Nick Cassidy dominates to take his first win of Season 11 for Jaguar TCS Racing in a soaking wet Shanghai E-Prix, after starting from pole position.

Cassidy who has had difficulties this season, after being in contention for the Formula E Championship title in the previous two seasons. He took victory to get his first and Jaguar's second of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

​ The New Zealander took victory and finished ahead of Porsche duo Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix Da Costa, who finished second and third respectively which completed the podium. With this result, Porsche now take the Teams' Championship lead from Nissan.

Nissan's Oliver Rowland leads the championship, but the championship leader had a difficult round 11 and finished down in 13th. His championship lead now stands at 68 points to Wehrlein, who moves up to second in the standings.

Sunday was the day of the second round of the double-round weekend at the Shanghai E-Prix, taking place at the Shanghai International Circuit. However, unlike the sunshine of Saturday, rain was the topic of conversation on Sunday.

The rain brought about the majority of Free Practice 3 being cancelled and also qualifying being amended so only the group stage of the format took place. It was Nick Cassidy who was flawless in both, and took his first pole position of the season.

Cassidy's time in Group A was faster than Antonio Felix Da Costa's in Group B, with the most of Group B cancelled due to the weather conditions worsening.

Oliver Rowland was the biggest sufferer in qualifying as he only managed ninth in group which was converted to 17th on the grid. The championship leader had work to do from there.

The rain as well as the track conditions caused a delayed start to proceedings. When the race got underway, it was behind the Safety Car with Cassidy and the field leading the drivers around to clear some of the standing water before going green flag racing.

Lap seven and the Safety Car was called in by Race Director Marek Hanaczewski who confirmed that it was to be a rolling start to kick-start green flag racing conditions. It was Cassidy to lead the field away and he maintained the lead ahead of the two Porsche drivers.

Interestingly enough, Cassidy and the two Porsche cars, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein, went to their first of two mandatory Attack Modes straight away. Also doing this on the first available chance was Jake Hughes, Jean-Eric Vergne, Nyck De Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne, Max Gunther, Mitch Evans and Rowland.

It was working for Hughes who was intent on making his way towards the leading three as Porsche decided to swap the order of their cars to try and close up to Cassidy who was pulling away but also to avoid Hughes catching them.

The following lap and Lucas Di Grassi went to his first Attack Mode along with Andretti drivers Nico Mueller and Jake Dennis with also Zane Maloney, Di Grassi's Lola Yamaha ABT teammate.

De Vries was showing that the conditions were still tricky as the Mahindra driver ran across the gravel after a spin following. He rejoined down in 10th place. 

Cassidy was being caught by Wehrlein proving that the decision by Porsche was a correct one for the time being. Wehrlein was pushing towards the race leader, in a race where he needed to capitalise on Rowland's position and maximise points.

Mueller and Dennis were using Attack Mode to their advantage as they were making overtakes on other drivers. Mueller was progressing well and moved up to sixth before his Attack Mode ran out as he overtook Maximilian Gunther in the DS Penske.

Conditions were still tricky and with a lack of grip, Wehrlein and Dennis had moments in the latter half of the lap, while a spin caught out the Cupra Kiro of David Beckmann, who did well to keep it from being beached in the gravel trap.

Lap 15 and it was the first Attack Mode for the highest of those who still had two portions remaining, which was the Envision of Robin Frijns. He was running in 13th and he took it following De Vries into the Attack Mode zone, who took his second and last of the E-Prix.

Di Grassi was the latest to take on his second while Taylor Barnard, Edoardo Mortara, Sam Bird, Sebastian Buemi, Norman Nato, Dan Ticktum and Beckmann all had two turns of Attack Mode to take with 10 laps remaining.

Winner of round 10 on Saturday, Maximilian Gunther had a red car, which is an electrical issue for the German driver. This followed him taking on a second Attack Mode and it was turn 10 where the driver pulled off but there was no need for a Safety Car or red flag so the race continued.

Eight laps remained and finally came the first Attack Mode for some of the drivers which included Norman Nato, Sebastian Buemi and Edoardo Mortara. It was one lap later when the British driver Taylor Barnard took on six Attack Mode minutes for his first one of the E-Prix.

On lap 22 it was Cassidy's turn to go to Attack Mode for the second time and doing the same one lap later was Maloney. Both took four minutes as they had that remaining. The end of the race was approaching, in Shanghai.

Da Costa and Evans were soon to have their turns as Barnard was making progress by passing Dennis. Also, Ticktum and Beckmann took their first for the Cupra Kiro team. Attack Mode was not guaranteeing overtakes though as Maloney was struggling to make moves.

Wehrlein was next along with Hughes and Vergne as the trio took their final Attack Modes with Vandoorne, Frijns also taking them within the same two laps.

With the start behind the Safety Car, there was three added laps added to the race total, which extended the lap total for the E-Prix to 31, which gave those who had yet to serve their second Attack Modes of the E-Prix.

This was taken advantage of by Barnard, Bird, Rowland, Ticktum and Beckmann in the latter stages with Norman Nato leaving it until the final two laps to take his final Attack Mode.

Latter stages spins for Bird and Vandoorne cost them time and places in the field.

Out front though, a seemingly mistake-free across Sunday was Nick Cassidy, who after mastering the timing qualifying had dominated the treacherous conditions during the E-Prix. Whether it be Attack Mode, the grip on circuit and the overall pace, Cassidy conquered all of it.

He led home the Porsche duo by a distance across the line as he took the chequered flag. Pascal Wehrlein led home teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa to make it a double podium for the team. With the double podium, it sees Porsche overtake Nissan at the top of the Teams' championship.

Jake Hughes secured fourth for Maserati, while Jean-Eric Vergne made it two top five finishes of the weekend in fifth place. Nico Mueller scored his first points in Shanghai as he finished sixth ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.

Robin Frijns, Lucas Di Grassi and Taylor Barnard completed the top 10 and points-scoring positions.

Outside the top 10, Oliver Rowland came home in 13th and failed to score in what has seemingly been an underwhelming Shanghai weekend compared to what he has achieved this season. The championship lead has closed to 68 points between he and Pascal Wehrlein.

Formula E takes a two-week break before heading to the Indonesian capital Jakarta for a singe-round weekend, with the E-Prix taking place on June 21.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

After qualifying groups only, Nick Cassidy will start the round 11 Shanghai E-Prix from pole position after topping Group A on Sunday morning.

