FORMULA E
Copyright © Aemilia Cumberland - Jean Eric Vergne for DS Penske at the London E-Prix
 Credit: Simon Galloway After a dramatic knockout duels final, Taylor Barnard took pole position for the sixth round in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, at the infamous Circuit De Monaco. Championship leader Oliver Rowland ran into the wall at the start of his lap in the knockour duels final, which effectively handed the pole position to Barnard who completed the lap with comfortable ease. Both got to the final after seeing off their semi-final opponents. Rowland beat Dutch driver Nyck De Vries and Taylor Barnard beat pole position favourite Dan Ticktum, with the fastest lap of the session - a 1:26.315. Barnard took pole position for the second time in Formula E, after breaking the record for becoming the youngest pole sitter back in Jeddah. He has a chance to become the youngest race winner this afternoon. It will be an all-British top three on the E-Prix starting grid providing no grid penalties for Rowland should he need to have anything fixed on his car. Due to his semi-final time being better than De Vries, Cupra Kiro's Ticktum qualifies third. How qualifying unfolded in Monaco for round six of 2024/25A busy start to Saturday morning saw two practice sessions prior to qualifying at the start of two rounds in two days in Monte Carlo. This had kick started round six of the AAB FIA Formula E World Championship and it was then time to set the grid for the first of two E-Prix across the weekend. The pole position prize in other world championships like Formula One is pivotal around the iconic Circuit De Monaco but it is never a certainty to take victory from with the threat of the tight street circuit walls and also the Formula E Attack Mode variations. Dan Ticktum would be the man to beat ahead of qualifying in Monte Carlo. He had topped both Free Practice sessions earlier on during Saturday morning's action. 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 Monaco E-Prix. The groups are as follows:
How Group A unfoldedA green light on at the end of the pit lane was the signal that qualifying for round six of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship was underway in Monte Carlo, at one of the most infamous race tracks in world motorsport. The halfway point and Oliver Rowland and Nissan were the ones to beat as with six minutes remaining of the 12-minute session. It was a 1-2 with his teammate Norman Nato to beat but the 11 drivers out on circuit were trying to get to grips with the circuit and find all the time they could. Despite a difficult practice, Zane Maloney went to the top of the times but the laps were a way off the times set in Free Practice. However, Maloney did not stay top for long as many went ahead of him including Rowland who went back to the top with a 1:28.713. Rowland was leading Mahindra's Nyck De Vries, DS Penske's Maximilian Gunther and Andretti's Jake Dennis in the provisional top four places with two minutes of the session to go in Group A. Soon enough time was up and the chequered flag was out. Drivers on flying laps needed to find time to secure their place in the knockout 1v1 duels. There were little improvements in the final laps but there was one for Jake Dennis of Andretti who secured his space as well as the Porsche of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein. Oliver Rowland was fastest ahead of Dennis with De Vries and Wehrlein joining them in the top four and those four would have to wait to see the other four that would be joining them in the duels. How Group B unfoldedAfter a short pause following the conclusion of Group A, it was time for Group B with the remaining 11 drivers fighting for the top four places in order to secure their places in the knockout duels. Half the time had passed and Lucas Di Grassi was the driver that the rest had to aim and beat. The Lola Yamaha ABT driver, who secured the team's first podium last time out in Miami, was showing strong pace in Monaco. It was to be beaten though by Mitch Evans who went quickest by six tenths of a second and it was a time that withstood one of the favourites for pole position in Dan Ticktum. However, it was beaten by Taylor Barnard who was provisionally fastest with a 1:29.016. Ahead of the final laps, Nick Cassidy was someone in need to find a lap time as he was 11th and over a second away from the all-important top four to progress into the duels. One of the front runners in 2023/24 had yet to make a knockout duels in the previous first five rounds of 2024/25. Soon the chequered flag was out and another lightning lap around Monte Carlo for Dan Ticktum who put in a fantastic lap to end Group B fastest overall by three tenths to Mitch Evans in second. Taylor Barnard continued to impress in third with Envision Racing's Robin Frijns making up the top four. Cassidy though would be eliminated and qualified 10th in the group. This means he will start the race on the penultimate row of the grid. He was over three tenths away from qualifying for the duels. Another shock elimination at the group phase came from Antonio Felix Da Costa who was only eighth. How Knockout duels unfoldedFollowing a pause in the action after two enthralling action-packed group stages, it was time to see who will start the 2024/25 round six Monaco 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:
