Da Costa takes Monaco Formula E pole, Mercedes falls back

Formula E champion Antonio Felix da Costa fended off Robin Frijns and Mitch Evans to take pole for the series’ first race on the full Formula 1 version of the Monaco Grand Prix track.

A 1m31.317s superpole lap for DS Techeetah driver da Costa on a track identical to the F1 layout bar an adjusted chicane profile gave him the top spot by just 0.012s over group qualifying pacesetter Frijns’ Envision Virgin.

Evans had been fastest in practice for Jaguar and was only 0.051s off pole in third, with Jean-Eric Vergne a mere 0.008s behind him in the second DS Techeetah.

With minimal track evolution, this was a wide open session in which drivers from all four qualifying groups made it into superpole.

But that didn’t stop some of the main title contenders ending up down the order.

Championship leader Nyck de Vries attracted the ire of Sam Bird on their out-laps in group one as he held back to try to create a gap to Mercedes team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne and was hit by the following Jaguar at Portier.

Then when it came to de Vries’ flying lap, his car dropped out of the full power qualifying mode, leaving him a second and a half off the pace. He’ll line up 23rd on the grid.

Jaguar felt de Vries’ driving prevented Bird from preparing his tyres properly for the qualifying lap. Bird ended up 16th – one place behind Vandoorne.

Oliver Rowland would’ve been fifth but had his superpole lap cancelled for leaving the pitlane too late as timings were revised after a red flag in group four. He crossed the exit just after the light had gone red. He lines up sixth, losing just one place to Maximilian Guenther’s BMW.

Envision Virgin’s rookie Nick Cassidy missed superpole by just 0.003s on his first racing appearance in Monaco so starts seventh alongside Pascal Wehrlein’s Porsche.

Alex Lynn will be joined by Rene Rast on row five as 10th-fastest Norman Nato is carrying a two-place grid penalty for running into Sergio Sette Camara’s stopped car in first practice.

Dragon Penske Autosport driver Sette Camara caused his second red flag of the day in group four qualifying when he spun into the barriers at the final corner.

Unlike the controversial Diriyah qualifying session in which Sette Camara also crashed, this time a rapid red flag meant those who would’ve been disrupted by yellows for the incident – Sebastien Buemi and Tom Blomqvist – were given a chance to restart their laps. They could only manage 13th and 21st, though.