Andretti perform staggering turnaround as Dennis snatches Berlin pole

Jake Dennis will start the second race of the Berlin E-Prix double-header from pole position, after defeating title rival Nick Cassidy in the final. 

It marks a staggering turnaround for Dennis and Andretti, who qualified in 20th and 21st on Saturday after struggling over one-lap. Dennis' 1:01.819 in the final was the quickest lap of the session. 

Behind Dennis and Cassidy on the front row are Norman Nato and Mitch Evans, with Stoffel Vandoorne and Maximilian Günther on the third row. 

Pascal Wehrlein and Edoardo Mortara are provisionally on the fourth row; however, Wehrlein is under investigation for a technical infraction.

Group stage

Kicking-off qualifying in the opening group was Saturday's winner Cassidy as well as his team-mate, Evans. Group A also included Mortara, who started on pole position for race one of the weekend.

It was a relatively smooth group for Jaguar as Cassidy sealed top spot, with Evans progressing to the duels in third. Günther secured second whilst Mortara made the duels in P4.

Championship leader Wehrlein and reigning world champion Dennis competed in the second qualifying group, as did yesterday's second-place finisher Jean-Eric Vergne. 

DS Penske in particular has looked excellent all weekend, although Vergne failed to make the duels. Staggeringly, Nato led an Andretti one-two in the second group, 24 hours on from the pair qualifying 20th and 21st. 

Vandoorne secured third in the group to progress to the duels once again, as did Wehrlein in fourth.

Quarter-Finals

The opening quarter-final duel put two title contenders against one another, as Evans battled Günther. It was the Jaguar driver who had the edge by a tenth of a second, thanks to a 1:02.056.

Jaguar's positive session continued in the next quarter-final, as Cassidy comfortably defeated Mortara after posting a 1:01.994.

Quarter-final number three saw Vandoorne go up against Nato, with the latter having not appeared in the duels since Diriyah earlier this season. It was a tight fight, but Nato was victorious by a minimal 0.032s.

The final quarter-final was an interesting one, as it was Wehrlein against Dennis. The reigning world champion defeated the championship leader by 0.168s – the fourth time he has beaten Wehrlein in the duels this season.

Semi-Finals

Remarkably, in a Formula E first, the two semi-finals pitted team-mates against each other. The first semi-final was Evans against Jaguar team-mate Cassidy, for a place in the final. 

Only 0.040s separated the pair in the first sector, with Evans having initially had the edge. However, Cassidy delivered a mighty end to the lap to defeat his team-mate and claim a spot in the final.

The second semi-final was an all-Andretti affair, as Dennis targeted a spot in the final. Dennis had a below-par first sector but pulled it back in the second half of the lap to defeat Nato.

Weirdly, both Cassidy and Dennis set quicker times in their quarter-final duel, than they did in the semi-final.

Final

The second final of the weekend was, of course, Cassidy against Dennis, the vice-champion and champion from 2023. 

Dennis was quicker in the first sector after Cassidy missed the Turn 2 apex but was weaker in the middle sector. However, a big mistake by Cassidy handed pole to Dennis, completing a staggering around.