After being fastest in the two practice sessions on Friday evening and Saturday morning, Gunther was also untouchable in qualifying, defeating Andretti’s Jake Dennis with a time of 1:08.141.
Gunther was able to build up a lead of 0.368s in the early stages of the final, with Dennis only narrowly closing the gap in the second sector of the track.
The gap between the pair widened to 0.423s at one point and, although it dropped again as they completed the final sector, Gunther was still able to secure pole position by a comfortable margin of 0.341s.
The 25-year-old had already faced teammate Edoardo Mortara in the quarterfinals, winning the duel by three tenths of a second.
This allowed him to face Pascal Wehrlein in the semi-finals, but although the Porsche driver is experiencing a resurgence after a string of difficult results, Gunther managed to get the better of his compatriot to secure a front row seat.
Maximilian Gunther, Maserati Racing Edoardo Mortara, Maserati Racing
Photo by: Gareth Harford / Motorsport Images
Meanwhile, Dennis progressed through the quarterfinals by half a second ahead of Abt’s Robin Frijns, before defeating Vergne in the semifinals by over three-tenths of a second to earn his place in the final.
Wehrlein will start from third on the grid behind Dennis, while DS duo Penske Vergne and Vandoorne line up in fourth and fifth respectively.
Mortara will join Vandoorne on the third row of the grid, while Frijns was able to secure an excellent seventh place Abt, having moved into duels for the first time in dry conditions in 2023.
McLaren’s Rene Rast will start from eighth position as the slowest of the duels, while Nico Muller proved that his team-mate Frijns’ performance was no accident, qualifying ninth and making only his second top-10 start of the season.
David Beckmann, Andretti Autosport, makes his official debut in Formula E
Photo by: Andreas Beil
Both Envision cars were eliminated in the group stages, with championship leader Nick Cassidy qualifying 10th and teammate Sebastien Buemi finishing three places down to 13th.
Last year’s winner, Mitch Evans, also failed to progress to duels: the Jaguar driver finished the field in sixth place, finishing 11th on the grid behind compatriot Cassidy.
Another high-profile driver who struggled in qualifying was Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa, who will start from 15th after finishing eighth in his field.
Sam Bird finished in 16th place, five places behind his teammate Evans.
