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As Formula E approaches the end of its second season, qualifying is set to play an important part in determining this season World Champion.

As the season closes out on the tight European tracks in Berlin and London, overtaking will become extremely difficult in the final three rounds of the season.

Therefore, both championship protagonists Lucas Di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi will be looking to maximise their chances in qualifying, as both drivers have not been on pole position in the last four rounds.

Buemi, who trails Di Grassi by eleven points, has struggled immensely in qualifying with two eighth place finishes in Paris and Long Beach. The Renault e.Dams driver qualified fifth in Mexico and 18th in Buenos Aires, leaving the Swiss driver to fight through the field to finish in the points.

“It is important to qualify well,” said Buemi. As you can score three points from qualifying on pole position. Also, if you’re at the front, it helps you in turn one to avoid any collisions. Qualifying might not be as important in Berlin, but it is always better to start at the front as it gives you an advantage.”

Di Grassi has had a better qualifying record than Buemi in recent races, as the Brazilian has managed two third places in Long Beach and Mexico and a second place in Paris, but could only manage eighth in Buenos Aires.

The 31-year old feels that qualifying is vital in the title fight as it dictates whether or not you will be in control of your energy management during the race.

“Qualifying in Berlin will be less important than in London because there are a few overtaking opportunities in Berlin, but not many in London.

“However, it is still important as you use more energy to overtake, and you can manage your energy better during the race. If you force yourself to have to overtake in the race it becomes more difficult to manage your race energy,” said Di Grassi.

The importance of qualifying does not just stop at the top two, as the midfield teams are looking to cement or catch the teams around them in the constructors championship.

Mahindra Racing are currently six points clear of Venturi in the constructors championship and Bruno Senna feels that if they nail their qualifying setup in Berlin and London they can pull away from the Monegasque team.

“Paris could be a typical qualifying session from now to the end of the season as we had low temperatures, we made a bad decision with our qualifying setup. It really put us on the back foot as we were in P6 in FP2 and then it went wrong in qualifying and I was P13 and that makes things harder in the race, which is frustrating when you know you can be so much higher up,” said Senna.

Also, Loic Duval is hopeful he can turn around his recent poor showing in qualifying as he qualified 16th and 18th in the last two qualifying sessions.

The French driver knows that qualifying will be the key to a successful race in Berlin and London.

“Qualifying is massively important coming to the end of the season. Last year in London I was started tenth on Saturday and second on Sunday and this completely changed my race. So it’s important that we find a solution to the setup in qualifying so we are consistent in the final few rounds,” said Duval.

As the Formula E season heads towards its conclusion, you can take a look back at how Formula E got to this stage of the existence by reading http://blog.avis.co.uk/great-adventure/two-years-formula-e-highlights-far/