The teams and drivers were up against treacherous and tricky conditions in the qualifying session, taking place at the Shanghai International Circuit. Cassidy was in the first group of qualifiers, Group A and set a 1:31.305.

It was the Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa who topped Group B, in the other part of qualifying that took place but the track conditions declined in quality and the Portuguese driver laid down a 1:32.952.

Group B was cut short due to the worsening of conditions and leaving Race Control no other alternative than red flagging the qualifying session. From that point on, it was not continued.

Oliver Rowland, the championship leader, had a disaster of a qualifying session on Sunday morning after he only qualified ninth in the Group A session. He is therefore tasked with starting the round 11 E-Prix from 17th place. 

Formula E qualifying is knockout-based and the 22-driver field is split into two groups of 11, with the top four progressing from each group. The top four will progress into a 1v1 duels knockout bracket and the eight drivers will form four quarter final fixtures.

From the quarter finals, the eight drivers will be competing against another driver who had progressed from the group phase in a 1v1 one-timed lap. The one quickest in each quarter final would progress into the semi finals, where again there would be 1v1 battles. 

The two winners of the semi finals would compete against one another in a grand final 1v1, with one lap each for both drivers. The driver with the fastest time will take pole position for the afternoon's Shanghai E-Prix.

​The groups are as follows: ​

The first of the two Group sessions got underway at the Shanghai International Circuit with the conditions still challenging and treacherous for the drivers to try and navigate and to lay down the best possible lap times to put themselves in the best possible starting position.

​It was Nick Cassidy who was out the blocks quickest in Group A, although was noted for failure to follow the race director's instructions when leaving the pit lane. He was later given a reprimand for what he was found to have done.

Cassidy set an early benchmark lap time for the rest to beat, which was a 1:32.590. In the top four provisionally with him at that stage was Pascal Wehrlein, Oliver Rowland and Zane Maloney.

However, there was still a lot of time for improvements and that is what came to fruition. Jake Hughes of Maserati set a new benchmark lap of 1:32.283 for the rest of the drivers to all aim to beat.

Proof of the trickiness of the conditions was accelerated by the drivers on the circuit. Nyck De Vries was evidence of this as he went into a spin after improving his personal best lap of the session and went to fourth quickest.

It was a busy end to the session and by the end a superb lap from Cassidy saw him finish top of the group and also with it being a grouped session only, took provisional pole position. A 1:31.305 for Cassidy saw him finish top of the group.

Wehrlein was second ahead of Hughes and De Vries. Those three and Cassidy would have been the four drivers to go through into the duels if they were to take place but with the adverse weather they were cancelled.

Big shock though as Oliver Rowland was only able to manage ninth place and was to start from the ninth row of the grid. Work for him to do in the E-Prix.

Following the first 11 drivers having been out onto the circuit, it was time for the other 11 to challenge those that went first in Group A. This included the two Porsche cars and Taylor Barnard. All three were hoping to capitalise on an unusually poor qualifying from Rowland.

First laps laid down and a 1:32.952 for Da Costa and he was the driver to beat as he was leading a provisional top four of he, Jean-Eric Vergne, Lucas Di Grassi and Sam Bird but there was time for that to change.

The track was becoming more difficult though with drivers finding it tricky. David Beckmann of Cupra Kiro ended up heading into a spin. Those were rectifiable. What was also rectifiable was Sebastian Buemi coming to a complete stop and therefore the red flag was required. 

There was a brake issue with the Envision but was able to get his way back to the pit lane. When the session got back going, Jake Dennis led the Group B field back onto the circuit but the conditions had become even more treacherous.

It was not long before the session was red flagged and this led to a suspension of qualifying, with Race Control deciding the session was not going to be resumed and therefore Antonio Felix Da Costa was top of the group for Porsche.

However, his 1:32.952 was not good enough to be better than the best lap of Group A, set by Jaguar's Nick Cassidy, who had taken his first Formula E pole position of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season.

Jaguar's Nick Cassidy was fastest in Free Practice 3 at the Shanghai International Circuit, to begin round 11 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Cassidy was fastest in a session where treacherous conditions played their part in creating a very difficult track surface for the drivers to try and negotiate, at the start of the second race day in as many days.

The session that took place only had limited on-track running before it was eventually cancelled. The drivers had a couple of timed laps in the early phase of the session before the red flags were flown. However, due to the danger that the conditions produced for the teams and drivers, the session was eventually cancelled.

This was a problem to the drivers as limited track running in the wet was likely to cause problems ahead of the qualifying and potentially even the E-Prix later on with the weather forecast predicting similar conditions throughout the day.

The New Zealander of Jaguar topped the times in Free Practice 3 ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Penske, while Robin Frijns completed the top three. Cassidy's lap time was a 1:36.108 - 0.461 ahead of Vergne.

Eventually, the session was cancelled with not great optimism ahead of the qualifying for the E-Prix later on and the E-Prix itself.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Fantastic drive from Maximilian Gunther who converted pole position to victory to win the round 10 Shanghai E-Prix on Saturday, in a historic day for his team DS Penske.

Gunther took victory after setting a remarkable qualifying lap to take pole position prior to the E-Prix getting underway. However, he was part of history for his team DS Penske as they recorded their first ever 1-2 finish in Formula E.

The German driver took victory ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who with a sensational last lap pass took second. Completing the podium in another fine drive was NEOM McLaren driver Taylor Barnard.

Championship leader Oliver Rowland extended his championship lead despite finishing in fifth place. Rowland now has an 86-point lead in the championship over second in the standings Taylor Barnard, who has overtaken both Porsche drivers - Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix Da Costa.

Saturday meant E-Prix race day for round 10 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, which was the first of two E-Prix in a double-round weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit. 

After a busy day of action already in China, there was a lot of excitement building ahead of the 29 laps of racing that Saturday had in store at the Shanghai E-Prix.

Following pole position in the day's earlier qualifying, Maximilian Gunther was to start the Shanghai E-Prix from the front of the field after Gunther came out on top in the knockout duels final between he and the NEOM McLaren of Taylor Barnard.

29 laps of racing got underway as the lights went out and a great start from Pascal Wehrlein saw him go from third to first into the first turn. Following him, Gunther slotted into second with Barnard down to third.

It was a very close battle throughout the field and many drivers were making gains and losses, in terms of position. Championship leader Rowland moved up to second position from sixth at the end of the lap one.

Rowland had great speed in the early stages and moved up to the race lead almost immediately at the start of the second lap of racing. Wehrlein had a difficult second lap as he dropped towards the back end of the two five.

