FORMULA-E: WEHRLEIN TAKES POLE BUT GRID PENALTY SHAKES UP SÃO PAULO QUALIFYING
Qualifying in the hot São Paulo weather was full of drama. Pascal Wehrlein took his third straight Julius Baer Pole Position at this track. But even though he was fastest, he must drop three places on the starting grid because he spun his wheels while leaving the pit lane, which is not allowed under the rules.
Wehrlein set the best lap in the Final Duel for the 2025 Google Cloud São Paulo E-Prix, but because of the penalty, he will start today’s race, lights out at 14:00 local time, from fourth. He still keeps the three points for pole position, which means he stays in the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship.
Jake Dennis will now start from first place for Andretti. His new teammate, Felipe Drugovich, caused a red flag earlier after hitting the barrier during the Group stage. Dan Ticktum joins Dennis on the front row. Edoardo Mortara starts third, and Wehrlein starts fourth. Nyck de Vries lines up fifth for Mahindra Racing, with Antonio Felix da Costa in sixth, a strong result for his first race with Jaguar TCS Racing.
Even with the coming penalty, Wehrlein looked very strong. He beat Dennis easily in the Final Duel with a lap of 1:09.812, earning the three points and the pole award, the 10th pole for Porsche.
Oddly enough, the penalty might help him. No one has ever won the São Paulo E-Prix from the front row, something Dennis will try to change.
Group A
Under the bright São Paulo sun, drivers in Group A headed out. Jake Dennis and Pepe Martí were fast early, but many others joined the fight for a Duel spot.
Traffic made it hard to find space for a clean lap in the final minute, but everyone crossed the line in time. Zane Maloney was the only one who couldn’t set a flying lap; he went back to the pits early.
Antonio Felix da Costa set the best time with a 1:12.140. Vergne was second, and Mortara and Dennis also made the Duels.
The surprise was Oliver Rowland. The defending champion ended only fifth and looked frustrated when he returned to his garage. He also has a three-place grid penalty from an incident at the London E-Prix.
Group B
Local hero Felipe Drugovich was fastest early, but his session took a bad turn. With two minutes left, he hit the wall at Turn 6 and caused the first red flag of the season. More disappointment for Brazilian fans came when Lucas di Grassi didn’t return to the track afterward.
In the last two minutes, all drivers had one final chance to get into the Duels. Norman Nato topped the group with a 1:12.308. Wehrlein was close behind, then De Vries, and Ticktum took the last Duel spot.
Mitch Evans just missed out. Taylor Barnard also lost his chance after hitting the last corner during his lap.
Quarterfinals
In the first quarterfinal, Mortara beat Jean-Eric Vergne by half a second, ending Vergne’s return to the Duel stages.
Next, Da Costa and Dennis were almost identical on pace, but Dennis was slightly faster and advanced.
Wehrlein faced Nyck de Vries in the third duel. Wehrlein took an early lead and De Vries couldn’t close the gap.
The last duel was between Ticktum and Nato. Ticktum pushed his CUPRA KIRO to the limit, gained time as the lap went on, and ended Nissan’s qualifying session.
Semifinals and Final
Mortara began his duel with Dennis strongly, but Dennis gained time in the last two sectors and reached the final by just 0.029 seconds.
The second semifinal was tight too. Wehrlein and Ticktum pushed hard, but Wehrlein won and went for his third São Paulo pole in a row. Even so, he already knew he wouldn’t start from pole because of the wheelspin penalty.
The 2025 Google Cloud São Paulo E-Prix starts at 14:00 local time.
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