Di Grassi manages first pole position of Formula E season

Lucas Di Grassi will start Saturday night's first Formula E race of the season from pole position. The driver managed to beat Jake Dennis in the final round of qualifying to secure himself a good starting position in Mexico.

Whereas the groups are normally determined by championship order, it is different in Mexico City as it is the first qualifying session of the year. In Group A, the first to see action included Robin Frijns.

Sam Bird was the first to start his flying lap. Soon, however, his time was bettered by Andre Lotterer, who showed a strong pace throughout the group session. In the final moments, attacks by Sette Camara and others followed, but nobody could match Lotterer's time.

Lotterer thus went through to the duels, along with Di Grassi, Sacha Fenestraz and Sebastien Buemi, who made it into the top four in the final moments. Frijns failed to do so and so the Dutchman was already stranded in the group stage.

In Group B, it was equally exciting. Mitch Evans was close to the top four, but fell out just before the finish. Dennis, Dan Ticktum, Jake Hughes and Pascal Wehrlein eventually managed to record the fastest times to qualify themselves for the quarter-finals.

Fierce battle in final stage qualifying

Di Grassi and Buemi were jointly allowed to kick off the quarter-finals and try to reach the next round. At the start of the round, Buemi managed to build up a small lead of over a tenth, after which Di Grassi tried to fight back. He succeeded, so it was Di Grassi who advanced to the semi-finals.

Next, Fenestraz and Lotterer took on each other. The latter driver had an excellent start and did himself a good favour. However, the lead was not great, so he had to work on the pace. He eventually saved it with a difference of four hundredths. The third quarterfinal was between Hughes and Ticktum, which the former driver easily won over. The final game between Wehrlein and Dennis was decided by the Briton.

Lotterer and De Grassi fought each other for a final place in the first semi-final. Due to a big mistake by Lotterer, he ended up more than a second and a half behind his rival, allowing De Grassi to go to the final round of qualifying. Dennis and Hughes then battled each other for the other place, with the former driver coming out on top.

As a result, Di Grassi and Dennis jointly decided who would start the race in pole position. From the start of the lap, things were not going well for Dennis. The driver saw the gap to Di Grassi increase significantly, allowing the Brazilian to start the race at the front.