The field was very close together in the opening stages and this was supported in evidence by Nick Cassidy, Edoardo Mortara and Jean-Eric Vergne going three wide into the final chicane in the lap. 

Mortara and Cassidy made contact though, sending Cassidy into a spin. This was later noted by Race Control and the Jaguar driver was sent towards the back of the pile. Also with the contact made, this saw Mortara fall back.

Stoffel Vandoorne was the first to Attack Mode early on in the E-Prix with Lucas Di Grassi and Sebastian Buemi making it three drivers in the first six laps who had taken to Attack Mode for the first time.

There was continuing to be ferocious battles out in front with so many great on track battles. Nyck De Vries found himself in the race lead on lap seven ahead of Rowland. Rowland was soon down to third after the first Attack Mode from Di Grassi elevated the Lola Yamaha to second.

Robin Frijns, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Mueller all ended up taking their first Attack Modes. Following a bit of contact with he and Rowland, Wehrlein had dropped back down the order and was hoping to use the Attack Mode to make up more ground.

The Attack Mode was making such a game changer for drivers making their way through the field. Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller both made their way up into the top three while Wehrlein went three-wide with Rowland and Di Grassi in a battle for fourth.

Mueller was the first driver to take his Pit Boost as soon as the pit window to serve Pit Boost was open. He rejoined towards the back as many drivers pitted on the following lap for their mandatory stops. This included pole sitter Gunther as well as Buemi, Sam Bird and Zane Maloney.

Lap 13 was time for Rowland and De Vries to enter Attack Mode for the first time and both returned to the top two positions with Rowland getting ahead of the Mahindra of De Vries.

Norman Nato and Stoffel Vandoorne then served their Pit Boost pit stops, as they found it the best time to do so while many that had pitted like Buemi, Da Costa, Gunther and Vergne all took to Attack Mode immediately after taking on the eir Pit Boost.

Rowland and De Vries, the leading pair, took their Pit Boost at the end of lap 16, which was also the start of lap 17. It was going to be close on the pit exit where the duo was going to filter out. A good stop for Rowland and he initially rejoined ahead of Gunther but with remaining Attack Mode, Gunther soon found this way.

The following lap and it was Pascal Wehrlein's turn to serve the Pit Boost mandatory pit stop. He had maximised the strategy brilliantly to emerge ahead of Rowland and only just behind Gunther in the DS Penske machine.

Gunther and Rowland still had one portion of Attack Mode left at the start of lap 20 as Barnard took his second and final amount, which was four minutes. The NEOM McLaren driver was then able to fly through to take the lead with just under three minutes of Attack Mode remaining.

De Vries was the latest to complete his Attack Mode along with Norman Nato and both Cupra Kiro cars - David Beckmann and Dan Ticktum. Lap 22 and championship leader Rowland took his final Attack Mode, which was four minutes worth.

Rowland had rejoined from the Attack Mode zone in eighth and was flying as you would have expected with the extra speed as he hunted down Barnard at the race lead as Gunther also picked up his second and final dosage of Attack Mode.

Gunther was flying and after Rowland took the lead of the E-Prix, Gunther was making his way through the field and before long he was on the tail of Rowland who had run out of Attack Mode.

With 30 seconds of Attack Mode remaining Gunther took the lead, in a no-contest pass down the start/finish straight. The pole sitter was back into the race lead ahead of the championship lead.

Ticktum was having a great race after starting in the back three places on the grid was pushing on the fringes of the podium with the latter stages of his Attack Mode and in the latter stages of the E-Prix.

Meanwhile Barnard with a glorious move fought himself to get ahead of Rowland for second place with Ticktum hounding the pressure on the top three. With slipstream down the start/finish straight and it was up to third for Ticktum after passing Rowland down the start/finish straight.

Vergne was flying though as well and onto the final lap of the E-Prix he was in the hunt for a podium too as he got by Rowland. While this was going on, a frantic battle was ongoing between Ticktum and Barnard for second position.

The DS Penske driver made a lunge on both Ticktum and Barnard in the final few corners, on the final lap to make it a 1-2 for the team.

Out front, it was outstanding from Gunther, who mastered his Attack Mode and Pit Boost strategy to take the chequered flag first. The German driver converted his pole position into E-Prix victory in Shanghai.

It was the first ever 1-2 for the DS Penske team as Vergne took second place in the very latter stages of what was an enthralling Shanghai E-Prix. Taylor Barnard completed the podium with a third-place finish in another strong showing from the young Brit.

Dan Ticktum and championship leader Oliver Rowland ended fourth and fifth respectively ahead of the second Nissan of Norman Nato in sixth place. Sam Bird achieved a double points finish for the team, with a seventh place finish ahead of the Mahindra of Nyck De Vries, who was eighth.

Envision duo Sebastian Buemi and Robin Frijns completed the points scorers in ninth and 10th respectively.

After such excellent racing around the Shanghai International Circuit, Formula E were to do it all again on Sunday with Free Practice 3 kick-starting the action off at 08:00 local time.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

A stunning lap from German driver Maximilian Gunther of DS Penske, who takes his second pole position of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit, on Saturday.

Gunther will start on pole for round 10 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, and in doing so it is his second of season 11 for him as he picks up three world championship points.

The DS Penske driver beat the NEOM McLaren of Taylor Barnard in the duels final after beating Nick Cassidy and championship leader Oliver Rowland on route to the duels final, where he picked up pole position.

A 1:08.234 for Gunther, which was an incredible lap and by far the fastest throughout the entirety of qualifying. Barnard's time in comparison was a 1:08.621.

Rowland has the championship lead coming into the round and after a difficult start to the weekend, in Free Practice 1 & 2, he managed to get through to the knockout duels but was eliminated at the Quarter Final stage.

The gap is 77 points in the championship between Rowland and second place in the championship Pascal Wehrlein. The star of Free Practice, Antonio Felix Da Costa is third, heading into this double-weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit. 

Formula E qualifying is knockout-based and the 22-driver field is split into two groups of 11, with the top four progressing from each group. The top four will progress into a 1v1 duels knockout bracket and the eight drivers will form four quarter final fixtures.

From the quarter finals, the eight drivers will be competing against another driver who had progressed from the group phase in a 1v1 one-timed lap. The one quickest in each quarter final would progress into the semi finals, where again there would be 1v1 battles. 

