Second pole for Andretti-BMW’s Sims

Sims again on pole. The BMW is fast for 1 lap, but runs out of power faster than others

BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Alexander Sims scoops his second Pole in Saudi – third in a row counting his Pole last season in New York City – while Nissan e.dams' Sebastian Buemi starts in second in front of Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Lucas di Grassi. Rounding off the Super Pole standings is Panasonic Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans, Mahindra Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio and DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix da Costa, who starts the race in sixth.

As track conditions improved, so did the times, with yesterday's winner Envision Virgin Racing's Sam Bird narrowly missing out on Super Pole despite dealing with the handicap of starting in Group 1. The Brit will start the second race in Diriyah in seventh, ahead of Rokit Venturi Racing's Edoardo Mortara and BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Max Guenther.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Hot on the heels of Guenther will be TAG Heuer Porsche's Andre Lotterer, who finished second in yesterday's season opener. The German driver starts one place in front of his former DS Techeetah teammate and reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne in 10th. Following his retirement yesterday, Vergne had the advantage of starting in the last Qualifying Group, claiming that even a 10th place start would feel like a Pole position for the Frenchman after a dismal start to the season.

Behind Vergne is Mercedes-Benz EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne, fresh off the back of a third place finish in yesterday's race. The Beligan driver starts ahead of Envision's Robin Frijns, Mahindra Racing's Pascal Wehrein and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler's Daniel Abt.

In the middle of the grid will be Rokit Venturi Racing's Felipe Massa, who starts ahead of Nissan e.dams' Oliver Rowland and fellow Brit Oliver Turvey (NIO 333). Turvey is followed by Neel Jani for Porsche, while rookie Brendon Hartley rounds off the top 20 for Geox Dragon.

At the back of the grid, Quinghua Ma will start the race in 21st with Panasonic Jaguar Racing's James Calado and Nico Mueller in 23rd. Mercedes' rookie Nyck de Vries sits at the back of the grid after a disappointing Qualifying session for the Formula E newcomer.

Vergne dropped to back of the grid

Following DS Techeetah driver Jean-Eric Vergne's collision with the wall in Practice this morning, the reigning champ's chances of a podium in Saudi Arabia fell of a cliff after he was handed a 20-place grid penalty ahead of the race.

Earlier in the day, the Frenchman limped back to the pits with a broken axle, where his battery was switch for a replacement pack. The change is in breach of the FIA regulations, handing him a 20-place grid drop as well as a stop and go time penalty (considering he can't drop 20 places after Qualifying in 10th), just hours before the final race of the season opener in Diriyah. After a miserable first race, which led to an early retirement for Vergne, the champs hopes of securing a hattrick championship title are off to a dismal start.

Vergne will start from the back of the pack after Qualifying in 10th, when the race starts at 3:00pm local time.

Super Pole Results

Qualifying 2 Results