Vergne set a mighty opening sector at the Shanghai International Circuit, Formula E’s first visit to the venue which is using a different layout to the grand prix track.
Despite marginally losing time to Nissan’s Rowland over the final two sectors, Vergne’s 1m13.322s, the fastest time from the entirety of qualifying, was enough for his first pole since Diriyah earlier this year.
Jaguar’s Mitch Evans missed out on a spot in the final by just 0.001s against Rowland, as the Briton posted a 1m13.358s, which ended up as the fastest time from the entirety of qualifying.
A small mistake for Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein in the final sector cost the German in his semi-final duel against Vergne, having been a tenth up prior to that point on the lap.
Wehrlein had advanced having posted the quickest time in the quarter-final duel stage with a 1m13.449s, but which left him only 0.034s clear of McLaren’s Jake Hughes.
Wehrlein’s Porsche team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa missed out on progressing by only 0.006s against Vergne despite the Frenchman losing an advantage of more than two tenths in the final sector after a snap of oversteer through Turn 8.
Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Rowland bested Andretti’s Norman Nato by 0.068s, as Evans advanced at the expense of the second DS Penske of Stoffel Vandoorne by a margin of nearly three tenths.
Current championship leader Nick Cassidy just missed out on a spot in the duels by only 0.009s, as less than three tenths covered all 11 drivers in the opening qualifying group.
Also missing out were Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, Maserati MSG’s Maximillian Guenther, Abt’s Lucas di Grassi and ERT’s Dan Ticktum.
The second Maserati MSG of Jehan Daruvala also failed to progress, the Indian driver almost colliding with Cassidy on the exit of Turn 9 while on a flying lap, as Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz completed the order.
Vandoorne set the fastest time, a 1m14.242s, as he was joined by Rowland, Nato and Evans in the duels.
Hughes went marginally quicker in the second group with a 1m14.140s, followed by Vergne, da Costa and Wehrlein as the quartet were covered by just over a tenth.
Envision’s Robin Frijns missed out on progressing by 0.090s, where he was joined by reigning champion Jake Dennis (Andretti), Nyck de Vries (Mahindra) and Abt’s Nico Muller.
Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), McLaren’s Sam Bird on his return after recovering from a broken hand and the second Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara rounded out the standings.