Qualifying report

Formula E Beijing ePrix

Nicolas Prost earns pole for inaugural Beijing ePrix

Prost will share the front row with Lucas di Grassi.

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Sep 13, 2014, 7:46 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault

Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing

Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi

Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT

Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault

Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing

With a lap time of 1:42.200, e.dams' Nicolas Prost made history, claiming the first pole in Formula E history. In doing so, he also earns three championship points. He was .106 tenths quicker than ABT's Lucas di Grassi.

The second row will be made up of Daniel Abt and Karun Chandhok. The third row is filled by Franck Montagny and Nick Heidfeld. Row four will consist of Jaime Alguersuari and Charles Pic. The final two drivers inside the top ten are Nelson Piquet Jr and Oriol Servia (Buemi was ninth, but faces a ten spot grid penalty).

Three drivers (Bruno Senna, Jarno Trulli, and Stephane Sarrazin) failed to complete a lap and will bring up the rear. Senna, along with di Grassi and Katherine Legge, have won the FanBoost for this race.

Group One

Dramas quickly took place as qualifying got underway. Sarrazin pulled off with issues and was quickly followed by Trulli, who tagged the turn eight wall with the left rear and damaged his rear wing. Neither driver were able to post a time. That corner has proven to be the big trouble spot this weekend and will be one to watch. Karun Chandhok took the early advantage.

Group Two

None of the five drivers in Group Two could match Chandhok and the closest (Charles Pic), was still two and a half tenths off.

Group Three

Nicolas Prost and Lucas di Grassi rocketed to the top, rapidly dropping Chandhok down the charts. In the closing moments, Prost was pushing to improve his time and had a lock up, causing him to crash nose-first into a barrier. The damage was minimal. Simultaneously, his teammate Sebastien Buemi stopped on track after slapping the notorious turn eight wall, damaging his machine as well.

Group Four

Rumblings through the paddock were that we'd see a showdown that would send chills through race fans ... A battle between Prost and Senna. Unfortunately, issues precluded Senna, who led FP2, from having any shot at Prost's pole time.

From the editor, also read:

Senna tops final Formula E practice in Beijing as Buemi and Tung crash
Lucas di Grassi leads opening Formula E practice in Beijing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Alejandro Agag exclusive: ‘We’re ready to go.'

Next article Formula E: Debut is promising, but room for improvement

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 4 h

Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award

Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

4 h

Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award

Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 8 h

Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027

Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race

General

Misc General 8 h

Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race

Feature

Discover prime content

Why ‘Mr Formula E’ has called time on his racing career

Formula E

By James Newbold

Why ‘Mr Formula E’ has called time on his racing career

The team orders debacle that made for a controversial Formula E title decider

Formula E

London ePrix II

The team orders debacle that made for a controversial Formula E title decider

The 'incredible stories' that could be told in Formula E's London title decider

Formula E

London ePrix I

The 'incredible stories' that could be told in Formula E's London title decider

Cars, stars, and the shootout winners from the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed

General

By Maciej Hamera

Cars, stars, and the shootout winners from the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts