At the wheel of the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 and #94, Stoffel Vandoorne and Malthe Jakobsen took part in the first qualifying session of the 2026 season on medium compound slick tyres. Conditions were similar to those seen in FP2 the previous day, with track temperatures approaching 40°C at Imola.
Malthe Jakobsen set the early reference time with a 1m30.474 before improving to a 1m30.309. The Danish driver remained among the frontrunners throughout the session, holding provisional second for a long time before eventually finishing fourth, just 0.035s off the provisional pole time, securing a place in Hyperpole.
Running soft compound tyres for the ten-minute Hyperpole session, Jakobsen quickly posted two competitive laps in 1m30.545 and 1m30.237. After a cool-down lap to manage tyre temperatures, he pushed again, setting the fastest Sector 3 of all Hypercars.
The #94 PEUGEOT 9X8 finished fourth, just 73 thousandths of a second off pole position, a result that sees it start from a similar position to the one it secured after qualifying in Bahrain last November.
On the #93, Stoffel Vandoorne posted an initial flying lap of 1m30.995 (third fastest at the time) before gradually dropping down the order. The Belgian was unable to improve on his final run and ended the session in 15th place. The team maximized its efforts to extract the best from the package, despite a result below expectations for the #93, which was running a slightly different set-up compared to the sister car.
Team Peugeot TotalEnergies is now fully focused on tomorrow’s race and approaches it with confidence, aiming to build on the learnings gathered throughout free practice and qualifying.
Emmanuel Esnault, Team Principal
“These were very tight qualifying sessions and overall it’s a satisfying result for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies. Malthe did an excellent job in both Qualifying and Hyperpole with the #94. Now we need to deliver in the race. We also need to analyze how we can help the drivers extract more performance from the #93. But overall, we are heading in the right direction.”
Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94)
“A good qualifying session, very intense as expected. In Hyperpole, I had to adapt as we switched to soft tyres after running only mediums until then. Everything went smoothly, and we ended up less than a tenth off pole position.”
Stoffel Vandoorne (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93)
“A difficult qualifying for us. Since FP1, the #93 has been lacking a bit of pace compared to the #94, which did a great job today. We’ll work to understand why and try to improve things for tomorrow.”
