Big names were eliminated in the group stages of the Miami E-Prix qualifying, with a surprise pole-sitter emerging.
In the searing heat, Taylor Barnard looked to be the man to beat in Miami, after his strong pace in final practice. Championship leader Oliver Rowland looked to be in trouble, unable to break into the top three.
As the session began all eyes were on McLaren, Nissan and Jaguar to see who could put themselves in a good position for the race.
The driver with the most to do in qualifying was Nico Muller, after his unfortunate crash during final practice.
Group A
The odd numbered drivers took to the track first. The first laps consisted of preparation as normal, the cars clustered together.
When the drivers began to push, it became clear that Rowland had found pace that was missing during practice. He jumped to the top of times after the first representative laps.
As the track ramped up, Dennis and Beckmann moved into the safe zone, with Mitch Evans on the cusp, unhappy with the balance. Antonio Felix Da Costa demonstrated track evolution by jumping to the top of the timesheets.
With just two minutes left, Rowland and Evans looked in danger of becoming big name eliminations. The drivers started their final laps with just seconds remaining.
Rowland aborted his final lap, in a disaster for Nissan. The sector times were not lighting up, with the exception of Vandoorne who moved to second.
Antonio Felix Da Costa led the drivers to the duels, with Vandoorne, Jake Dennis, and David Beckmann all following Da Costa.
Eliminated: Eduardo Mortara, Buemi, Evans, Rowland, Muller, Maloney, and Jake Hughes
Group B
With his rival out in the group stages, Barnard entered the session with a possible second pole position on the cards. On the first representative laps, Nic Cassidy ran wide into Turn 12, and was lucky to continue unscathed.
Norman Nato once again performed well, with Dan Ticktum and Max Guenther taking up the duel spots at the end of the first runs.
Ticktum moved to the top of the times, with Nato and Barnard moving into the top spots. Pascal Wehrlein jumped into the top four, before Lucas Di Grassi’s Lola took the top spot with a stunning lap.
Nyck de Vries was next to jump into the top four, putting pole position favourite Barnard out of the duels. Nick Cassidy had his lap time deleted, and remained rooted at the bottom of the order. With 90 seconds to go, the final push laps began.
Barnard had a massive oversteer moment into Turn 1, ending his hopes. Wehrlien also lost out when Robin Friijns improved to the top of the board. This resulted with no McLarens or DS Penske’s progressing.
Progressing to the duels were Frijns, Di Grassi, Nato and De Vries.
Eliminated: Pascal Wehrlein, Taylor Barnard, Nick Cassidy, Dan Ticktum, Jean-Eric Vergne, Sam Bird, Max Guenther.
The Duels
Jake Dennis vs Stoffel Vandoorne
Dennis kicked up dust in Turn 1 on his flying lap, allowing Vandoorne to move within striking distance. Both on the limit of adhesion, Dennis pulled a massive gap to set a time of 1:23:000, over half a second down on the Andretti.
David Beckmann vs Antonio Felix Da Costa
Both drivers pushed hard into the first corner, with Da Costa having the advantage. Beckmann could not match his pace and ran wide into turn 10, resulting in Da Costa’s easy progression.
Norman Nato vs Lucas Di Grassi
After a relatively equal first sector in terms of pace, Nato began to stretch out a lead. By the chequered flag, Nato had pulled out over seven-tenths of a second over Di Grassi, to the disappointment of the Lola team.
Nyck De Vries vs Robin Frijns
Both drivers were evenly matched in the first sector, with Frijns having the early advantage. De Vries pulled back pace in the second sector, but Frijns nailed his final sector to knock out the Dutchman.
Semi-Finals
Da Costa vs Dennis
Da Costa took to the track first as the tension built. Perfecting the first corner, Dennis lost the rear and faced an uphill struggle. As the lap progressed, the gap narrowed, and Dennis progressed to the final for the first time since Berlin last season.
Friijns vs Nato
Frijns pushed too hard into the first two corners, losing substantial time to Nato. Almost overdriving his Envision, Nato progressed to the final by three-tenths of a second.
Final
Dennis Vs Nato
Nissan vs Andretti was the climax of qualifying in Miami. Both drivers had a point to prove. Andretti wanted pole position at their home race, but Nato wanted to take his first points of the season ahead of an all-out assault in the race.
Going into Turn 1, Dennis took Turn 1 with more care, but this allowed Nato to catch the Andretti. Going into the second sector, Nato began to pull out an advantage.
Nato lost time in the final sector, but was still able to take pole position with an outstanding final few corners.
Provisional Classification
- Norman Nato
- Jake Dennis
- Antonio Felix Da Costa
- Robin Frijns
- Nyck de Vries
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Lucas Di Grassi
- David Beckmann
- Pascal Wehrlien
- Edoardo Mortara
- Taylor Barnard
- Sebastien Buemi
- Nick Cassidy
- Mitch Evans
- Dan Ticktum
- Oliver Rowland
- Jean-Eric Vergne
- Nico Muller
- Sam Bird
- Zane Maloney
- Jake Hughes
- Max Gunther
