A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team 13

+0.898

1'02.717

135.178
11 Sweden J. Eriksson Envision Racing 4

+0.851

1'02.670

135.280
12 Brazil L. di Grassi Team Abt 11

+0.910

1'02.729

135.152
13 India J. Daruvala Maserati Racing 18

+0.874

1'02.693

135.230
14 United Kingdom J. Hughes McLaren 5

+0.935

1'02.754

135.098
15 Brazil S. Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 3

+0.942

1'02.761

135.083
16 United Kingdom O. Rowland Nissan e.dams 22

+0.938

1'02.757

135.092
17 France S. Fenestraz Nissan e.dams 23

+1.008

1'02.827

134.941
18
T. Barnard McLaren
8

+1.097

1'02.916

134.751
19
P. Aron Envision Racing
16

+1.099

1'02.918

134.746
20 United Kingdom J. King Mahindra Racing 21

+1.215

1'03.034

134.498
21 South Africa K. van der Linde Team Abt 51

+1.150

1'02.969

134.637
22 United Kingdom D. Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 33

+0.970

1'02.789

135.023
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