Sebastien Buemi claimed Julius Baer pole position ahead of today’s Visa London ePrix four tenths clear of Jerome D’Ambrosio (Dragon Racing) and Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT).


Buemi, who set his time during the fourth qualifying segment, brushed the barrier at the final corner on his fastest lap as the drivers scrambled to get a good grid position. Qualifying at the front of the pack may be even more crucial than ever now the race will start behind the safety car after track changes were made at Turn 1.

D’Ambrosio, who also ran in the final qualifying group, set the second quickest time and demoted long-time pacesetter, Lucas di Grassi to third place on the grid with the Brazilian driver reporting that he was struggling with too much front locking.

Championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr ended the session fourth quickest and the NEXTEV TCR driver was clearly pushing hard as he locked up and ran close to the barrier several times on his quick laps.

Jean-Eric Vergne will start from fifth place for Andretti, but the French driver was forced to take to the escape road on his first flying lap as he locked the rear wheels and spun at Turn 7.

Nicolas Prost will start in seventh place for e.dams-Renault, ahead of Formula E debutant Oliver Turvey and Mahindra Racing’s Bruno Senna.

Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird will start in ninth, with Salvador Duran rounding out the top 10 for Amlin Aguri. Bird had needed to take pole position to keep his slim championship chances alive, but after failing to do so he has now been mathematically eliminated from the title fight.

Karun Chandhok will start in 16th in the second Mahindra entry but the Indian driver crashed at the final corner and broke his right-front wheel.

The race will get underway at 16:00 (local time).

Results:

Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1 Sébastien Buemi e.Dams Renault 1:24.648
2 Jerome D’Ambrossi Dragon Racing 0,456
3 Lucas Di Grassi Audi Sport Abt 0,457
4 Nelson Piquet Jr China Racing 0,496
5 Jean-Éric Vergne Andretti Autosport 0,534
6 Nicolas Prost e.Dams Renault 0,61
7 Oliver Turvey China Racing 1,181
8 Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 1,231
9 Sam Bird Virgin Racing 1,246
10 Salvador Duran Amlin Aguri 1,316
11 Loic Duval Dragon Racing 1,34
12 Nick Heidfeld Venturi Racing 1,48
13 Daniel Abt Audi Sport Abt 1,654
14 Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi Racing 1,67
15 Jarno Trulli Trulli Racing 2,204
16 Karun Chandhok Mahindra Racing 2,512
17 Simona de Silvestro Andretti Autosport 2,56
18 Sakon Yamamoto Amlin Aguri 2,808
19 Alex Fontana Trulli Racing 3,435
20 Fabio Leimer Virgin Racing 3,504-