Mitch Evans’ title hopes became more precarious after failing to make the qualifying duels, with a 21-point gap to overcome if he is to win the 2021-22 Formula E title, and starts only 13th after being bumped out of the top four of his group late on.
The final battle between da Costa and Mortara was incredibly close over the opening pair of sectors, with Mortara’s wafer-thin gap of 0.004s at the end of the first sector swinging in favour of da Costa by the end of the second part of the lap.
Although da Costa’s 0.024 advantage at the close of sector two was tenuous, the Portuguese had the advantage over the final straights and managed to grow his buffer to just over a quarter of a second, enough to claim pole.
An even closer semi-final encounter between da Costa and Jake Dennis went in the DS Techeetah driver’s favour, with the two separated by just 0.125s. Thus, da Costa was granted passage to the final.
Vandoorne’s hope of making Evans’ task even more difficult by claiming the points for pole position was denied by Mortara, who had his car simply more hooked up through the lap than the championship leader.
Dennis’ lap was ultimately quicker than that of Vandoorne, and thus hands the Andretti driver third on the grid.
In the quarter-finals, Robin Frijns initially had a slight upper hand over da Costa after the opening sector of their duel, but the 2019-20 champion reversed the arrears and edged ahead by the second part of the lap – proving enough for a semi-final place.
Mortara had made his way past Dan Ticktum, as the Briton was making his and NIO 333’s first duels appearance. Despite Ticktum’s best efforts, the Venturi driver proved too strong – and Mortara thus bagged a semi-finals place.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Mercedes-Benz EQ, EQ Silver Arrow 02
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Jean-Eric Vergne’s attempt to make the semis was over as it began, as he locked up into Turn 1 and thus shed over a second to Vandoorne in the opening corners.
He was joined by Dennis, who overcame Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian had closed him out in the quarter-finals in Saturday’s qualifying session, but the Andretti driver repaid the favour on Sunday morning.
On account of their quarter final times, Robin Frijns starts the season finale from fifth, alongside di Grassi, while Ticktum’s lap granted him seventh on the grid ahead of Vergne.
Saturday polesitter Oliver Rowland was unable to repeat his heroics and fell by the wayside in Group A qualifying, over half a second off of Mortara’s headline time from the session.
Sergio Sette Camara was within a shade of doubling up on duels appearances in Seoul, but was nudged out of the top four by Frijns at the close of the session. The Dragon driver however outqualified Nyck de Vries and Nick Cassidy – and starts 10th behind Maximilian Gunther – who also shuffled Evans down a space in Group B.
Dumped out of the duels having only gone seventh fastest in his group, Evans had tapped the wall in the first sector and losing about a tenth relative to his rivals.
The Kiwi’s time was enough to initially get into second behind Dennis’ headline time, but he tumbled down the order as the two DS Techeetahs and Ticktum pushed him out of the progression zone.
He starts behind Oliver Askew and Nyck de Vries, as the reigning champion looks set to abdicate his crown to his Mercedes teammate.
Antonio Giovinazzi’s replacement Sacha Fenestraz – standing in because of the Italian’s injury – starts from 21st, ahead of Alexander Sims on the back row.
Sims looks set for a difficult final Formula E race having had to take a 60-place grid penalty for a full house of new powertrain components – and thus will serve a 10-second stop-go during the race.
Seoul E-Prix: Mortara top in FP3, Evans and Vandoorne fourth and sixth
Seoul E-Prix: Vandoorne crowned FE champion, Mortara wins finale
Fenestraz ‘studied more than school’ for late Seoul FE call-up
Porsche signs Da Costa to replace Lotterer at Formula E squad
Di Grassi’s 1000th Formula E point an “emotional” landmark
Da Costa “loved the struggle” of return to Formula E winning form
Da Costa “hoped for miracle” after staying out with puncture in NYC race
How an overlooked F1 talent found his true calling
Da Costa cannot “lean” on last year’s Monaco result for 2022 win
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Susie Wolff leaves Venturi Formula E team
Former DTM racer and Williams Formula 1 tester Susie Wolff will step down as CEO of the Venturi Formula E team ahead of its tie-up with Maserati next season.
