Dennis Takes London FE Race One Pole
Grid Talk Reporter 12:19 30/07/2022
Andretti driver Jake Dennis took a home pole for Formula E’s London opener, defeating championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne in the final duel.
The result is Andretti’s first pole since the end of its factory BMW partnership, and Dennis’s second in FE after Valencia last April. But Vandoorne is in by far the best shape of the championship contenders. The Mercedes driver - who leads the standings by 11 points with four races to go - had a serene run through qualifying to reach the front row, while title rivals Edoardo Mortara, Jean-Éric Vergne and Mitch Evans are down in ninth, 13th and 14th respectively. While Evans could rue being held up by Lucas di Grassi (who was penalised but vehemently disputed it) and then locking up at Turn 1 in group qualifying, Mortara and Vergne just didn’t have enough pace to progress.
Mercedes and Andretti’s strong sessions were completed by reigining world champion Nyck de Vries qualifying third and rookie Oliver Askew an Formula E best fifth. But perhaps the biggest star of qualifying was Sergio Sette Câmara. Driving for the Dragon Penske team that’s still to score a single point this season, he was second quickest to Vandoorne in his group session and made it to fourth on the grid, having also been fastest in Friday afternoon's first practice session. Maximilian Günther will start sixth for the Nissan e.dams team, whilst Envision's Nick Cassidy and Porsche's André Lotterer completed those who made it into the duels.
