Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Dennis did not physically stand back-to-back in the Diriyah paddock to take 10 paces, turn and fire. Yet, their duel for pole ahead of Formula E’s 2021-22 season opener was met with the same anticipation, trepidation and tension as a stand-off in a Western film – as 22 drivers were whittled down to the final two in the qualifying battle.
To continue the Wild West shoot-out metaphor, Vandoorne proved to be the driver with the itchiest trigger finger and claimed pole - while Dennis’s gun jammed at the final moment, leaving the Brit to recoil in presumed agony as Vandoorne blew the smoke away from his revolver’s barrel.
Formula E’s new qualifying system, when explained either by word of mouth or in carefully considered prose, sounds complex. There’s a multitude of permutations at play, especially since the eventual pole winner has an impact on where those eliminated in the group stages will start the race. But when played out on-screen, it’s deceptively simple. Four cars progress from each group and, from there, qualifying plays out in a nifty little tournament format.
Diriyah’s opening race was the first opportunity to see the new qualifying in action. There was something of a dress rehearsal in testing, but it didn’t really follow the format – it was largely for the TV crew to get their overlays and timing data in order. The qualifying session was the first proper run-through.
It was alright on the night. The preliminary group formats brought their own level of drama, and it’ll be even more action-packed when all of the following group sessions are sorted by championship position. Each group for the opening session, with one driver from each team in each group, was packed to the rafters with drivers all capable of reaching the duels. Thus, there was always going to be a few drivers who were going to be left disappointed in missing the top-four cut-off.
In Group A, new Venturi signing Lucas di Grassi and Jean-Eric Vergne were arguably the biggest-hitters left on the cutting room floor, while 2021 FE runner-up Edoardo Mortara spilled a top-four place with a presumed brake problem in the Group B session, leaving Andre Lotterer to pip him at the post. Mitch Evans and 2019-20 champion Antonio Felix da Costa were also left to watch the duels from the side-lines after exiting from the second group session.
In the knock-outs each driver had one shot to progress – with the duelling drivers spread out by about 20 seconds. Lotterer’s quarter-final with Robin Frijns was the first cab off the rank; the Porsche driver kicked off strongly, but his Envision rival began to hit back and had the early advantage – the timing overlay showing a fantastic back-and-forth battle through the sectors, tiny gaps leading to a natural ebb and flow. But by the end Lotterer just shaded that encounter, dispatching Frijns by less than a tenth with a stronger final sector to move into the semi-finals.
Dennis’ duel with Sam Bird was just as closely contested, with the Andretti driver prevailing over the Jaguar man, while Nick Cassidy (Envision) had a first-sector advantage over Vandoorne – but the Kiwi couldn’t keep up the pace in the middle sector and also went for an early bath. Mahindra's Oliver Rowland, who’d been mighty in practice, locked up at the start of his quarter-final and handed control of the bout to defending champion Nyck de Vries.
Lotterer had booked himself a top-four spot, but could progress no further – blaming his 0.635s arrears to Dennis on a loss of traction, after running off-line and onto the dust. Meanwhile, Mercedes was guaranteed one car in the final in the Vandoorne-de Vries second semi – with de Vries’ slide at the top of the hill culpable for losing a shot at pole. By design, qualifying neatly segued into a deafening crescendo.
Dennis snatched the best first sector, but got loose on the exit of Turn 6 and was millimetres away from clouting the barrier, shipping six tenths to Vandoorne in the process. The Warwickshire driver afforded himself a quick headshake but no further wallowing, immediately seeking a recovery, but a quicker final sector wasn’t enough to stop Vandoorne from taking the spoils – with Dennis having to be left content with starting second.
A quick flick through suggests that the audience enjoyed the intensity of the sessions, although some were also put off by the apparent complexity of the new format. But like all things, people will get used to it; think of it as a World Cup in an hour
It was a pretty captivating session, all told. Drivers were allowed only one lap in the old system, but the new group stages were relatively freeform – allowing for unlimited running within the allotted 12 minutes, and mandating that drivers set at least one timed lap in the first half. That led to a flurry of action throughout the opening stages, as the teams explored run plans to get to grips with the new system.
But expect that to change a little bit as the season goes on; run plans will eventually become optimised, and the olden days of group qualifying eventually iterated into a last-minute dash where all of the cars in each would effectively run nose-to-tail like a passenger train. It suits the drivers to run a little bit less too and focus on the latter part of the session to preserve tyre life.
One example was Dragon’s Sergio Sette Camara, who looked impressive during the opening phase of his group runs, but tailed off towards the end. Sure, there were drivers in stronger machinery, but the Brazilian reckoned he could have had better shot at an upset if the American team had nailed its qualifying strategy and kept its tinder dry in the early phases.
