The new format, which features a two-group opening stage before breaking into a tournament-style duels battle over the best time, was employed for the first time since the former groups format was discarded.
Vandoorne went first in the final, initially losing out to a rapid Dennis in the opening sector and sitting over a tenth adrift.
But Dennis’ haste led to a mistake while navigating the quick-fire corners at the top of the hill, losing almost six tenths to the Mercedes driver with a Turn 6 slide and effectively ending his chances at pole.
The Andretti driver hit back with a strong final sector, but Vandoorne’s lap proved too much to overcome and left Dennis having to be content with second on the grid.
Mercedes navigated the group stage with both cars and guaranteed themselves a shot at the final as Vandoorne and de Vries were drawn against each other in the semi-final.
Vandoorne won that bout, de Vries explaining that he “almost shunted four times” as he had to contend…
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