Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Techeetch, Formula E, 2019

Rowland penalty hands Vergne pole for Monaco EPrix

Formula E

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Jean-Eric Vergne has taken pole position for the Monaco Eprix, as fastest man on track Oliver Rowland faces a grid penalties for an incident in the previous round.

Group One: Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin), Andre Lotterer (DS Techeetah), Antonio Felix da Costa (BMWi Andretti), Lucas di Grassi (Audi), Jerome D’Ambrosio (Mahindra)

With the track developing all morning and a very short circuit, both waiting as long as possible and avoiding traffic were crucial for group one. There were no cars out on track until just over two minutes were left in the session, when Lotterer led the way out.

He set an unrepresentative time of 51.018s as the chequered flag fell, after clipping a barrier. Each car subsequent to him improved, bar last-out Frijns who couldn’t beat Da Costa’s time.

Qualifying 1

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Antonio Felix da CostaBMWi Andretti0’50.375
2Robin FrijnsEnvision Virgin0’50.498
3Lucas di GrassiAudi0’50.502
4Jerome D’AmbrosioMahindra0’50.601
5Andre LottererDS Techeetah0’51.018

Group Two: Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah), Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar), Daniel Abt (Audi), Sam Bird (Envision Virgin), Edoardo Mortara (Venturi)

The group two drivers also played the waiting game, heading out about halfway through their session, but mostly failed to set substantially better times than group one.

Vergne hasn’t always shown his qualifying brilliance this season but set a lap two tenths clear of everyone else, with only Evans able to get close to his time.

Qualifying 2

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Jean-Eric VergneDS Techeetah0’50.048
2Mitch EvansPanasonic Jaguar0’50.247
3Sam BirdEnvision Virgin0’50.526
4Daniel AbtAudi0’50.602
5Edoardo MortaraVenturi0’50.618

Group Three: Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra), Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.Dams), Stoffel Vandoorne (HWA AG), Alexander Sims (BMWi Andretti), Felipe Massa (Venturi)

Group three were able to substantially improve on the earlier drivers’ times, pushing all of Group One out of Super Pole contention. Pascal Wehrlein and Felipe Massa put in particularly competitive laps, both within a tenth of Vergne’s.

Qualifying 3

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Pascal WehrleinMahindra0’50.058
2Felipe MassaVenturi0’50.090
3Sebastien BuemiNissan e.Dams0’50.140
4Oliver RowlandNissan e.Dams0’50.161
5Alexander SimsBMWi Andretti0’50.351
6Stoffel VandoorneHWA AG0’50.451

Group Four: Maximilian Guenther (GEOX Dragon), Gary Paffett (HWA AG), Oliver Turvey (NIO), Jose Maria Lopez (GEOX Dragon), Tom Dillman (NIO), Alexander Lynn (Panasonic Jaguar)

Dillman was the first to set a time in Group Four but slid heavily as he exited the final corner and setting a relatively poor time, only ahead of Lotterer.

No one in the rest of Group Four was able to contend the top six, putting in times that saw them midfield.

Qualifying 4

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Alexander LynnPanasonic Jaguar0’50.370
2Jose-Maria LopezGEOX Dragon0’50.432
3Maximilian GuentherGEOX Dragon0’50.514
4Oliver TurveyNIO0’50.578
5Gary PaffettHWA AG0’50.664
6Tom DillmanNIO0’50.811

Super Pole: Pascale Wehrlein (Mahindra), Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah), Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.Dams), Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.Dams), Felipe Massa (Venturi), Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar)

Going out in reverse order, Mitch Evans started Super Pole with a 50.112, a competitive time for the group stages. Rowland then set a 50.021, the fastest lap of any qualifying session so far.

Only one man had previously ever won or had pole on the Monaco Eprix circuit – Sebastien Buemi. He looked to be struggling compared to Rowland, two tenths down on his teammate after Sector One – and couldn’t make up the time; he only managed a 50.234, provisionally putting him in second after Rowland’s penalty is applied.

Massa put together the fastest middle sector of anyone but couldn’t quite complete the lap, coming in behind Evans with a 50.218, at the same time as it was announced Evans was under investigation for Super Pole procedure.

Wehrlein was not able to put in a challenger lap, saying as he came in that he couldn’t warm the tyres. However, Jean-Eric Vergne was able to do enough to, with Rowland’s grid-place penalty, take provisional pole in Monte Carlo.

Super Pole

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Oliver RowlandNissan e.Dams0’50.021
2Jean-Eric VergneDS Techeetah0’50.042
3Mitch EvansPanasonic Jaguar0’50.112
4Pascal WehrleinMahindra0’50.128
5Felipe MassaVenturi0’50.218
6Sebastien BuemiNissan e.Dams0’50.234

Jerome D’Ambrosio, Edoardo Mortara and Oliver Rowland face three-place grid penalties for incidents during the Paris Eprix.

