Stoffel Vandoorne on pole position for the Rome ePrix

Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver Stoffel Vandoorne set pole position in Qualifying on Saturday in Rome, beating André Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E) and Nissan E.DAMS driver Oliver Rowland.

Oliver Rowland, who had set the best time in the group qualifying stage, hit the wall on the exit of Turn Nineteen and broke the rear right wheel suspension. It seemed like the British driver could not turn the car far enough and went too wide on the exit of Turn Nineteen, but he had already hit the car on the inside of Turn Thirteen on the same lap.

Lotterer appeared to be off the pace in free practice but used his experience well to get into the shootout for pole position, although he could not do enough to take pole position, missing out by just 0.167 seconds, while Rowland managed third despite his mishap.

Vandoorne was the man on fire when it mattered, having set the third fastest time in the first segment of the session, he went even faster in the shootout with a best lap of 1:38.484. The pole position awards Vandoorne three points in the championship, moving him up to thirteenth in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship drivers standings.

Lucas di Grassi took fourth on the grid for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler, while Jean-Eric Vergne took a stunning fifth after his DS Techeetah mechanics managed to repair his car after being hit from behind my Oliver Turvey at the end of first practice. The final driver to make it into the shootout was BMW i Andretti Motorsport‘s Maximilian Günther.

Just missing out on the shootout was Envision Virgin Racing‘s Robin Frijns in seventh, while championship leader Nyck de Vries (Mercedes) was eighth. Both Frijns and de Vries, as well as Jaguar Racing team-mates Sam Bird and Mitch Evans were all in group 1 of qualifying and all did well to get to seventh, eighth, eleventh and twelfth respectively, while Antonio Felix da Costa (Techeetah) could only manage eighteenth.

Nick Cassidy (Envision Virgin Racing) hit the outside wall of Turn Thirteen and had to stop in track, therefore not registering any qualifying time. This places him at the back of the grid, alongside Turvey (NIO 333 Formula E) who had an accident in Free Practice 1 and Edoardo Mortara (ROKIT Venturi Formula E) who seemed to suffer from a battery issue.

Qualifying Result

Pole Shootout