FORMULA E
Copyright © Aemilia Cumberland - Jean Eric Vergne for DS Penske at the London E-Prix
 Credit: Joe Portlock In the most dramatic circumstances, Oliver Rowland takes pole position for Sunday's Monaco E-Prix as due to wet weather and track limits drama, the duels final was cancelled. Rowland took pole after having no final to take part in following both DS Penske drivers in the second semi final, had their lap times deleted, following track limit violations at the Nouvelle Chicane. In addition with the tricky conditions worsening, Race Director Marek Hanczewski decided that qualifying was concluded and that the two drivers in the first semi final, Rowland and Nyck De Vries will share the front row, with Rowland starting from pole position. Jean-Eric Vergne and Maximilian Gunther both had their laps deleted and therefore as De Vries' time was legal, he goes above them on the starting grid for the E-Prix later on in the afternoon. Pole position for Rowland means he is to extend his championship lead to 37 points, with the three world championship points. This now he means he has the biggest championship lead in the Gen3 era of Formula E. How round seven qualifying unfolded in MonacoSunday this weekend in Monaco meant the day of round seven in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. This was the second round in two days on the double weekend taking place in Monte Carlo. The Circuit De Monaco had already seen a lot of thrilling action already across the weekend with round six taking place yesterday. After Oliver Rowland won from the front row on Saturday, it once again that qualifying around this infamous race track is so important. Mitch Evans was the driver to beat coming away from Free Practice 3, as he set the fastest time ahead of Andretti's Jake Dennis and Mahindra's Nyck De Vries. Half a tenth of a second separated the top three. 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 will progress into the semi finals where again there would be 1v1 duels. The two winners of the semi finals would compete against one another in a 1v1 grand final duel, with one lap for each of the drivers. The driver with the fastest time will take pole position for the afternoon's E-Prix. Here are the groups for the first phase of qualifying:
How Group A unfoldedThe green light was on at the end of a wet pit lane as heavy rain had been falling making the circuit wet and very treacherous for the drivers and teams. This was going to be a very tricky 12 minutes for the 11 drivers. Oliver Rowland was having difficulty early on with a run down the escape road and a cut across the Nouvelle chicane leaving him under pressure. Drivers were trying to find time everywhere with Zane Maloney and Nyck De Vries having small stints at the top of the time sheets but they would not stay there for the long, due to drivers finding improvements everywhere. Rowland found a lap and was able to put it together and keep it on the circuit. Keeping with the constant pace he had been showing from the first six rounds of the season, he went fastest with a 1:57.628 which was an impressive time from the championship leader Antonio Felix Da Costa had a moment at the top of the time sheets but he was beaten by Rowland who was back up at the top again but even Rowland's stay at the top of the times was brief with Dan Ticktum going up to first. Soon enough the chequered flag was out and drivers needed to find laps but someone who was unable to was Mitch Evans and despite topping Free Practice 3 earlier he could only manage ninth. Top of the times was Nyck De Vries who continued his fine form for Mahindra in Monte Carlo and had better fortunes than his teammate Edoardo Mortara who was eliminated. Joining De Vries in progressing was Da Costa, Rowland and Ticktum. How Group B unfoldedAfter Group A had concluded, attention turned to Group B with the rain having stopped the track and was bound to be trying all the time. These 11 drivers were fighting to finish in the top four and join De Vries, Da Costa, Rowland and Ticktum in the knockout duels. After the first laps, it was the experienced Envision Racing driver Sebastian Buemi who had the provisionally fastest time with Jean-Eric Vergne just behind him. However, things were expected to change with constant improvements. Jean-Eric Vergne for DS Penske was shining in the first few laps and went to the top provisionally by over two seconds faster than second place Jake Dennis who had moved up the order. A 1:54.863 for Vergne was going to take some beating with five minutes remaining. His teammate Max Gunther got close he was unable to beat it with the time ticking down but the lap was beaten by Vergne's former DS Penske teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who went fastest for Maserati. However, the session was brought to a halt slowly after the lap as NEOM McLaren driver Sam Bird found the barrier at Sainte Devote and hit the barrier at some speed. In doing so he was out of qualifying and the red flag was out. The session was paused with 2:46 on the clock remaining so there was time on the clock for drivers to have one more flying lap attempt. Vandoorne, Vergne, Gunther and Cassidy were the drivers provisionally through. Eventually the session