Diriyah E-Prix: De Vries pips Mortara to pole by 0.005s

Mortara got loose into the first corner and looked down and out by the end of the first sector - reigning champion de Vries's Mercedes going three-tenths faster off the bat.

But with an identical Mercedes powertrain in his Venturi, Mortara regrouped and reeled off two rapid final sectors, beating de Vries in both. Friday's race winner was only just able to absorb his rival's late charge and held pole by the merest of margins, de Vries remarking that he was left "disappointed" by his pole-winning lap.

De Vries had dispatched Mortara's team-mate Lucas di Grassi in the semi-finals, the Brazilian elevated into the final four after confusion had reigned supreme in his quarter-final bout with Antonio Felix da Costa.

The DS Techeetah driver was placed under investigation for impeding the 2016-17 champion, having missed his pit-exit signal and instead left on di Grassi's - leaving the former Audi driver initially stranded in the pitlane on a red light.

Mortara had made his way through to the final after seeing off Andre Lotterer and Robin Frijns, while de Vries had overcome Jean-Eric Vergne in the quarter-finals as DS Techeetah managed to get both cars among the duel stages.

Frijns' time in the semi-finals proved stronger than di Grassi's, earning him third on the grid.

Oliver Rowland and Frijns were drawn together in the third quarter-final duel - resuming their battle after both came to blows in the opening Diriyah race.

Frijns was able to find fractionally more speed than Rowland in each sector, nailing the final corner to knock the Mahindra driver out of qualifying. Rowland starts 10th after Friday's skirmish with Frijns earned him a three-place grid penalty.

Robin Frijns will start third

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport