Wehrlein celebrates his 100th Formula E race with victory

Wehrlein festeggia con la vittoria la sua 100esima gara in Formula E

Race 1 of the Jeddah E-Prix wasn’t the kind of thrilling race from a spectator’s perspective that Formula E has become so accustomed to over the years.

However, if you look at it from a strategic perspective, things are different, and the victory for Pascal Wehrlein and the Porsche team was deserved, thanks to both the execution of the strategy and the perfect timing in using both Pit Boost and Attack Mode, which for the first time was only six minutes, as stipulated by the new regulations.

These moves, combined with precise and accurate driving while staying out of trouble, allowed German Pascal Wehrlein to celebrate his 100th Formula E race with a victory, with an 8-second advantage, which is highly unusual in the electric single-seater category.

Edoardo Mortara started from pole position, but after just a few meters of racing and a large cloud of smoke from his rear tires, he had to scale back his victory claims.

I don’t know what happened – the Swiss driver said – but the fact is that I lost a lot of positions at the start and found myself fighting with a very aggressive group, but at the same time, I imagine it was a great show for television – Mortara said, smiling at the press conference.

No one could have summed up his race better.

Activating Attack Mode late in the race allowed him to maintain second place while maintaining his optimism. And truth be told, he’s right to be optimistic because Mahindra has improved a lot in these last few races since midway through last season… and if they continue like this, a victory is in the air.

The third step of the podium went to Mitch Evans, who started tenth, which, to be honest, wasn’t a great sign of a potential comeback.

It’s not impossible, but overtaking isn’t easy on this Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, the tenacity, skill, cunning, and perseverance of the New Zealander Jaguar driver proved him right… and so he was able to be the protagonist of the post-race press conference of the three podium finishers.

Since we’re in Olympic time, we can say that the wooden medal of fourth place went to Nico Müller in the other Porsche, collecting crucial points for the championship, which now sees the German manufacturer in first place. António Félix da Costa in the other Jaguar and Nick Cassidy in Citroën Racing crossed the finish line in fifth and sixth place. The latter was one of the last to start, but reached the top six after qualifying only 13th.

Wehrlein’s victory and fastest lap earned him 26 points, propelling the Porsche Formula E Team driver to the top of the drivers’ standings: 64 points to Cassidy’s 48.

The Porsche Formula E Team leads the FIA World Teams’ Championship with 109 points, compared to Mahindra Racing’s 59. The Stuttgart-based brand leads the manufacturers’ standings with 125 points, compared to Jaguar TC Racing’s 81.

Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, Porsche Formula E Team, said:

It was a super, nicely executed race – I waited a bit with the Pit Boost but also with the Attack Mode, and I think that was the right strategy. We went into the Attack Mode and after the Pit Boost I just tried to extend the lead so that no-one was in my slipstream anymore. We managed to do that and in the end I could manage the pace. It was a very enjoyable race and I also had good fights – some pretty tough ones, especially at the start – but we got through it. Being at the top of the Championship is not too relevant right now. Obviously, I wanted that win really badly – it’s been a while – and it’s great to bounce back like that.

Edoardo Mortara, No. 48, Mahindra Racing, said:

The incident at the start must have been nice for the cameras! I lost five places and I’ll have to see in the data what happened there, it wasn’t a nice moment with so many other cars around me banging doors. It got better after! The team has done a tremendous job, especially on the starts, since the beginning of the year. Today’s start wasn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world and we still finished P2.

Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing declared:

I’m massively happy. Pit Boost last year wasn’t really my thing, so I’ve put a massive focus into trying to make things better this year. It was all about strategy today and the pace was extremely fast from quite early on so car balance was critical. I had good energy management throughout that first phase of the race which allowed me to attack quite hard after the pit stop and pull off some good moves. Racing against drivers like Jake [Dennis], you can put some faith in him but it was tight – he was closer than I thought! It was really well-executed, with great comms in the race and a bit of management towards the end with some temperatures, but overall I’m very happy to get a Third after my win last time out. We’re in good shape for tomorrow and we’ll try to build from here.

At the following links, you can read and/or download the Race1 Official Final Classification, the Drivers’ Championship standings, the Teams’ Championship standings, and finally the Constructors’ Championship standings after four races. (PDF)

#MarceloPadin – #theEMNteam

Photo Credits: BMF – Mitsuaki Futori