The two winners of the semi finals would compete against one another in a grand final 1v1, with one lap each for both drivers. The driver with the fastest time will take pole position for the afternoon's Shanghai E-Prix.

​The groups are as follows: ​

The green flags started flying in Shanghai to signal the start of Group A as the first 11 drivers headed out for 12 minutes of qualifying. The top four finishers at the end of this 12 minutes were going to progress to the knockout duels.

Andretti were strong in the early parts of the session as Nico Mueller laid down an early benchmark lap before this was subsequently beaten by his teammate Jake Dennis. The Brit had soared to the top of the times.

Dennis did not stay at the top of the times for much longer as Jake Hughes of Maserati went to the top of the time sheets. Also beating Dennis was the Lola Yamaha ABT of Zane Maloney and the Nissan  of Norman Nato.

Oliver Rowland had been having a difficult start to the weekend after finishing 15th and 22nd in both of the Free Practice sessions of round 10. He moved up to second place with a lap that was 0.022 behind Hughes' lap.

Hughes's session best lap time was dislodged by Nick Cassidy as he dropped Rowland down to third. Cassidy's stint at the top for Jaguar was short lived as a stunning effort from Maximilian Gunther saw the German go top by over three tenths with a 1:09.939.

A minute remaining in the session and Gunther, Cassidy, Hughes and Rowland were the provisional top four with final laps set to get underway, which left uncertainty for all 11 drivers, who were looking to improve.

The chequered flag was soon out and it was Hughes the first to take the chequered flag but was unable to improve on his third place position. Many drivers were improving and this caused a very close end to the session.

Gunther progressed ahead of Jake Dennis, who with a last-gasp lap time put Hughes out of qualifying after a prior improvement from Rowland saw him secure a place in the knockout duels. Nick Cassidy were to join the trio.

As for the drivers eliminated, a big shock was Antonio Felix Da Costa after he had topped both Free Practice sessions prior to qualifying for round 10. A disaster for Da Costa who was eliminated from the group phase.

Following the extremely tight and enthralling action of Group A, the attention had turned to the other 11 drivers in Group B, who likewise had 12 minutes to find a time good enough to finish in the top four.

Just like Group A, the top four from Group B were to progress to the knockout duels. Maximilian Gunther, Jake Dennis, Nick Cassidy and Oliver Rowland were the drivers awaiting the fastest four from the 12 minutes of action.

Mitch Evans' qualifying was irrelevant unless he took the three world championship points for pole positions. Due to many significant mechanical changes to his car after the damage he sustained in Tokyo, he was to take an 80-place grid penalty for round 10.

Almost immediately from the green light coming on at the end of the pit lane, the Group B session was underway. Drivers were heading onto the circuit almost immediately to start setting some lap times.

At the end of the first half of the session, it was Nyck De Vries leading the way for Mahindra with a 1:10.219. De Vries was ahead of both NEOM McLaren drivers, Taylor Barnard and Sam Bird, while Lucas Di Grassi rounded off the provisional top four.

All 11 drivers had lap times with the likes of Pascal Wehrlein down the order and needing to find some time if the reigning champion was to qualify for the knockout duels.

De Vries ended up being dislodged from the top spot by an improvement for Taylor Barnard, who with his personal best went to the top of the timing tower. An improvement on his second run from Wehrlein saw him go third behind De Vries, with Jean-Eric Vergne improving and sitting in fourth.

On the final flying lap runs in Group B, Stoffel Vandoorne was the first driver to take the flag but was eliminated as he could only achieve a personal best of sixth place. David Beckmann in the latter stages put in a great lap to end up fourth and through to the knockout duels.

Taylor Barnard though had shone in a qualifying group stage once again as he finished fastest. Nyck De Vries and Pascal Wehrlein joined Barnard and Beckmann in progressing through to the knockout duels.

Following a pause in the action after two enthralling action-packed group stages, it was time to see who will start the 2024/25 round 10 Shanghai E-Prix from pole position with the knockout 1v1 duels.

In this stage, eight drivers are paired up to form the quarter final stage, with one lap for each driver in each quarter final and they have to set a better timed lap than their opponent to progress through to the semi final stage.

The quarter final duels are as follows:

• Quarter Final 1: Nick Cassidy vs Jake Dennis
• Quarter Final 2: Oliver Rowland vs Maximilian Gunther
• Quarter Final 3: Pascal Wehrlein vs Nyck De Vries
• Quarter Final 4: Taylor Barnard vs David Beckmann

It was time for the knockout duels and the first quarter final got underway between the Jaguar of Nick Cassidy and the Andretti of Jake Dennis at the Shanghai International Circuit. The winner was to face one of Oliver Rowland and Maximilian Gunther in the first semi final.

Cassidy was the driver to enter the circuit first and therefore he was the first out of he and Dennis to set his one lap, in their one chance to progress to the semi final duels for round 10.

The Jaguar of Cassidy laid down a lap of 1:08.880 which was the time to beat for Dennis but the Andretti was unable to beat it and Cassidy has progressed through to the semi final of the duels. The gap between Cassidy and Dennis was around two tenths of a second.

Cassidy had to wait to find out who he was to face in the semi final stage. It was to be one of championship leader Rowland or the DS Penske of Maximilian Gunther. Rowland was the driver to set the lap first.

A 1:08.924 for Rowland was not enough to get through and the championship leader was defeated by Gunther. His lap in addition was slower than Dennis' time, meaning that Rowland was to start behind his fellow countryman.

In the third quarter final of the duels, of round 10 at Shanghai, it was between the reigning champion of Pascal Wehrlein and the Mahindra of Nyck De Vries. This was for the first spot in the second semi final.

Both the Porsche and Mahindra had looked quick around the Shanghai International Circuit but it was the reigning champion who progressed through to the next round. Wehrlein beat De Vries by a narrow margin of 0.059.

Wehrlein was to face the victor of quarter final four in the second semi final. The battle was between David Beckmann and Taylor Barnard, who are both enduring their first full seasons in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Beckmann set the time first, which was a 1:09.266 and going up against it was made to look effortless by the brilliance of Barnard, who beat the Cupra Kiro driver by four tenths of the second.

The four drivers remaining were participating in the semi final duels stage. The semi final match-ups were as follows:

• Semi Final 1: Nick Cassidy vs Maximilian Gunther
• Semi Final 2: Taylor Barnard vs Pascal Wehrlein

After a short pause, it was time for the first of the two knockout duels semi finals, which was between the Jaguar of Nick Cassidy and the DS Penske of Maximilian Gunther.

