London ePrix, Sunday (1): Buemi on final pole, perfect tie in the drivers’ standings with di Grassi!

Renault e.dams double at the end of this Sunday midday qualifying session: Buemi dominated the competition, six tenths ahead of Nico Prost! The French team led by Jean-Paul Driot and Alain Prost made a strong impact in the middle of the day. For the first time since the inaugural race in Beijing, Renault e.dams monopolizes the front row!

.@Sebastien_buemi @RENAULTedams put in a stunning lap to secure Julius Baer pole position #LondonePrix https://t.co/TjL8sobqbj

— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) 3 juillet 2016

The former Toro Rosso driver set a time of 1:22.033, this time on a dry track. Most importantly, Buemi reclaimed the three points for pole position.

Points of the utmost importance: at present, Buemi and di Grassi each have 153 points in the overall drivers’ standings. However, di Grassi did not disappoint, achieving a strong third position, missing the front row by only 0.027 seconds behind Nico Prost.

While the drivers were unable to participate in the second free practice session due to a general issue with the electric recharging of the single-seaters, the Toyota endurance driver was pleased to have confirmed his performance from FP1, with a time already at 1:22.393. And above all, he was relieved to be back on par with his challenger!

“It’s good to now be on the same number of points as Lucas and to start ahead of him this afternoon,” the Swiss driver stated for his third pole of the season, after Beijing and Putrajaya.

The top three – Seb, Nico and Lucas. We’re set for a great race! pic.twitter.com/vSHyyL2V1x

— RENAULT e.dams (@RENAULTedams) 3 juillet 2016

Full of mischief, Buemi insisted on the role of his teammate, comparing him to Daniel Abt, who made a mark with aggressive defense yesterday afternoon during the first race.

« If he (Nico) does the same work as (Daniel) Abt did yesterday, that would be excellent. He’s not the kind of person who shuts the doors everywhere, but if he could help me, he would be welcome! »

Far from all these considerations, the local once again amazed everyone in Qualifications. Oliver Turvey once again made it into the top 5 for NEXTEV TCR after another great performance.

The Briton will start fourth in this second race, a great opportunity to make up for race 1, which ended in the wall with two laps to go.

To complete this top 5, we find the other Mahindra driver. After Bruno Senna yesterday, it’s Nick Heidfeld who is celebrating with a fine fifth place, despite a mistake in his qualifying lap.

The bodyguard of di Grassi, in the person of Daniel Abt, will start sixth in this Sunday’s race, ahead of the two DS Virgin Racing cars of Jean-Eric Vergne and Sam Bird.

Finally, let’s acknowledge the improvement of Nelson Piquet, ninth, who will line up on the fifth row alongside the Frenchman Loic Duval.

Here is the complete ranking of this last Qualifying session of the season:

Thus, every overtaking maneuver will be decisive during the 33 laps of the race. Any mistake by Buemi or di Grassi will be fatal and will automatically crown the rival driver in this decidedly very uncertain end of the season!