ePrix de Paris: Sam Bird and DS Virgin Racing light up the qualifying session!

Proof of its intensity, the format of a Formula E day leaves little rest for the drivers and teams. Just over an hour after the end of the Free Practice sessions, the 18 drivers set off for the Qualifying sessions at 12 o’clock.

As usual, the drivers were divided by random draw into four distinct groups.

GROUP 1: Buemi, Conway, Duval, Heidfeld, Sarrazin,

GROUP 2: Abt, Di Grassi, Frijns, Piquet, Vergne.

GROUP 3: d’Ambrosio, de Silvestro, Prost, Senna, Turvey.

GROUP 4: Bird, Da Costa, Ma Qing Hua.

On a relatively cool track, only ten degrees in the air for a small group of fifteen on the track, Sébastien Buemi was the first driver to set off. As a reminder, each driver is allowed two laps: a first lap to prepare the car at 170 kilowatts, and a second timed lap at full power: 220 kilowatts.

Buemi prematurely ejected from the race for the Pole.

The first dramatic twist occurred as early as Nick Heidfeld’s first lap. A big crash for the former Formula 1 driver who hit the wall at the entrance to the eleventh turn and the second long curve of the circuit. In his misfortune, he involved Mike Conway, who was coming up right behind him. The collision was inevitable: both drivers had to return to their respective pits with multiple damages.

Heidfeld spun, tried to get back on track and avoid Conway, ended up getting hit by Conway instead #ParisePrix pic.twitter.com/1sRgZzDX7d

— Peter Hayes (@peterhayesf1) April 23, 2016

The red flag was shown for a few moments; after that, the affected drivers were able to restart: Stéphane Sarrazin and Loic Duval. Obviously, Conway and Heidfeld were on the side.

At the end of this first group, Sarrazin managed to ignore the difficult context to achieve the best time. Big disappointment, however, for Buemi, who was already out of the fight for the Super-Pole with an average time. In the heat of the moment, he admitted to having suffered a lot during his flying lap.

The Swiss even believes he has more difficulties than the others! The situation is just as delicate for Loic Duval, struggling with brake issues.

« The session did not go well at all: it’s a disaster! » The Dragon Racing team got it wrong with an error in the brake balance.

The rewarded aggressiveness of Jean-Eric Vergne

In the second group, the observers scrutinized di Grassi’s performances.

But we must not forget Jean-Eric Vergne either. Certainly motivated by this home race, the Parisian achieved a very good time of 1:01:770. A very good lap on the attack, especially in the last corner, which was enough to reach the Super-Pole! JEV found a good tactic by literally throwing himself into the last corner.

On the other hand, di Grassi had to wait to reach the top 5. The Brazilian admitted that the track’s coolness is very tricky for the drivers. The drivers zigzagged like never before to warm up the tires as much as possible.

Nico Prost saves Renault e.Dams’ Qualifying.

The third group, for its part, had a major client in the person of Jérôme d’Ambrosio, who has already been a two-time Poleman this season.

But the Belgian driver will emerge frustrated, with a provisional ninth-fastest time. D’Ambrosio will therefore start from the middle of the pack today.

While Buemi disappointed, Nico Prost was under pressure to fly the Renault e.Dams flag high. With a provisional fourth-fastest time and only one group of drivers remaining, the son of the four-time World Champion was on a knife’s edge at that moment.

Two DS Virgin Racing in the Top 5!

So which driver from the last group was going to make it into the renowned Top 5?

Only three drivers were in contention. Sam Bird could take advantage of a clear track to set his time. The DS Virgin Racing team is certainly formidable here in Paris: Sam Bird achieved the absolute best time of the four groups! 1:01.514 for the Briton.

At tenths of a light-year, Ma Qing Hua delighted us with a beautiful freestyle move in the curve from the eleventh to the thirteenth turn.

In the end, the five drivers who obtained the precious pass were the following:

Bird, Vergne, Sarrazin, Di Grassi, Prost.

The French are celebrating: out of the four drivers present, three made it to the Super-Pole!

And here’s how it finished after session 4. Now we enter the Super Pole Shootout #ParisePrix pic.twitter.com/mImrcYvWlF

— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) April 23, 2016

Sam Bird still formidable in the decisive moment!

After 45 minutes of Qualifying, it was high time to follow the battle for Pole Position! The same procedure was still in force: the five drivers setting off one after the other for a single timed lap.

The pressure was then at its peak to secure the best time.

Nico Prost set off first. The time was insufficient to claim the Pole, at 1:02.709.

Following him came Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian driver had the cards in hand to make a big impact compared to Sébastien Buemi: his time was better than Prost’s, and even better than that of Stéphane Sarrazin, the next driver.

There were only two other drivers left to dethrone di Grassi: the two DS Virgin Racing drivers, Bird and Vergne.

Vergne was the first of the two to set off for his lap. Despite his “all or nothing” tactic in the last corner, the ex-Toro Rosso driver failed, missing by only 0.061 seconds!