It was Cassidy who was heading onto the circuit out of the two first, therefore was to set his lap time first, in his first knockout duels of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The benchmark lap laid down by Cassidy was a 1:08.779 with Gunther aiming to beat it, behind the New Zealander on the road and the DS Penske driver was to progress through to the duels final. He beat Cassidy by almost three tenths of a second.

The second semi final followed immediately after with Gunther awaiting his opponent in the duels final. Taylor Barnard was up against the reigning champion in Pascal Wehrlein. Barnard was the driver to start his lap first.

Barnard laid down a benchmark of 1:08.503, which was the quickest lap of the qualifying session so far but Wehrlein had the chance to go better. Unfortunately for the German he was unable to do so and Barnard progressed to the duels final.

The DS Penske of Gunther was to take on the NEOM McLaren of Barnard in the duels final, with the winner taking pole position but with it, also is three world championship points to add to their 2024/25 tallies.

It was Barnard who was to head out onto the circuit first and therefore he was the first in the duels final to set his lap time, in the quest for a third career Formula E pole position.

It was a 1:08.621 for Barnard but in a phenomenal lap Maximilian Gunther took pole away from the young Brit. A 1:08.234 for Gunther sees him takes his second Formula E pole position of the campaign.

He will start the round 10 Shanghai E-Prix from pole position on Saturday afternoon, with Barnard on the front row alongside him.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal 

Porsche's Antonio Felix Da Costa shone in an extremely tight Free Practice 2 at the Shanghai International Circuit in China, as the Portuguese driver ended the session quickest.

The field was extremely close together throughout Free Practice 2 and the entire 22-driver field was separated by less than seven tenths of a second after 40 minutes of running at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Da Costa was quickest with a 1:08.749, a lap that was just 0.042 ahead of Taylor Barnard who was second for the NEOM McLaren team. Nyck De Vries finished third for the Mahindra Racing team, while DS Penske's Maximilian Gunther and Maserati's Jake Hughes completed the top five.

Championship leader Oliver Rowland and his team Nissan once again struggled in Free Practice so far, at the start of this double-round weekend in China. Rowland finished last and 22nd, only 0.696 off Da Costa at the top.

Rowland's teammate Norman Nato ended up finishing the session in 20th but not much faster than the Brit, who has a 77-point championship lead coming into rounds 10 and 11 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

At 08:00 local time the session began in Shanghai with the drivers piling out onto the circuit, ahead of what was to be a busy couple of days for the teams and drivers in the session. No hesitation from the vast majority of drivers in heading straight out onto the track.

​After the first five minutes in the session, drivers were crossing the timing line and were beginning to set lap times on the timing tower. Oliver Rowland, the championship leader spent small time at the top before going quickest was Nico Mueller of Andretti.

Laps of real representation started being set and Pascal Wehrlein emerged to the top of the times with a 1:10.951, which was 0.066 ahead of Rowland. However, reigning champion Wehrlein was soon dislodged from first place by Dan Ticktum.

There was constant changing of the positions on the timing tower within the first 10 minutes, as the track was ramping up while also different drivers were finding time at different areas of the Shanghai International Circuit.

By the end of the first 10 minutes of the session, 21 out of the 22 drivers had set a lap time. The only one who had not was Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing. It was Devid Beckmann though of Cupra Kiro who had the fastest time with a 1:09.324.

Many drivers were finding improvements and that group of drivers included the Lola Yamaha ABT of Lucas Di Grassi, who had moved to second place and was 0.107 behind the lap from Beckmann.

Oliver Rowland had a difficult Free Practice 1, in comparison to his Nissan Norman Nato but was looking quick in Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning. Rowland went third fastest and the lap was 0.121 behind that of Beckmann.

Jake Hughes took pole position in Shanghai, back in the 2023/24 campaign and with a 1:08.992, the British Maserati driver went to the top of the times ahead of Beckmann. Jean-Eric Vergne also made a major improvement to second as Beckmann dropped to third.

At the halfway point in the session, it was Hughes that led the way from Vergne, Beckmann, Di Grassi and Rowland who joined the Brit inside the top five. Still 20 minutes of the session was remaining as many were preparing for Attack Mode practice laps.

Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein was on a practice Attack Mode lap but only went into sixth place. A gap that was 0.489 behind the provisionally fastest time from Hughes, who was joined up in the top two by Zane Maloney  with a great lap for Lola Yamaha ABT.

An impressive improvement to second place though was made by Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing. While his teammate was in the pits with another mechanical fault, Cassidy was making use of his track time and was just six thousandths off Hughes in top spot.

However, both Hughes and Cassidy dropped a position to second and third respectively with the Andretti of Jake Dennis who set the session's new fastest time, which was a 1:08.972. Dennis' lap was just two hundredths faster than Hughes' best lap with 12 minutes to go.

After topping FP1, it was a session mostly out of focus for Antonio Felix Da Costa as despite going fastest overall in both of the first two sectors, he was only able to improve to fourth place. It was a good lap from Da Costa, despite him not having the best final sector.

The following lap from Da Costa was much better though and went to the top of the timing tower for the Tag Heur Porsche team. A 1:08.749 for Da Costa, which was a lsp two tenths of a second faster than Dennis.

A new gap from Da Costa's lap to that of second place was narrowed to 0.042 as Taylor Barnard moved up to second place for NEOM McLaren. Barnard moved into second after Nyck De Vries had a brief moment where he improved and spent time in that position. 0.064 separated the top three.

Despite another session that was plagued with mechanical problems, Evans got back out on circuit and improved to 14th only - despite being just 0.452 off the top spot which still belonged to Da Costa.

The field was very close together in Free Practice 2, as the session reached a conclusion. Seven tenths of a second separated the entire field with championship leader Oliver Rowland down in 22nd but only seven tenths off Da Costa who ended the session quickest.

Da Costa, who topped Friday's Free Practice 1 session topped Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning. He beat the NEOM McLaren of Taylor Barnard, who was second, while Nyck De Vries completed the top three positions for Mahindra.

DS Penske's Maximilian Gunther and Maserati's Jake Hughes completed the top five, while Jake Dennis ended the session in sixth place for the Andretti team. 

Nick Cassidy was seventh, as the highest of the two Jaguar drivers. Cassidy finished ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, Nico Mueller and Zane Maloney, who completed the top 10 finishers for Free Practice 2 in Shanghai.

