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Lucas di Grassi driving for Mahindra, taken during pre-season testing

Di Grassi takes pole for Mexico opener

Lucas DI Grassi takes pole position after a mistake for Jake Dennis in the final duel. 

The pair went head to head for pole position after Dennis topped Group B qualifying and Di Grassi finished third in Group A. 

Jake Hughes lines up third on the grid for his Formula E debut. 

Group Stages

Andre Lotterer dominated proceedings in Group A. 

The Andretti Formula E driver jumped to the top of the times midway through the session and gradually lowered his quickest time to 1m13.405s.  

Di Grassi was running second when the chequered flag fell, but a late flying lap for Sebastien Buemi knocked the Mahindra Racing driver down to third.  

A surprisingly quick lap for Sacha Fenestraz put the rookie fourth and through to the duel stages. 

There was upset further back in the group as drivers battled for space on track. At one point, Sergio Sette Camara became stuck behind Jean-Eric Vergne while on a quick lap. When Sette Camara tried to come through, Vergne shut the door.  

The DS Penske driver was later given a warning for coming to a full stop on track while looking for a gap. 

Vergne would end the session sixth fastest, just behind Antonio Felix Da Costa and a position ahead of Sergio Sette Camara. 

In Group B, P1 changed hands a lot more.  

Mitch Evans set the early pace ahead of Nick Cassidy and Pascal Wehrlein. Jake Hughes and Dan Ticktum both held P1 before a late improvement put Dennis on top with a time of 1m13.074s. 

Ticktum ended the session second, ahead of Hughes and Wehrlein, who jumped up to fourth as he took the chequered flag. 

Duels 

Di Grassi’s route to the final started with a duel against Sebastien Buemi, which he won by just 0.019s. He then took on Andre Lotterer, who had beaten Sacha Fenestraz in the quarter finals.  

Lotterer made a mistake at turns five and six, running wide and losing half a second to Di Grassi. 

Meanwhile, Dennis had beat Pascal Wehrlein in the quarter finals, but ran wide on his run and hit a bollard at the exit of the stadium section. The incident damaged his front wing and he was not permitted to change it. 

The incident didn’t cause too much pain in the semi-finals, where he went head-to-head against Jake Hughes. Hughes had a big slide on his run and Dennis beat the McLaren Formula E driver by 0.326s. 

Both Di Grassi and Dennis had a messy final run. Di Grassi had a slide on his run, but an error and a lock-up for Dennis gave the Mahindra driver enough of an advantage. He was three seconds ahead at the chequered flag. 

P2 for Dennis is Andretti’s first front row. 

Hughes will start third ahead of Lotterer and Dan Ticktum, who was quickest of those knocked out in the quarter finals. Wehrlein, Buemi and Fenestraz complete the top eight. 

Da Costa and Mitch Evans complete the top 10. 

Bethonie Waring

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