Qualifying report
Formula E Zurich ePrix
Zurich ePrix: Evans gives Jaguar maiden pole, Vergne 17th
Mitch Evans and Jaguar claimed a maiden Formula E pole position as the New Zealander topped qualifying for the Zurich E-Prix ahead of Techeetah's Andre Lotterer.
Alex Kalinauckas
Edited: Jun 10, 2018, 3:09 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Sam Bird qualified third, while his title rival and current championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne qualified down in 17th.
It is Vergne's worst grid position so far in the 2017/18 season.
Evans - second in both of Sunday's practice sessions and third overall – topped the group phase of qualifying.
Running last in superpole, he attacked the 2.465kms Zurich Street Circuit – taking a wider line than his rivals heading over the bumps approaching the fast right of Turn 1.
Evans was behind Bird and Lotterer through sector one, but a fastest split in the second segment gave him enough of an advantage to pip Lotterer to pole by 0.137s.
Lotterer had already helped his Techeetah teammate Vergne by denying Bird the top spot after their laps in superpole, which meant the Virgin Racing driver could not take three points for pole.
Bird was the fastest driver in sector one during the superpole running, but he could not keep up his momentum around the rest of the lap – slightly clouting the wall with his left-front wheel at the exit of the Turn 9 chicane – and ending up 0.211s behind Evans.
Dragon duo Jerome D'Ambrosio and Jose Maria Lopez made it through to superpole with two rapid laps at the end of the fourth and final group qualifying segment.
In superpole, D'Ambrosio matched Lotterer and Bird before fading to fourth in the final sector.
Lopez, who will drop three places on the grid for failing to slow for a yellow flag in FP1, held a dramatic sideways drift at Turn 1 to keep his car out of the barriers, but it cost him nearly a second in sector one and he ended up fifth.
Practice pacesetter Lucas di Grassi missed the cut for superpole due to D'Ambrosio and Lopez improving with their late laps, as did Sebastien Buemi, who will start seventh.
Nico Prost was just 0.023s behind his Renault e.dams teammate in eighth, as Berlin winner Daniel Abt took ninth in the second Audi.
Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10 for Mahindra Racing.
Nelson Piquet qualified 11th, just ahead of Alex Lynn, who was investigated for breaching Article 23.12 of FE's sporting regulations - entering the fast lane before the pit exit was opened for group three.
Lynn was hit with a three-place grid penalty and will start this afternoon’s race from P15 as a result.
Motorsport.com understands a miscommunication from his Virgin team meant he set off early.
Like Buemi, Abt and Rosenqvist, Vergne failed to progress from the first group to take to the track.
The former Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver was fully committed going through Turn 1, but ultimately finished fifth in his group, 0.543s slower than group-topper Bird.
Vergne was eventually shuffled down to 17th and faced a stewards investigation for breaching Article 33.3 - activating the 200kW mode before the final sector ahead of his qualifying flying lap.
Abt faced a similar investigation ahead of the Berlin but was allowed to keep his pole and just received a reprimand, which Vergne also received.
His car was intermittently at 200 kW for around 100m before the beginning of sector three "the Stewards heard from the driver and team manager who explained that this happened by misleading the sector two end line," according to an FIA bulletin.
"This early usage of maximum power does not lead to a performance advantage for the car on its fastest lap," it continued.
"Accordingly, the stewards feel that a sporting penalty is inappropriate in these circumstances."
Superpole
Cla#DriverTeamTimeGap 1 20 
Mitch Evans 
Jaguar Racing 1'12.811 2 18 
Andre Lotterer 
Techeetah 1'12.948 0.137 3 2 Sam Bird Virgin Racing 1'13.022 0.211 4 7 
Jérôme d'Ambrosio 
Dragon Racing 1'13.096 0.285 5 6 
Jose Maria Lopez Dragon Racing 1'13.927 1.116
Group qualifying
Cla#DriverTeamTimeGap 1 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar Racing 1'12.594 2 7 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 1'12.857 0.263 3 6 Jose Maria Lopez Dragon Racing 1'12.877 0.283 4 18 Andre Lotterer Techeetah 1'12.906 0.312 5 2 Sam Bird Virgin Racing 1'12.981 0.387 6 1 
Lucas di Grassi Team Abt 1'13.042 0.448 7 9 
Sébastien Buemi 
DAMS 1'13.061 0.467 8 8 Nicolas Prost DAMS 1'13.084 0.490 9 66 Daniel Abt Team Abt 1'13.107 0.513 10 19 
Felix Rosenqvist 
Mahindra Racing 1'13.214 0.620 11 3 Nelson Piquet Jr. Jaguar Racing 1'13.380 0.786 12 36 Alex Lynn Virgin Racing 1'13.393 0.799 13 23 Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 1'13.405 0.811 14 4 
Edoardo Mortara 
Venturi 1'13.413 0.819 15 28 
Antonio Felix da Costa Andretti Autosport 1'13.422 0.828 16 27 Stéphane Sarrazin Andretti Autosport 1'13.500 0.906 17 25 Jean-Eric Vergne Techeetah 1'13.524 0.930 18 5 Maro Engel Venturi 1'13.541 0.947 19 68 Luca Filippi NIO Formula E Team 1'14.067 1.473 20 16 Oliver Turvey NIO Formula E Team 1'14.139 1.545
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 Zurich ePrix: Di Grassi sets practice pace
Next article Zurich ePrix: Di Grassi wins, Vergne's lead slashed by penalty
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alex Kalinauckas
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
More from
Sam Bird
McLaren Formula E team set to close without buyer
Formula E
Formula E
McLaren Formula E team set to close without buyer
Top 10: Ranking the best GP2 non-champions
FIA F2
FIA F2
Top 10: Ranking the best GP2 non-champions
Five things we learned from the Mexico City E-Prix
Formula E
Formula E
Mexico City ePrix
Five things we learned from the Mexico City E-Prix
More from
Jaguar Racing
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Latest news
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Qualifying: Lewandowski dominates, taking pole for both races
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Qualifying: Lewandowski dominates, taking pole for both races
Marc Marquez: “In the first half of 2026, all I wanted to do on Sundays was lie on the sofa”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez: “In the first half of 2026, all I wanted to do on Sundays was lie on the sofa”
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
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