The day started well for the French team DS Penske, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne both finishing third and fifth in practice.
"Depending on whether you look at the data for 300 kW or 350 kW, the situation is more or less to our advantage," said Eugenio Franzetti, DS Performance Director. "But I prefer not to give any predictions for the future, because sometimes it comes down to nothing."
A remark that rang true, as Vandoorne then easily qualified for the final phase of qualifying, first in his group, while Vergne failed, missing out on progressing by five thousandths in group B.
"Contrary to practice, I didn't feel the car as much, even though we didn't change anything in the set-up," the French driver said.
Vandoorne then went on to be dominated by Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, who later became the polesitter ahead of Sam Bird. The front row was 100% Jaguar in terms of engines, ahead of the DS Penske of Vandoorne and the NIO 333 of Dan Ticktum.
Source: Autosport