What Formula E needs next after saying goodbye to Gen2
The 2021-2022 Formula E season finale brought the curtain down on the Gen2 era of the all-electric world championship. It elevated FE to new heights, fulfilling its intended directive. While it is a good launching pad for the impending Gen3 cycle, there are certain aspects the series must tackle for the new era to have the same impact as its predecessor
Fenestraz ‘studied more than school’ for late Seoul FE call-up
Sacha Fenestraz says his 6:30am Seoul Formula E finale call-up to replace the injured Antonio Giovinazzi at Dragon meant he ‘studied more than school’ to get up to speed.
The traits behind Vandoorne’s triumphant Formula E title charge
The odds were heavily stacked in Stoffel Vandoorne’s favour to capture the Formula E crown at the Seoul finale, but chief rival Mitch Evans applied maximum pressure with victory in the first race. It meant Vandoorne had to show his resolve to reproduce the key qualities he held all season to complete his march to the title
What Formula E needs next after saying goodbye to Gen2
The 2021-2022 Formula E season finale brought the curtain down on the Gen2 era of the all-electric world championship. It elevated FE to new heights, fulfilling its intended directive. While it is a good launching pad for the impending Gen3 cycle, there are certain aspects the series must tackle for the new era to have the same impact as its predecessor
The traits behind Vandoorne’s triumphant Formula E title charge
The odds were heavily stacked in Stoffel Vandoorne’s favour to capture the Formula E crown at the Seoul finale, but chief rival Mitch Evans applied maximum pressure with victory in the first race. It meant Vandoorne had to show his resolve to reproduce the key qualities he held all season to complete his march to the title
Can anyone beat Stoffel Vandoorne to the Formula E title?
Stoffel Vandoorne is on the brink of the Formula E title with a commanding lead ahead of the Seoul finale, but both rivals and unknowns still stand in his way. Here’s a run through of what Vandoorne must overcome to clinch the championship and how his competition will look to pull off the biggest of shocks.
How Formula E’s most underrated driver is taming his Dragon
It might not look like the most glittering of Formula E campaigns, but Dragon Penske’s youngster has caught the eye of those who count despite his future remaining unclear. Regardless of the distortion, Sergio Sette Camara has a clear vision of what he’s focused on and how to get there.
How Formula E’s title contenders were upstaged in London
The penultimate stop on Formula E’s world tour took in London’s ExCeL, where the championship contenders were upstaged by two first-time winners in 2022. Andretti’s Jake Dennis kept the home fires burning in the first race as Venturi’s Lucas di Grassi claimed the second, but two consistent finishes mean its advantage Stoffel Vandoorne heading to the Seoul finale.
The ex-F1 racer turned team boss adapting to a FE title fight
For the second year in a row, the Venturi team is in the thick of the fight for Formula E title glory with Edoardo Mortara. That’s despite a change to a more meritocratic qualifying system, which was expected to give the works Mercedes team an edge, and ex-Formula 1 racer Jerome d’Ambrosio being new in the team principal hot seat. As he tells Motorsport.com, it’s a challenge he’s revelling in
Why Sims is quitting Formula E to become the master of his own destiny
Alexander Sims’ call to give up a pukka Formula E spot after four seasons in the series may have surprised some, but after laying out his reasoning and what he hopes comes next, very few onlookers can argue against his plan.
How FE’s Big Apple crunch led to Cassidy joy and heartache
Nick Cassidy hadn’t enjoyed too many joyful moments in the 2021-22 Formula E campaign, but the Envision Virgin driver was the class of the field in New York – even after a sudden downpour had caused him and several others to shunt heavily out of the first race. Red flags saved his bacon on that occasion, but a 30-place penalty that cost him pole for race two due to a new battery opened the door for Antonio Felix da Costa
