Lucas Di Grassi continued to chisel away at Sebastien Buemi’s point lead in Montreal, taking the pole and the three FIA Formula E points that go along with it.

Now, just seven points separate the leading Renault e.Dams driver Sebastien Buemi and the challenger from Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport.

To add insult to injury, Buemi, who set the second fastest time in the session, will have to start 12th. Buemi incurred the 10-place penalty because the team had to change the battery in his car following this morning’s impact.

Stephane Sarrazin for Techeetah will instead fill out the front row alongside Di Grassi.

Buemi’s teammate, Nicolas Prost, will start third, ahead of Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist.

The second Techeetah driver, Jean-Eric Vergne, will fill out the top five.

Mathematically, Rosenqvist is still in the championship hunt, but sits far behind Buemi and Di Grassi in the points.

Sam Bird, whose championship chances were still alive at the start of the weekend, has been eliminated from contention by Di Grassi’s pole. Bird qualified 18th after an issue prevented his car from engaging 200kw mode during qualifying, leaving him underpowered compared to the rest of the field.

Race one of the Montreal ePrix weekend will be shown live on Fox Sports 1 at 3:30 PM ET.