Mitch Evans took a stunning pole position for the Monaco E-Prix on Saturday, with the in-form New Zealander beating Pascal Wehrlein in the final of the duels.
The Jaguar TCS Racing driver comes to Monaco on the back of a double victory in the Rome E-Prix, and Evans was in sublime form again to claim his first pole position of the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season.
Group Stage
Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Stoffel Vandoorne topped Group A in Qualifying in Monaco, the Belgian finishing just ahead of Tag Heuer Porsche FE Team’s Wehrlein, while championship leader Jean-Éric Vergne of DS Techeetah and Lucas di Grassi of ROKiT Venturi Racing also made it through.
Sam Bird missed out on the top four by just 0.013 seconds, with Nissan e.dams’ Maximilian Günther sixth, while Daniel Ticktum was an encouraging seventh for NIO 333 FE Team, although he was as high as second at one point during the session.
Perhaps surprisingly, Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara was only eighth in the session, with Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy down in ninth after a mistake saw him go off the track at turn one. Rounding out Group A were Dragon/Penske Autosport’s Sérgio Sette Câmara and Nissan’s Sébastien Buemi.
Evans topped Group B ahead of Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries, while Porsche’s André Lotterer and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns also continued their amazing unbroken streak of getting into the duels in each of the opening six rounds of the 2021-22 season.
Just missing out on the duels by just under a tenth of a second was Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland, while 2021 Monaco E-Prix winner António Félix da Costa also missed out as he ended sixth fastest in the second Techeetah.
Oliver Askew outqualified his Avalanche Andretti FE Team team-mate Jake Dennis as the pairing ending seventh and eighth, while Mahindra’s Alexander Sims, Dragon’s Antonio Giovinazzi and NIO 333’s Oliver Turvey rounded out Group B.
Duels
Evans went up against di Grassi in the Quarter finals, with the New Zealander beating the Brazilian by 0.285 seconds to advance. Vergne then beat de Vries by 0.517 seconds in the second Quarter Final to book a semi-final spot.
It was a battle of the Porsche’s in the third Quarter Final, with Wehrlein edging out Lotterer by 0.268 seconds, while the final Quarter final was the closest of the four, with Vandoorne beating Frijns by 0.158 seconds.
Evans posted a time of 1:30.001 in the semi-final to knock out Vergne, the Frenchman ending only 0.117 seconds back. Wehrlein then defeated Vandoorne in the second semi-final by 0.178 seconds.
The final saw Evans come out of the blocks quickly, and Wehrlein had no answer for the Jaguar driver’s pace. He was ahead of a tenth of a second in the first sector and that gap continued to grow across the lap, with Evans posting a time of 1:29.839 to confirm the pole position.
Monaco E-Prix Qualifying Result
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 | 9 | Mitch Evans | NZL | Jaguar TCS Racing | 1:29.839 | Duel Final |
| 2 | 99 | Pascal Wehrlein | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | +0.257 | Duel Final |
| 3 | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne | FRA | DS Techeetah | +0.279 | Duel Semi-Final |
| 4 | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | +0.404 | Duel Semi-Final |
| 5 | 11 | Lucas di Grassi | BRZ | ROKiT Venturi Racing | +0.499 | Duel Quarter-Final |
| 6 | 36 | André Lotterer | GER | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | +0.527 | Duel Quarter-Final |
| 7 | 4 | Robin Frijns | NED | Envision Racing | +0.612 | Duel Quarter-Final |
| 8 | 17 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | +1.099 | Duel Quarter-Final |
| GROUP A TIME | GROUP B TIME | |||||
| 9 | 30 | Oliver Rowland | GBR | Mahindra Racing | +1.660 | |
| 10 | 10 | Sam Bird | GBR | Jaguar TCS Racing | +1.855 | |
| 11 | 13 | António Félix da Costa | POR | DS Techeetah | +1.671 | |
| 12 | 28 | Maximilian Günther | GER | Nissan e.DAMS | +2.060 | |
| 13 | 28 | Oliver Askew | USA | Avalanche Andretti FE Team | +1.775 | |
| 14 | 33 | Dan Ticktum | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | +2.092 | |
| 15 | 27 | Jake Dennis | GBR | Avalanche Andretti FE Team | +1.991 | |
| 16 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | CHE | ROKIT Venturi Racing | +2.136 | |
| 17 | 29 | Alexander Sims | GBR | Mahindra Racing | +2.094 | |
| 18 | 37 | Nick Cassidy | NZL | Envision Racing | +2.170 | |
| 19 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Dragon/Penske Autosport | +2.252 | |
| 20 | 7 | Sérgio Sette Câmara | BRZ | Dragon/Penske Autosport | +2.298 | |
| 21 | 8 | Oliver Turvey | GBR | NIO 333 FE Team | +2.658 | |
| 22 | 23 | Sébastien Buemi | CHE | Nissan e.DAMS | +2.346 |
