Improved fortunes for Massa and Vandoorne but Di Grassi takes provisional pole

Lucas Di Grassi qualified first for the Santiago E Prix but his place at the top of the grid is under threat following a potential technical infringement.

Di Grassi finished in a time of 1:08.290 ahead of Sebastien Buemi.

Daniel Abt had been leading the bid for super pole after Sam Bird and Stoffel Vandoorne failed to capitalise on an average time during error-strewn runs, but Di Grassi made no mistake taking 0.67 seconds of Abt’s time.

The former Formula 1 driver, Di Grassi could lose his position, however, for a brake problem which occurred during regular qualifying rather than in the super pole session.

Buemi could only get within 0.526 of Di Grassi’s time who beat Pascal Wehrlein to complete the front three.

Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Massa have struggled for form in their debut seasons in Formula E so far, but their fortunes improved today as they qualified fifth and tenth respectively, a marked improvement from the Marrakesh E Prix which saw Vandoorne retire and Massa finish 18th.

Vandoorne, however, is also under investigation for failing to leave the pits fast enough.