Wehrlein makes perfect start to Formula E title defence

Pascal Wehrlein made a perfect start to the defence of his Formula E title, by securing pole position for the season-opening São Paulo E-Prix. 

The German driver faced Nissan's Oliver Rowland in the final, and posted a lap time which was 0.099s quicker. 

Wehrlein looked mighty throughout every phase of qualifying, in particular in the duels when all-wheel drive and 350kW of power was introduced. 

It was a disastrous first qualifying of the season for reigning champions Jaguar, as Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans both failed to make the duels.

Evans triggered the first red flag of the season after coming to a halt several times whilst trying to return to the pits.

Duels

Pascal Wehrlein secured pole position after recovering from a bad first sector. Rowland was almost two tenths faster than Wehrlein in the first sector alone.

The Porsche driver found a remarkable amount of time in sectors two or three, and set a 1:09.851 to claim the first pole of the season. In claiming pole, he also received three championship points.

To make the final, Wehrlein defeated fellow German Maximilian Günther in the semi finals. Wehrlein posted a 1:09.859 in his semi-final against Günther, which was 0.492s faster than the DS Penske driver's lap. 

In the other semi-final, Rowland staggeringly beat Jake Dennis by just 0.001s, in what was a remarkable duel. To make the semi finals, Wehrlein eliminated Rowland's Nissan team-mate, Norman Nato. 

Nato was defeated by Wehrlein by 0.122s, whilst Rowland defeated Wehrlein's team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa by 0.060s. 

In the two other quarter finals, Dennis defeated Jean-Eric Vergne, and Günther went faster than Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara.

Group stage

As always, the group stage took place with only 300kW being available to the drivers and not four-wheel drive either. 

The first group featured high-flying drivers like Dennis, da Costa and Rowland, as well as rookie David Beckmann. 

Even the fastest laps at 300kWs were faster than last season's pole position time, with Dennis having topped the group on a 1:11.732. 

He was closely followed by da Costa, Rowland and Vergne, who joined him in progressing to the duels. 

Several drivers complained of the tyres being worn out by the end of the group session, highlighting the issue tyre degradation will be this season. 

Jaguar's Cassidy was eliminated and starts on the fifth row, in what was an opening group shock. 

The second group featured Wehrlein and Evans, who finished first and second in Season 10. The session was halted after five minutes by a red flag after Evans came to a complete halt.

He stopped several times whilst trying to return to the pits, resulting in a red flag. Bizarrely, he stopped in identical positions to where he had issues in practice on Friday. 

Evans was also placed under investigation for not following the race director's instructions. When the second group finally resumed, it was topped by Wehrlein. 

He was followed in the top-four by Mortara, Günther and Nato. Wehrlein posted a 1:11.717, marking the fastest 300kW lap.