Formula E would not have long of a pause in the action with qualifying coming up - kicking off at 10:20 local time at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Portuguese driver Antonio Felix Da Costa was fastest in the opening Free Practice session of the double-round weekend for Tag Heur Porsche, at the Shanghai E-Prix on Friday.

Da Costa set the fastest time in the session, with an Attack Mode powered lap in the late afternoon at the Shanghai International Circuit. Porsche, who was expected to be strong had both cars inside the top five as Pascal Wehrlein finished fourth.

A 1:09.280 for Da Costa saw him beat Nyck De Vries of Mahindra by a tenth, who finished second. Maserati's Jake Hughes ended the session third at a venue that he took pole position at in the 2023/24 season.

Oliver Rowland, the championship leader, had a difficult start to track action for this weekend as he finished down in 15th place for Nissan. His Nissan teammate Norman Nato finished higher up in seventh.
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The 40 minutes of Free Practice got underway and drivers began to head out immediately. The session though began as is normal for Free Practice 1 sessions with a Full Course Yellow test being undertaken by Race Director Marek Hanaczewski.

The drivers began to set lap times as they were getting a feel for the circuit and the two Nissans leapt up to the top of the times but they were of little representation and it was Rowland who led his teammate Norman Nato.

However, both were beaten as Dan Ticktum went to the top of the time sheets as he looked to continue his fine form with a 1:11.367. The Cupra Kiro driver secured his maiden Formula E podium last time out in Tokyo.

The track was ramping up though and winner at Shanghai in 2023/24 Mitch Evans went fastest with a 1:10.04 ahead of Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara, who went briefly to the top of the time sheets.

Reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein would join Evans in the top two, but was nearly nine tenths off the pace for the Tag Heur Porsche team. This was before DS Penske's Maximilian Gunther went second fastest with 27 minutes to go.

Evans stayed at the top of the time sheets for a decent amount of time until Wehrlein went fastest with a 1:09.854 - a lap four tenths faster than Evans' lap. That was until Taylor Barnard beat the lap for NEOM McLaren.

These were Attack Mode practice laps and the track was ramping up. This combined was causing significant improvement as the Maserati of Jake Hughes went second quickest on the day of his 31st Birthday.

Nissan was having a quiet session but the highlight of the first session up until the final 10 minutes was Norman Nato going to second on his Attack Mode lap. However though, he was still behind Barnard.

Barnard's time at the top was brought to a close with exactly 10 minutes remaining in the session. Nick Cassidy of Jaguar was the driver to beat him, albeit by just four thousandths of a second with a 1:09.686.

The session was proving that the field was really close together and that was until Antonio Felix Da Costa went top by four tenths of a second on his Attack Mode lap for the Tag Heur Porsche team.

Championship leader Oliver Rowland was finding his brake balance difficult during Free Practice 1 with an improved best lap time taking him to 12th but he was 0.743 behind Da Costa's time of  1:09.280.

Before long the session was complete and it was Da Costa fastest in Free Practice with his strong lap time that he set with 10 minutes remaining in the session. There was 0.132 between Da Costa and second place Nyck De Vries. 

Jake Hughes of Maserati was third ahead of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein in fourth, while Jaguar's Nick Cassidy completed the top five.

Young superstar Taylor Barnard was sixth for NEOM McLaren ahead of the highest-placed Nissan of Norman Nato, who was seventh. Dan Ticktum was eighth ahead of Jake Dennis, while 2022 champion Stoffel Vandoorne completed the top 10.

Friday action was complete with Free Practice 2 continuing the weekend's action on Saturday morning, with a start time of 01:00 for UK viewers.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Formula E goes back racing once again this coming weekend, after two weeks away from action, ahead of a double-round weekend in China at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The double-round weekend at Shanghai will see rounds 10 and 11 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship take place in just Formula E's second ever visit to the Shanghai International Circuit.

China's Shanghai International Circuit is very famous in the world of motorsport for it being the very well known venue of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix. Despite the race track layout being different to Formula One, the Formula E layout still has the recognisable first sector and start/finish straight from the Grand Prix.

Shanghai will host rounds 10 and 11 of the Season 11 campaign, compared to the 2023/24 season where it hosted rounds 11 and 12. So the Formula E campaign only sees Shanghai one-round earlier in comparison to last season.

The race track that Formula E will go racing around is made up of 12 turns and has a lap distance of 3.051km.

Last year at the Shanghai International Circuit, it saw pole positions for Jean-Eric Vergne and Jake Hughes, while standing on the top step of the podium was Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix Da Costa.

Coming into the double-round weekend Oliver Rowland has a healthy lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship for the Nissan team. Following four successive top-two finishes and taking three successive pole positions, Rowland now leads the championship by 77 points over reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein.

Rowland has only finished off the top two steps of the podium in two of the first nine rounds of the season and considering the current form of the Nissan driver it is likely to continue as the championship heads to China.

The double-round weekend will begin on Friday for Free Practice 1, part of round 10 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

In another fantastic performance from Oliver Rowland, he takes victory for the second time in four races to win the Tokyo E-Prix, for Nissan at their home event.

Rowland shone throughout qualifying and the E-Prix and took pole position after beating Dan Ticktum in the duels final but used to Attack Mode brilliantly once again to extend his championship lead once again.

The British driver took the chequered flag despite pressure on the final lap after a late Safety Car. Rowland finished first ahead of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, who finished second for Porsche. In doing so, he moves up to second in the Drivers' Championship.

A wholesome E-Prix and a memorable one for Dan Ticktum, who picked up his first Formula E podium in the Japanese capital, after a stellar performance throughout the day and getting to the knockout duels final. He took third place.

Rowland now leads the championship by 77 points over Wehrlein with over half of the season completed.

There was drama before the race even started as Mitch Evans failed to make the start as his car was unable to be repaired in time for the start of the race. This was after the Jaguar driver found the wall with a whack at turn 17.

This meant just 21 drivers were to take to the grid for the start of the Tokyo E-Prix, which was the second Tokyo E-Prix in as many days with this being a double-round weekend at the Japanese capital.

The 32-lap Tokyo E-Prix got underway with the five lights going out. A great start for Oliver Rowland who managed to hold off the challenges from Dan Ticktum and Pascal Wehrlein, in the first few corners, to lead in Tokyo.

Rowland was keeping things in control within the first few laps of the race and the championship leader had made positive work of his pace.

The first driver to take one of two mandatory visits to Attack Mode was Jake Hughes and it was going to be interesting to see where the Maserati driver would end up when his first lot of Attack Mode runs out.

