Jeddah – Qualifying 1: Wehrlein beaten, Günther in pole position

• Pascal Wehrlein thought he had a third consecutive pole position in Jeddah, after those he had won in São Paulo and Mexico… but this Friday, the German found someone stronger than him! It was Maximilian Günther who managed to beat the reigning world champion during qualifying for the first Jeddah E-Prix of the weekend.
• The DS Penske driver defeated his compatriot in the final, a duel at the top between the only two drivers who went under the 1'15 mark on this Corniche circuit. In addition to the pole position, Maximilian Günther took the three points offered to the poleman. It is the first pole for the Franco-American team since that obtained by Jean-Éric Vergne at the 2024 Portland E-Prix.
• Oliver Rowland, winner of the last E-Prix in Mexico, thought he could interfere in the final but the Briton failed in the semi-final by just six hundredths of a second against Pascal Wehrlein. The Nissan driver will have to settle for 3rd place on the starting grid, ahead of a surprising Taylor Barnard, 4th on his McLaren with a Nissan engine.
• The bad performance of these qualifications is to be put down to Antonio Félix da Costa: the leader of the championship was eliminated from the group phase by signing the 7th time of Group A. The driver Porsche, at fault on his last flying lap, will have to start in the heart of the pack, in 13th place.
• On the other hand, no Frenchman was able to qualify for the Duels. Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) and Norman Nato (Nissan), both present in the same group, failed at the gates of the Top 4 of Group B with the 5th and 6th times respectively. Jean-Éric Vergne will therefore start 10th and Norman Nato 12th.

Formula E – Jeddah 1
Qualifications – Ranking

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