Jake Dennis faces Formula E title uphill task as Mahindra master qualifying

Nyck de Vries secured pole position for the season-ending race in Formula E's London E-Prix, defeating Mahindra partner Edoardo Mortara. 

However, all eyes were on the title contenders, with championship leader Pascal Wehrlein claiming third on the grid. Title outsider Mitch Evans, starts from sixth.

It was a disastrous session for second in the standings Jake Dennis, who failed to progress to the duels and will start from the eighth row of the grid.

Duels

It was a quality final duel of the season in London, with de Vries edging out his teammate to secure pole position. Given it was an all-Mahindra final, it was a guaranteed three points.

To reach the final, de Vries first beat Evans in the quarter-finals before eliminating Wehrlein in the semi-finals. 

As for Mortara, he got past Taylor Barnard and then Nico Müller in the semi-finals. In the other two quarter-finals, Wehrlein beat Nick Cassidy and Müller went quicker than Dan Ticktum.

Group stage

In the final qualifying session of the season, championship leader Wehrlein and Evans both featured in the first group as did Evans' teammate Antonio Felix da Costa. 

Crucially, Wehrlein and Evans both progressed to the duels in second and fourth, while da Costa was eliminated by just 0.009s. De Vries went quickest, with Cassidy in third. 

This put pressure on the other title contender Dennis, who went in the second qualifying group. Unfortunately, the Briton did not manage to match his title rivals. 

Dennis was only eighth quickest in the second group and did not progress to the duels, while Mortara went fastest ahead of Müller, Ticktum and Barnard.