Qualifying report
Formula E Sao Paulo ePrix
Sao Paulo E-Prix: Vandoorne pips da Costa to pole
Reigning Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne will start from pole for the inaugural Sao Paulo E-Prix after pipping Antonio Felix da Costa to the fastest time.
Stefan Mackley
Edited: Mar 25, 2023, 3:51 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The DS Penske driver was marginally slower in the opening sector in Brazil during the qualifying final shootout, but found over a tenth of a second in the middle sector to put him in prime position.
The Belgian held his advantage through the final sector to post a 1m11.904s, which put him 0.063s clear of Porsche driver da Costa to ensure he secured his maiden pole for DS Penske and first of the season.
Da Costa, winner last time out at the Cape Town E-Prix, will start second for this afternoon’s race.
The Portuguese driver booked his place in the final having recovered from being behind Jaguar’s Mitch Evans early in the second semi-final, finding two tenths on his Australian rival in the final sector to go through with a 1m11.982s as the gap was just 0.040s at the line.
Vandoorne had set a slightly faster time moments earlier – a 1m11.929s – to edge Edoardo Mortara in the opening semi-final as the Maserati MSG driver lost out by nearly two tenths.
A quicker time for Evans means he will start third on the grid, with Mortara alongside in fourth.
A mistake at Turn 7 for Jake Hughes handed Vandoorne his spot in the semi-final, the McLaren driver losing six tenths after running slightly wide as Vandoorne posted a 1m11.920s.
Da Costa meanwhile disposed of the other Maserati car in his quarter-final, comfortably beating Maximilian Gunther by two tenths with a 1m11.982s.
Sam Bird lost out to Jaguar team-mate Evans in the quarter-finals, but set the fastest losing time with a 1m12.037s to qualify fifth.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing , Jaguar I-TYPE 6
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
The Brit will start 10th though due to a five-place grid penalty for a collision with Evans in Hyderabad which he was unable to serve in Cape Town.
Mortara edged Nick Cassidy in the closest quarter-final battle, as the Envision driver missed out by only 0.018s.
Vandoorne had earlier topped Group A, posting a 1m12.761s which put him 0.091s clear of Cassidy with Mortara and Hughes also booking their spots in the duels – the top four covered by less than a tenth-and-a-half.
The biggest casualty from the qualifying group was championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, as the Porsche driver ended up more than half a second off the pace and could only finish eighth in the session, consigning him to 18th on the grid.
Earlier there had been a red-flag at the halfway point in the 12-minute session when Sergio Sette Camara came to a stop after hitting a bump before the Turn 4 chicane, which caused a system reset for his NIO 333 machine.
Bird was fastest in Group B with a 1m12.669s, just 0.029s faster than Gunther, as da Costa and Evans completed the top four.
Jake Dennis, second in the championship, failed to capitalise on Wehrlein’s poor qualifying as he could only set the seventh quickest time – 0.322s off Bird’s best – and will start 14th.
Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi will start last for his home race after the Mahindra driver hit the wall with his right-front wheel at Turn 8 early in Group B qualifying.
Sao Paolo E-Prix Qualifying results
Cla Driver Team Time 1 Stoffel Vandoorne
DS Penske 1'11.904 2
Antonio Felix da Costa
Porsche Team 1'11.967 3
Mitch Evans
Jaguar Racing 1'12.022 4
Edoardo Mortara
Maserati Racing 1'12.109 5
Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing 1'12.037 6
Nick Cassidy
Envision Racing 1'12.150 7
Jake Hughes
McLaren 1'12.657 8
Jean-Eric Vergne
DS Penske 1'13.157 9
Norman Nato
Nissan e.dams 1'12.971 10
Maximilian Gunther
Maserati Racing 1'12.189 11
René Rast
McLaren 1'13.161 12
Sébastien Buemi
Envision Racing 1'12.971 13
Nico Müller
Team Abt 1'13.200 14
Jake Dennis
Andretti Autosport 1'12.991 15
Sacha Fenestraz
Nissan e.dams 1'13.040 16
Sergio Sette Camara
NIO Formula E Team 1'13.307 17
Dan Ticktum
NIO Formula E Team 1'13.045 18
Pascal Wehrlein
Porsche Team 1'13.280 19
Oliver Rowland
Mahindra Racing 1'13.330 20
Robin Frijns
Team Abt 1'13.671 21
Andre Lotterer
Andretti Autosport 1'13.382 22
Lucas di Grassi
Mahindra Racing 1'24.491 View full results
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
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sao Paulo E-Prix: Da Costa beats Gunther in FP2 with late lap
Next article Sao Paulo E-Prix: Jaguar's Evans beats Cassidy in late-race duel
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Stefan Mackley
Formula E’s Pit Boost debut receives mixed response from drivers
Formula E
Formula E
Jeddah ePrix I
Formula E’s Pit Boost debut receives mixed response from drivers
The influencer fishing exercise Formula E hopes can achieve its long-term aims
Formula E
Formula E
The influencer fishing exercise Formula E hopes can achieve its long-term aims
Beckham's son, Aguero amongst celebrities set to drive Formula E cars in Miami
Formula E
Formula E
Beckham's son, Aguero amongst celebrities set to drive Formula E cars in Miami
Latest news
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
4 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
4 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 h
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Feature
Discover prime content
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
Subscribe