got back underway for the final few minutes of the group stage qualifying in Monte Carlo. Everyone had made it to the line in time for one flying lap to try and get themselves through to the duels. Cassidy was the first to cross the line and did go fastest but so many were making greater improvements behind including Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis but even their lap times were not good enough to make it through. Fastest in the session was the Envision Racing of Sebastian Buemi who was joined in the quarter finals by Jean-Eric Vergne, Max Gunther and Stoffel Vandoorne in progressing to the semi finals. How the Knockout duels unfoldedFollowing a pause in qualifying following an eventful group phase where there was drama, incidents and big surprise eliminations, it was time to head onto the 1v1 knockout duels to find out the pole sitter for round seven of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. In this stage of qualifying, eight drivers are paired up to form the quarter final stage. The winner of each quarter final will progress to make four drivers remaining in the semi final stage with the fastest driver from them progressing which will leave two drivers remaining. Those two drivers would fight for pole position for round seven of season 11 in Formula E. The quarter final fixtures in Monte Carlo are as follows:
First up in the quarter final duels stage was championship leader Oliver Rowland taking on third in the championship Antonio Felix Da Costa with it being Nissan versus Porsche! Rowland was setting his lap first with Da Costa following him around the circuit. The time to beat set by Rowland was a 1:48.032 and in the end it was a very comfortable margin to see the championship leader through to the semi-final stages. Da Costa was over 1.4 seconds behind and was out of qualifying. Up next in the quarter final stage was Cupra Kiro's Dan Ticktum taking on Group A's fastest driver Nyck De Vries. It was the British driver Ticktum who was tasked with setting the lap time first. Following a mistake across the Nouvelle chicane, Ticktum had to abort the lap and therefore Nyck De Vries went through fairly easily. Ticktum was frustrated as he was unable to get through to the semi final stage for the second successive round in back-to-back days. The third quarter final was a battle between the former DS Penske teammates but now at different teams. Stoffel Vandoorne of Maserati was up against multiple Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne. It was Vandoorne who was to set the lap time first for Maserati and laid down a lap to beat 1:49.238 but Vergne had been flying throughout the group phase and was thriving in the wet conditions. He went eight tenths of a second faster than his former teammate. Vergne was awaiting one of the two in Quarter Final 4. He was to be joined by his teammate Maximilian Gunther and the Envision of Sebastian Buemi who looked incredibly fast in the group phase. Gunther was up first and set the lap to beat which was faster than Buemi but both of them looked to have exceeded track limits which was to involve some sorting out. Gunther had the quicker time initially so he provisionally was to be through. There were four drivers remaining though that formed two semi final fixtures, which were as follows:
It was time for the semi final stages of the knockout duels and to determining pole position, the session was getting closer and closer to its climax. First up it was the battle between second and first from round six on Saturday. Nyck De Vries took on Oliver Rowland and it was De Vries who went first. Remarkably both went down the run off at Sainte Devote but both turned it around and continued on! De Vries completed a 1:58.489 but due to Rowland spinning the car round quicker he had an advantage over two seconds crossing the line and made it through to the final for the second day in a row and the second successive round. Rowland awaited one of the DS Penske drivers, as the two teammates Maximilian Gunther and Jean-Eric Vergne went up against each other in the second semi-final. It was Gunther who was to complete the lap time first. Gunther and Vergne both went off at the chicane due to the slippery brake times. A 1:53.590 was the time set by Gunther was beaten by two seconds but both lap times were deleted in huge dramatic circumstances. Then Race Director Marek Hanaczewski decided that enough was enough with the conditions worsening and being unsafe. Qualifying was over and he declared that Oliver Rowland would take pole position as he is the one who won his semi final with a legal lap time. Due to both lap times being deleted for Gunther and Vergne in the Semi Final 2, it would be decided that Nyck De Vries was automatically promoted to second place in the final provisional qualifying order. However, Oliver Rowland had taken pole position and was to start round seven of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from the front of the field and added three extra world championship points to his name. 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 7 - Monaco E-Prix qualifying provisional result
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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