Rosberg X Racing (RXR) dominated an opening session which showcased the tough nature of the NEOM Island X Prix course as the teams returned to on track action.
Nico Rosberg’s outfit finished fastest in Q1, with Johan Kristoffersson and fellow Swede Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinksy setting the benchmark for the rest of the grid with a time of 9:13:966.
Much like Free Practice, Q1 was a tightly contested session for the top half of the grid, with less than 7 seconds separating second and fifth place over the two-lap run.
The ACCIONA | SAINZ Extreme E Team came in second, closely followed by Genesys Andretti United Extreme E, with both teams showing no signs of rust as they return to Extreme E after the break.
In fourth were ABT Cupra XE, who made a strong recovery from a tricky Free Practice. XITE Energy Racing rounded out the Top 5 as former Championship Drivers Tamara Molinaro and Timo Scheider stepped up to the challenges of racing in the series.
Finishing in sixth place were JBXE and finding themselves unusually low down the order, X44 came in seventh after the crew changed a tyre in the Switch Zone with the help of driver Sébastien Loeb.
NEOM McLaren Extreme E fell victim to a technical issue out on course and the team were unable to demonstrate the strong pace that secured them third place in both practice sessions.
Veloce Racing and NO.99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing saw their bad luck continue as both teams also suffered from DNFs, with Lance Woolridge stopped out on track and Kyle LeDuc unable to set off from the Switch Zone.
Having completed Qualifying 1, Intermediate Classification points were awarded as follows:
