After another wet session here in Hong Kong, HWA Racelab’s Stoffel Vandoorne will start the 2019 HKT Hong Kong E-Prix on Pole, making history for the newest team in Formula E in the landmark 50th race.
Close behind Vandoorne on the starting grid is Nissan e.dams rookie Oliver Rowland and DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer, who, despite finishing the session in fourth, will move up to third after Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara received a grid penalty.
After nearly winning here in Hong Kong last season, Mortara battled to keep his car in a straight line, finishing the Super Pole session in third before receiving a three place grid penalty for speeding under a red flag earlier in the Qualifying session. With that, the Swiss driver will start the race in sixth.
With both HWA Racelab drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Gary Paffet making it into Super Pole for the first time, Paffet will start three places behind his teammate in fourth, followed by Audi Sport Abt Scheaffler’s Lucas di Grassi in fifth.
Missing out on Super Pole was championship hopeful Sam Bird (Envision Virgin Racing), despite a setting a solid time in Group 1. The British driver starts the race in seventh with Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi and Venturi’s Filipe Massa behind him in ninth, while Bird’s teammate Robin Frijns rounds off the top ten.
Starting in 11th is NIO’s Tom Dillmann followed by Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler’s Daniel Abt and BMW i Andretti’s Alex Sims in 13th. For Geox Dragon, Jose Maria Lopez will start the race in 14th, two places in front of his teammate Felipe Nasr. Separating the Dragon drivers is Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr. who starts the race two places ahead of his teammate Mitch Evans in 17th.
After battling against the constant showers throughout the morning, the Qualifying session saw a number of drivers struggle to keep their cars facing in the right direction, most notably reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne who crossed the finish line after his Qualifying lap backwards for the second time in Hong Kong. The DS Techeetah driver crossed the line backwards last time in Hong Kong but still managed to snatch the Julius Baer Pole Position in 2017. Today, however, the Frenchman’s fastest time was cancelled after he caused a red flag, sending him to 18th for the start of the race.
NIO’s Oliver Turvey will start in 19th, followed by all three championship contenders Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW i Andretti), Pascal Wehrlein in 21st and Jerome d’Ambrosio in 22nd.