Nyck De Vries was running the risk with a bit of front wing damage after a collision in the midpack between he and Sam Bird of NEOM McLaren. There was no black & orange flag either for the Mahindra.

De Vries, Sebastian Buemi, Maximilian Gunther and Zane Maloeny were among the next group of drivers to take their first Attack Modes of the E-Prix and now it was going to be interesting to see how they would make their way through the field.

Many drivers were using the first third of the race to take their first set of Attack Mode. Dan Ticktum, Taylor Barnard and Pascal Wehrlein had all taken their first Attack Modes.

The Attack Mode was seriously showing the benefits from having it when Ticktum, Wehrlein and Barnard all made light work of overtaking Rowland with the Nissan driver dropping down to fourth after starting from pole position.

After a good qualifying, Lucas Di Grassi was looking to make use of his first Attack Mode and was doing well as he took seventh from the Nissan of Norman Nato.

Lap 12 of 32 saw a Full Course Yellow be brought out by Race Director Marek Hanaczewski due to De Vries' front wing becoming detached from the Mahindra. The Full Course Yellow was brought out so the marshals could retrieve the debris safely.

During the Full Course Yellow, the Porsche of Antonio Felix Da Costa retired from the race with a mechanical problem. The driver second in the standings was set to lose more ground to championship Rowland if it was to stay as it was with him only in fourth.

There was a time penalty handed out to Norman Nato for speeding under the Full Course Yellow and that was to be added to his race time at the end of the E-Prix.

Lap 17 and it was the championship leader Oliver Rowland, who took to the Atttack Mode for the first time in the race and would undertake two minutes of the mandatory eight. Rejoining the pack from taking the Attack Mode, Rowland came out in sixth behind Nick Cassidy.

Rowland was soon making progress and it took him one lap to take fifth from Cassidy but that was all he could make count with his two minutes of Attack Mode and was stuck behind the Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara.

The Andretti duo visited Attack Mode at the same time. For Nico Muller, he was the first to take on his second Attack Mode but for Jake Dennis it was his first and with the first Attack Mode he climbed up to fourth place - ahead of Mortara and Rowland.

Mueller started a trend for second Attack Mode helpings at this stage of the race. Lap 22 saw Rowland, and Cassidy take their second Attack Modes and this was going to be big for the championship lead.

Rowland had no option to get on with it as the others had second Attack Mode helpings still to go for. He was progressing quickly and got ahead of Mortara and Jake Dennis within the first lap of having Attack Mode.

Then, on the following lap, the leading three which consisted of Wehrlein, Ticktum and Barnard all took their second Attack Modes. Crucially though they all had less Attack Mode than what Rowland still had remaining. 

To add to this positive outlook for Rowland, he also managed to jump ahead of Ticktum and Barnard to end up in second place - only behind the reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein.

He had to make it count with 40 seconds of Attack Mode remaining when Wehrlein's had expired and he did just that with a glorious move out of turn 15. A huge pass for him, for Nissan on home turf and also for both championships.

Then it descended into absolute chaos with Mortara closing up and getting in on the act with and looking to try and catch the top four off guard. Catching Ticktum off guard was Barnard though and he went through to take third place.

However, TIcktum was going to fight back as Wehrlein was fighting Rowland for the lead. In addition, Jake Dennis was fighting Mortara for fifth. It was fascinating racing around the streets of Tokyo.

For Barnard, disaster was soon to strike as he got tapped in the rear by Mortara and got sent off into the barriers and was out of the race on the spot which was such a shame as the Brit was having another great race.

Mortara received a five-second time penalty after the Safety Car was deployed, while Barnard's stranded NEOM McLaren was retrieved by the marshals.

There was to be a final lap of racing though as the Safety Car would enter the pit lane at the end of the penultimate lap and there was to be no added laps of racing deemed the Race Director Hanaczewski. 

The restart did not see a change at the front though and following two pole positions at Tokyo across the weekend, a second place finish in round eight and now he was to add a victory to his name.

He took victory for the fourth time in the 2024/25 season in Miami and the second time in four races. Rowland has now finished in the top two in each of his last four E-Prix and taken pole position for three of those.

Rowland held off a persistent Pascal Wehrlein, who despite moving up to second in the standings above teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa, lost more ground on Rowland in the championship and had to settle for second place in the E-Prix.

In third place for a maiden podium was Dan Ticktum of Cupra Kiro. Ticktum had shown great form of late and the British driver held on to take a third place finish after starting second on the grid. It was a truly epic round nine for him.

Jake Dennis finished fourth for Andretti while a great drive from Lucas Di Grassi of Lola Yamaha ABT, saw complete the top five in fifth place. Jean-Eric Vergne took sixth for DS Penske ahead of seventh place Nick Cassidy.

Sam Bird, Sebastian Buemi and Maximilian Gunther completed the points scoring positions and the top 10.

Formula E would return in two weeks for another double round of action at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. These rounds will be round 10 and round 11 of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Another three points in the Drivers' championship for Oliver Rowland, as he takes his third successive pole position in Formula E and his third in a row at the Tokyo E-Prix circuit.

Rowland beat Dan Ticktum in all-British final after a heartbreaking whack into the wall for Ticktum, which damaged his car and caused him to slow. This handed pole to Rowland on a plate but he was not in need of a second invitation.

It was commanding victories for both Rowland and Ticktum in their respective knockout duels semi final, with Rowland beating multiple-champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Ticktum beating the reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein.

Rowland is in the championship lead and with the three points for pole position has extended his championship lead to 63 points, with a further chance of extending this afternoon should he win the E-Prix.

Qualifying got underway for round nine of the 2024/25 season with the green light on at the of the pit lane. 12 minutes began in a hunt for the top four drivers, who would progress to the 1v1 duels.

The first half of the session in Group A saw the early lap times being set with Jean-Eric Vergne provisionally leading the way for DS Penske ahead of Lucas Di Grassi and the two Nissan drivers.

However, time was being found on circuit and despite improvements from Mitch Evans, Di Grassi went back to the top of the times with both Nissan drivers joining him back in the provisional top three. Norman Nato had gone second quickest ahead of Oliver Rowland in third.

Evans had slipped to fourth provisionally but his session was concluded following a nasty accident of his, after he clips the wall at turn 17 before heading straight into the barriers. He loses a tyre after making contact with the wall and is a passenger as his car heads into the barriers - narrowly avoiding a marshal who was stook nearby.