Qualifying results

1. Oliver Rowland – Nissan e.Dams – 0’50.021

2. Jean-Eric Vergne – DS Techeetah – 0’50.042

3. Mitch Evans – Panasonic Jaguar – 0’50.112

4. Pascal Wehrlein – Mahindra – 0’50.128

5. Felipe Massa – Venturi – 0’50.218

6. Sebastien Buemi – Nissan e.Dams – 0’50.234

7. Alexander Sims – BMWi Andretti – 0’50.351

8. Alexander Lynn – Panasonic Jaguar – 0’50.370

9. Antonio Felix da Costa – BMWi Andretti – 0’50.375

10. Jose-Maria Lopez – GEOX Dragon – 0’50.432

11. Stoffel Vandoorne – HWA AG – 0’50.451

12. Robin Frijns – Envision Virgin – 0’50.498

13. Lucas di Grassi – Audi – 0’50.502

14. Maximilian Guenther – GEOX Dragon – 0’50.514

15. Sam Bird – Envision Virgin – 0’50.526

16. Oliver Turvey – NIO – 0’50.578

17. Jerome D’Ambrosio – Mahindra – 0’50.601

18. Daniel Abt – Audi – 0’50.602

19. Edoardo Mortara – Venturi – 0’50.618

20. Gary Paffett – HWA AG – 0’50.664

21. Tom Dillmann – NIO – 0’50.811

22. Andre Lotterer – DS Techeetah – 0’51.018


Final grid TBC once penalties have been applied.

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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9 comments on “Rowland penalty hands Vergne pole for Monaco EPrix”

  1. Peter Waters (@)
    11th May 2019, 12:20

    Ridiculously short track! Blink and you have missed a lap or two.

  2. So how many poles this season haven’t been for the fastest guy during qualifying then? My feeling is, about all but maybe two, but that may be inaccurate.

    1. as far as I remember, at least 4 drivers who won pole on track were sent to the back or taken grid penalties: DiGrassi, Wehrlein, Vergne, Rowland.

  3. It really annoys me just how often people deliberately don’t hit the track until the dying minutes, only to balls up their effective one shot or complain about traffic. In such a short session, how can track evolution really make that much difference.
    Had Lotterer put in an early banker, he wouldn’t be dead last. Just seems like too much gambling to me.

    1. @eurobrun I’ve actually been thinking about this myself and going to try and speak to some engineers/drivers about it. It’s so incredibly high risk but the gains do seem to be genuinely significant – and whatever you do, you only get one out lap, one hot lap, one in lap in groups and just one hot lap and an in lap in Super Pole.

      1. @hazelsouthwell
        I didn’t realise that you only got one hot lap! Seems almost pointless to have qualifying as timed sessions. May as well have individual runs for the whole session in championship order. Like superpole is now.
        We could still have a superpole shoot out after for thd top 5 or 6, but then we fully see 22 cars qualify, rather than half a session of nothing followed by all 5 cars in one go.
        Thanks again for the coverage.

    2. I think it is a thing called “strategy”, something that you and I clearly don’t comprehend.
      Maybe when we are older and wiser we will, but for now, agreed, it makes no sense.
      You have to admit though, it gives them something to complain about, and that seems to be at least, half of the game.

  4. Formula E is a silly spec series on narrow streets. Looking at ‘Monaco’, they use less then F1 half the track on more narrower lanes. Pssstt-hiiip is all yo hear – which might be positive, but those ‘cars’ are all the same. It’s a good time to watch if can’t get to sleep. All the culprits of pure electric vehicles are shown here. No speed, no real CO2 neutral (where is the electricity come from? -probably dirty). Thirty minutes (max) of silly ‘racing’ Pure Electric cars have no future. Get rid of the spec and silly cameras that seem that they are going fast. It’ boring. I want to watch them on a REAL WIDE F1 circuit. And using H2 and fuel cells. That’s the ONLY option. Pure E.V. has no future in Motorsports and worsens the idea that E.V. is good and clean, which they are not. I’ like to see a F2 between them with or whit out their ‘fan’ boost. Unless they get REAL with open wheel independent evolution as in F1 and with H2 and fuel cells, they are going nowhere. Just blindfold for the masses, who will never buy an pure E.V. (they don’t have the money, so stop this!) This is a bad video game on TV.

    1. Mate, even if this wasn’t such a trope-fest of Formula E complaints I’m almost inclined to think it’s a parody, Hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles ARE pure EVs.

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