Alexander Sims, BMW i Andretti, Formula E, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2019

Sims takes New York pole as title contenders fall short

Formula E

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Alexander Sims has taken his debut pole in Formula E at Season 5’s final race, knocking Sebastien Buemi out of championship contention.

Vergne came into the final day with a 22-point lead, sliced heavily into after failing to score at all yesterday. Di Grassi, Buemi and Evans remained in contention before qualifying – but with Buemi and Evans both needing pole in order to keep their hopes even mathematically alive.

Group One: Jean-Eric Vergne, Lucas di Grassi, Mitch Evans, Sebastien Buemi, Antonio Felix da Costa

All cars, as usual for Group One, tried to leave it until the last possible moment – forcing them out together, Di Grassi and Vergne extremely close on their out lap.

Vergne was the first to hit his hot lap but reported low grip, ending fourth in the group while Buemi and Evans put in competitive times for potential Super Pole contention.

Qualifying 1

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Sebastien BuemiNissan e.Dams1’10.003
2Mitch EvansJaguar1’10.063
3Lucas di GrassiAudi1’10.255
4Jean-Eric VergneDS Techeetah1’10.278
5Antonio Felix da CostaBMWi Andretti1’10.389

Group Two: Andre Lotterer, Daniel Abt, Robin Frijns, Sam Bird, Jerome D’Ambrosio

Times would have been expected to fall as the track developed, rubber going down and despite an interesting manoeuvre by Vergne that seemed to be deliberately re-dusting the track on his in-lap, they did.

Daniel Abt ended Group Two on top, shoving Vergne out of Super Pole contention and leaving Buemi and Evans unlikely to get the pole they needed.

Qualifying 2

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Daniel AbtAudi1’09.902
2Robin FrijnsEnvision Virgin1’09.912
3Sam BirdEnvision Virgin1’09.925
4Jerome D’AmbrosioMahindra1’10.504
5Andre LottererDS Techeetah1’10.699

Group Three: Oliver Rowland, Pascal Wehrlein, Edoardo Mortara, Felipe Massa, Alexander Sims, Stoffel Vandoorne

Alexander Sims had put in an excellent performance yesterday and after dogging Rowland on their out laps, went immediately fastest. Stoffel Vandoorne was able to join him in Super Pole contention while Mortara and Rowland came close but unable to beat Buemi’s time.

Felipe Massa span on his hot lap, leaving him without a representative qualifying time.

Qualifying 3

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Alexander SimsBMWi Andretti1’09.690
2Stoffel VandoorneHWA AG1’09.856
3Oliver RowlandEnvision Virgin1’10.052
4Edoardo MortaraVenturi1’10.217
5Pascal WehrleinMahindra1’10.574
6Felipe MassaVenturi1’19.831

Group Four: Maximilian Guenther, Alexander Lynn, Gary Paffett, Oliver Turvey, Jose-Maria Lopez, Tom Dillmann

Alex Lynn had looked strong here until a mechanical failure yesterday – and is already set to start at the back, with a 20-place grid penalty. He was unable to convert that into a Super Pole appearance, an error leaving him over a second and a half off Buemi’s time and unable to help his teammate Evans’ title hopes.

Gary Paffett looked in contention to join Vandoorne in Super Pole, however he was significantly impeded by Tom Dillmann, on the racing line on a slow lap and ended up 9th overall.

Qualifying 4

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Gary PaffettHWA AG1’10.155
2Jose-Maria LopezGEOX Dragon1’10.352
3Oliver TurveyNIO1’10.439
4Tom DillmannNIO1’10.573
5Maximilian GuentherGEOX Dragon1’10.653
6Alexander LynnPanasonic Jaguar1’12.537

Super Pole: Sebastien Buemi, Sam Bird, Robin Frijns, Daniel Abt, Stoffel Vandoorne, Alexander Sims

Buemi, who needed the pole or to give up on the championship, was first out and set a very competitive 1’09.729 (given Super Pole times are generally slower than group qualifying) and next-out Sam Bird was unable to beat him.

However, a stunningly risky lap by Robin Frijns that saw him brush the wall twice put him on 1’09.712 and on provisional pole. Abt was unable to get close to the time he’d set in group qualifying, ending on a 1’10.096 and Vandoorne slid the back end out on turn nine to lose out by a few tenths.

Sims, who had set the fastest time in groups, was able to repeat his performance and took the fastest time in Super Pole by a tenth from Frijns.

Buemi is now out of the championship fight, with Evans needing the win, fastest lap and for Vergne not to score and Di Grassi needing the win and fastest lap and for Vergne to finish no higher than ninth. Vergne and Di Grassi will start the race next to each other.

Qualifying 2

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Alexander SimsBMWi Andretti1’09.617
2Robin FrijnsEnvision Virgin1’09.712
3Sebastien BuemiNissan e.Dams1’09.729
4Sam BirdEnvision Virgin1’09.895
5Stoffel VandoorneHWA AG1’09.994
6Daniel AbtAudi1’10.096
7Oliver RowlandNissan e.Dams1’10.052
8Mitch EvansPanasonic Jaguar1’10.063
9Gary PaffettHWA AG1’10.155
10Edoardo MortaraVenturi1’10.217
11Lucas di GrassiAudi1’10.255
12Jean-Eric VergneDS Techeetah1’10.278
13Jose Maria LopezGEOX Dragon1’10.352
14Antonio Felix da CostaBMWi Andretti1’10.369
15Oliver TurveyNIO1’10.439
16Jerome D’AmbrosioMahindra1’10.504
17Tom DillmannNIO1’10.573
18Pascal WehrleinMahindra1’10.574
19Maximilian GuentherGEOX Dragon1’10.653
20Andre LottererDS Techeetah1’10.669
21Alexander LynnPanasonic Jaguar1’12.537
22Felipe MassaVenturi1’19.831

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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3 comments on “Sims takes New York pole as title contenders fall short”

  1. excited for the title decider, shame Buemi isn’t in it after all.

  2. Until I saw the author in the byline, I thought “Sims” referred to something eSports related. :)

  3. Exciting write-up, Hazel!

    I have to say, Mahindra is an example of how not to win the championship. For the 2nd consecutive season, they’ve started with championship contention thanks to wins and podiums, but then they drifted away and away to the mid-field. Just what’s wrong with the team? And in the recent races, both d’Ambrosio and Wehrlein have been making too many mistakes and have been totally off-colour.

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