Stephane Sarrazin benefitted from a turn in the weather to qualify on pole for the final round of the season, as championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr. could only manage 16th.
Drawn in qualifying group one, Sarrazin was able to set a benchmark lap of 1.23.9 to beat Jerome d’Ambrosio by just 0.064 seconds with his final flying lap, becoming the sixth different pole-sitter of the season. Behind d’Ambrosio, his Dragon team-mate Loic Duval and Virgin’s Sam Bird did well to manage third and fourth respectively as conditions worsened, with Bruno Senna continuing his form from Saturday in fifth.
Crucially, Sebastien Buemi was drawn in the second qualifying group, which meant he missed the worst of the weather.
Sixth on the grid was by no means ideal, but left the Swiss far better placed than his championship rivals, who struggled in the slippery conditions. Piquet did well to hold onto an enormous slide over a wet kerb at the turn 6/7 chicane, but could only manage a 1:35.2, almost a full three seconds slower than Lucas di Grassi, who was the quickest of the wet runners in eleventh.
First-timers Oliver Turvey and Simona de Silvestro both outqualified their team-mates in 12th and 13th respectively, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Nicolas Prost posing further unwelcome obstacles to Piquet’s hopes of title glory.
With a jumbled up grid, uncertain weather conditions and the title on the line, a truly fascinating finale awaits.
Image: Richard Washbrooke