Up first in the quarter final was the battle between two reigning champions in Mahindra's Nyck De Vries up against the Andretti of Jake Dennis. Both experienced around Monaco and both were looking to get themselves into the semi final but only one could. A 1:26.890 for De Vries was the lap time originally set as he was the first to complete his lap time and that was enough to see him progress against Dennis by just shy of two tenths of a second. Up next was the battle between the reigning world champion against the current championship leader. Pascal Wehrlein of Porsche was up against the Nissan of the current points leader Oliver Rowland. This was set to be close. Wehrlein was the driver to cross the line first with a 1:26.682 but despite a tricky final sector for Oliver Rowland, the Brit was to progress by 0.153 over the Porsche driver. The third quarter final consisted of the youngest ever Formula E pole sitter, Taylor Barnard, competing against the sole Jaguar of Mitch Evans. The NEOM McLaren driver was up first with Evans being the last one to cross the line. A 1:26.752 for Barnard was the time to beat but Evans was unable to go better and in the end it was a comprehensive win for the Brit as the Jaguar driver was eliminated. The gap between Barnard and Evans was almost four tenths of a second. The final quarter final consisted of the Envision of Robin Frijns and the Cupra Kiro of Dan Ticktum who had been the man to beat so far with him being fastest in his group as well as both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2. Frijns was the first driver to set his lap time which was a 1:26.955 but it was not enough as Ticktum showed his hand once again around the streets around the principality of Monaco. The final sector played dividends for the Brit, just like Free Practice. Following the four quarter final duels it was time for the semi final duels, with the four remaining drivers being paired up, as they will battle over one-timed lap to fight for a place in the final duel for pole position. There were three British drivers to have made it into the duels semi finals with Oliver Rowland, Taylor Barnard and Dan Ticktum joining Nyck De Vries in the final four. With that, the semi finals shaped up as follows:
First was the semi final between De Vries and Rowland with De Vries being the first driver to set his lap time. A former world champion vs the championship leader. A 1:26.844 for De Vries was the time that Rowland had to beat and he beat it fairly comfortably as the gap was just over two tenths of a second. The championship leader Rowland was progressing though and it was to guarantee an all-British final. The all-British semi final was up first though which was semi final 2. The duel was between the NEOM McLaren of Taylor Barnard and the Cupra Kiro of Dan Ticktum with Ticktum being the driver to set his lap time first. The time that Barnard needed to beat, being set by Ticktum was a 1:26.423. Ticktum had been fantastic all day long but in the end it was Barnard who beat him by a tenth of a second and was to join Rowland in the final, in all-British front row. A 1:26.315 for Barnard. Two drivers remained meaning the final was an all-British affair between Nissan's Oliver Rowland, the championship leader, versus Taylor Barnard in his first full season of Formula E and is already the youngest ever pole sitter in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship history. Oliver Rowland was the driver to set his lap time first for Nissan, while Barnard waits in the pit lane for him to clear down the road. Drama at the start of Rowland's lap as he hits the wall at Sainte Devote and ruins his lap completely and he handed the pole position to Taylor Barnard but take nothing away from the achievement as it was an epic lap to get him to the final and he didn't need to push too hard due Rowland slowing. Last season, Barnard made his Formula E debut at the very circuit and almost on a 12-month anniversary he takes his second ever Formula E pole position and is making a statement of intent in the championship and also with how young he is he has potential to go and achieve more great things. Barnard will start the round six 2024/25 Monaco E-Prix from pole position for a chance to take his maiden E-Prix victory and becoming the youngest ever race winner in the process. 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 6 - Monaco E-Prix Qualifying result
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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