“We were too early setting times,” Sette Camara told Autosport. “The track evolves here very quickly. By the time I was doing laps, the track was so dirty and [by the end] our tyres were too hot. The track was cleaning, still with session time to go and everyone started to put in laps but we were already with cooked tyres. So was just not great strategy today.
“We can improve definitely, it was the first [running of the] format and it could have gone super well for us. But it didn't.”
On the other side of the coin, Mercedes and Envision managed to get the formula right in the group stages, with both teams getting both cars into the final eight. But as Mercedes was able to capitalise on that momentum to cement semi-final places, both Envisions fell in the quarters as both Frijns and Cassidy found it hard to keep the full lap together.
Finding the optimum run plan is something for the teams to explore and simulate, and everyone will have another opportunity to apply any lessons from Friday’s Diriyah running in Saturday’s race. As Envision has proved, navigating the group stages is one thing – getting into the final is quite another.
What of the spectacle? General Twitter feedback seemed to be positive, although that could largely to this author curating his feed to remove sources of frequent negativity. A quick flick through suggests that the audience enjoyed the intensity of the sessions, although some were also put off by the apparent complexity of the new format. But like all things, people will get used to it; think of it as a World Cup in an hour.
The TV overlays did their best to map out the ebb and flow of each duel, adding in further timing loops to show the gap between the two drivers over the lap. It probably wasn’t quite as dynamic as it could be: more timing loops akin to Formula 1’s micro-sectors would undoubtedly create a more fluid picture of the gap – but that’s probably more of a legacy of FE’s temporary tracks.
The split-screen final, where the footage of the first driver (in this case, Vandoorne) to start a lap was delayed, has potential, but wasn’t quite implemented as smoothly as it could be. It seemed that the laps were shown a bit out-of-sync, making it hard to decipher from the feed alone who was winning the bout. But those are all slight teething problems that can be fixed.
The drivers were far more positive too, having largely hated the old system and its proclivity to reward those occupying the fourth group. Lotterer, who had experienced all but the final round of duels, called the format a “fun challenge”.
"The qualifying format is definitely better,” he told Autosport. “I feel there's a lot of joy, it's cool - these battles, these duels. It's kind of a nice feeling like okay, you were going into the semi-final and then maybe finals.
“It's a fun challenge, and then it happens very quickly. It's quite emotionally up and down, you have to really get ready for another lap and then maybe you go through, or not - then okay, you go through, then maybe again. So I think also from outside, I'm sure it was a good show. I guess at least from inside it was.”
Having been accustomed to F1’s Q1-Q2-Q3 format, Antonio Giovinazzi sat on the sidelines during the duels phase after qualifying at the back during the group stages, but was also positive about the format – feeling that the spectators would appreciate seeing the quickest drivers battle for pole.
“It was cool, I think, the battles of driver versus driver,” explained the former Alfa Romeo driver. “Yeah, I think it’s more fair from what I saw last year. I think the good drivers, they will always perform well in qualifying and this is what people want to see.”
Formula E’s knockout qualifying began somewhat positively – and doesn’t yield nearly as many problems as the groups system did previously
Two-time champion Vergne also enjoyed the format, but complained that the FIA didn’t do enough to stamp out drivers blocking others on their hot-laps during the groups – feeling that Frijns had ended his chances of progressing to the quarters.
“The group is good,” Vergne said. “If the drivers respect the other guys and not blocking anyone it's fine. I was on a very strong lap and then I got stuck behind Frijns - and the FIA hasn't said anything.
“The FIA needs to do their job, wake up and review the thing because it's not normal that the driver can block another one and and get away with it. And that's what happened today. So if the FIA can monitor and do their job properly, it would be fantastic. But the format is good.”
That’s one issue, but it’s one native to all qualifying formats with more than one car on-track. A problem more specific to the duels phase could be that the driver out first crashes, not only jeopardising their lap – but the driver behind too. If the driver behind encounters a yellow flag, it does somewhat unfairly ensure they can do no better than seventh on the grid – not the end of the world, but it’s still a penalty for something outside of their control. Hopefully, such instances are rare.
Overall, Formula E’s knockout qualifying began somewhat positively – and doesn’t yield nearly as many problems as the groups system did previously. Of course, there’s a few kinks to iron out – F1’s current qualifying system wasn’t perfect straight out of the gate – but it seems to be a pretty popular addition to the rapid-fire FE race weekend. And if nothing else, it was simply jolly good fun.