The red flag was unsurprisingly brought out to suspend the session as the drivers headed back to the pit lane ready to go again, as there were three minutes remaining in Group A.

Due to he being the cause of the red flag, as with the Formula E regulations, his best lap time was deleted and he dropped from fourth to 11th. This provisionally promoted the Mahindra of Nyck De Vries into the critical top four positions.

After the red flag delay, the session was once again back underway for the final three minutes of qualifying in Group A with drivers desperate to improve to book their places in the 1v1 knockout duels.

Soon enough the chequered flag was out with the drivers completing their final laps to try and book themselves a place in the quarter final places. Lucas Di Grassi with a last-gasp lap went to the top of the pile for Lola Yamaha ABT, who had progressed to the knockout at their home event.

Di Grassi was joined by the Nissan duo of Norman Nato and Oiver Rowland as well as DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne in progressing through to the next round. Shock eliminations included Taylor Barnard and round eight race winner Stoffel Vandoorne.

Following a frantic end to the Group A session, it was time for Group B where the other 11 drivers were in a fight to try and qualify in the top four to book themselves a place at the knockout duels final.

The cars had headed out onto the circuit, which in those cars was Pascal Wehrlein who topped the day's earlier Free Practice 3 session.

Robin Frijns of Envision Racing, who due to a significant mechanical part change on his car, was taking a 20-second grid penalty, had gone quickest earlier on. That was the first lap time set for him and the others though so there was time still remaining in the session for things to change.

Time for things to change included time for other drivers to make improvements to their lap times. One of the drivers was the Mahindra of Edoardo Moratara who went fastest with a 1:13.810. That was a time 0.082 quicker than Wehrlein.

Wehrlein was continuing to show that strong pace from Free Practice and in doing so he jumped to the top of the times by over a tenth. A great lap from the reigning world champion, who has a lap time of 1:13.671.

Mortara improved almost instantly after Wehrlein crossed the line but Wehrlein still had enough to remain at the top of the time sheets for the time being. His teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa and Andretti's Jake Dennis were the others in the provisionl top four with two minutes to go in the session.

Soon enough, the chequered flag was out which signified the end of Group B but the drivers still on flying laps had the opportunity to book their places in the knockout duels. In the very latter stages, which had played a part in some drivers' laps.

By the end of Group B, it was Wehrlein who ended the session fastest ahead o fEdoardo  Mortara, Dan Ticktum and Antonio Felix Da Costa. All four drivers met the other four in the 1v1 duels and it was set to be a highly competitive context.

Following a short pause on the action following a hectic Group Stage phase. The eight drivers remaining were matched up against another driver to compete over a one-timed lap in order to progress through to the semi final stage.

The four remaining drivers at the semi final stage were paired up and the winners of those two fixtures would form a final, which was also a one-timed lap 1v1 duel which would determine who would take pole position for the round nine 2024/25 Tokyo E-Prix.

Before the session reached that point, the quarter finals had to take place. The fixtures taking place were as follows:

• Quarter Final 1: Oliver Rowland vs Norman Nato
• Quarter Final 2: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Lucas Di Grassi
• Quarter Final 3: Dan Ticktum vs Edoardo Mortara
• Quarter Final 4: Antonio Felix Da Costa vs Pascal Wehrlein

First up in the quarter final stage was an all-Nissan affair with both Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato going up against one another to book themselves a place in the semi-final stage. Oliver Rowland was to complete his lap first.

Rowland landed a lap time first with a 1:12.375 and that guaranteed him a place in the first semi final after Norman Nato had made a big mistake on his lap.

However, the championship leader was through and was awaiting to see which one out of DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne and Lola Yamaha's Lucas Di Grassi would be joining him in the second quarter final duel.

It was to be Vergne who was to come across the line first and would lay down the benchmark lap time of 1:12.681. Despite having a decent margin at other parts of the lap and Di Grassi closing the gap, Vergne had enough in the lap to see him progress to the semi final.

Vergne was to be paired up against Oliver Rowland and the two drivers would be goingb against each other for a place in the final.

Up next in the quarter final stage was the Cupra Kiro of Dan Ticktum going up against the Mahindra Racing of Edoardo Mortara. This third quarter final would give one of the two drivers to take the first spot in the second semi final.

It was Ticktum who set the lap time first and it was a strong benchmark lap of a 1:12.173 and it was too strong of a lap to be beaten by the Mahindra of Mortara and the Cupra Kiro of Ticktum would be the first driver into the second semi final.

Ticktum was awaiting one of the two Porsche drivers Antonio Felix Da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein to meet him in the semi final stage. Both Porsche drivers would go against each other for a place in the final.

The lap time laid down by Da Costa but it was nowhere near good enough as he was beaten by six tenths of a second by Porsche teammate and reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein.

The semi final fixtures would be:

• Semi Final 1: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Oliver Rowland
• Semi Final 2: Pascal Wehrlein vs Dan Ticktum

First up in the two semi finals would be the one between championship leader Oliver Rowland and the DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne. It was Vergne who is setting the lap time first as he is the first one to exit the pit lane and to get down the road.

Vergne laid down a benchmark lap time of 1:12.602 but this was comfortably beaten by Rowland by six tenths of a second and the championship leader was in a position to take his third pole position in a row.

However, he would have to wait to take on one of Pascal Wehrlein and Dan Ticktum in the final. Both had shown great pace across the weekend at Tokyo.

It would be an all-British final as Dan Ticktum had beaten reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein by over a tenth with a great showing once again from the Cupra Kiro driver, who is in great form of late.

The final between the two British drivers Oliver Rowland and Ticktum was set to get underway with Rowland looking to take three Formula E pole positions in a row. Meanwhile, if Ticktum was to take pole this would be his very first in his Formula E career.

Ticktum was the driver who was to complete his lap first as he departed the pit before Rowland in what was set to be a really close battle between the two Brits.

A disaster for Ticktum on a lap that was going so well for the Cupra Kiro driver and on the delta tower he was up on the championship leader but a whack into the wall saw him go slow and come to a stop after crossing the line.

This handed the pole position on a platter for Oliver Rowland, who would pick up his third pole position in a row in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. In taking pole position once again, he has picked up three world championship points, which has extended his gap to 63 overall.

After another brilliant session from Rowland he would start Sunday's later E-Prix from the very front of the field. However, it would be an all-British front row provisionally with Dan Ticktum expected to start alongside.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal