Guenther wins Jeddah E-Prix race 1 pole

Maximilian Guenther ended Pascal Wehrlein’s pole position streak, beating the reigning Formula E champion in the final of the qualifying Duels for the first race of the Jeddah E-Prix.

The DS Penske driver set a final time of 1m14.911s, 0.286s quicker than TAG Heuer Porsche man Wehrlein, despite dropping a tenth by running too deep in the Turn 10-11 chicane. Wehrlein had been up in the first two sectors, but his bid for a record-equaling third consecutive pole came apart in the final part of the lap.

En route to the final Mueller comfortably beat Mehindra’s Nyck de Vries in his first Duel, before besting NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard – who beat him to first in Group A – by 0.177s in the semifinals.

Wehrlein, meanwhile, defeated Maserati MSG Racing’s Jake Hughes, who ran too deep at Turn 13 in their quarter final Duel, then Group B pacesetter Oliver Rowland in the semifinals. The Nissan driver held an early advantage, only for Wehrlein to pull it back in the final sector to advance.

Ahead of the Duels, de Vries and Mitch Evans also advanced from the first group, Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy and championship leader Antonio Felix da Costa, who lost time in the last sector on his final push lap, among the casualties.

In the second group, Rowland and Hughes took the top two spots with their final laps of the session, with Wehrlein and Cupra Kiro’s Dan Ticktum joining them in the transfer spots. Jean-Eric Vergne, who lost time after an oversteer moment in the final chicane, and Jake Dennis — who was up on his final lap but admitted that his “rears (are) absolutely done” — failed to advance from that 11-car session.

Behind the front two of Guenther – who starts on pole for the first time since the Jakarta E-Prix in 2023 – and Wehrlein will be Rowland and Barnard, with Evans fifth on the grid ahead of de Vries.

Hughes will line up alongside Ticktum in seventh, with Cassidy and Vergne occupying the last two top 10 spots on the grid ahead of Sam Bird and Norman Nato.

Antonio Felix da Costa will start a lowly 13th after failing to advance from the group stages, with Stoffel Vandoorne 14th and the Andretti pair of Nico Mueller and Jake Dennis 15th and 16th respectively. Sebastien Buemi will start 17th, the Cupra Kiro of David Beckmann splitting him from his Envision Racing teammate Robin Frijns.

The Lola Yamaha Abt cars of Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi qualified 20th and 21st, ahead of Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara who, after a strong showing in practice, failed to set a lap in qualifying with the team currently investigating the issue that prevented him from participating. Both Lolas, however, will start from the back row of the grid after being handed penalties for breaking seals on their motors ahead of the event.