Saturday review:
VICTORY FOR WEHRLEIN IN LONDON SETS UP THREE-WAY WINNER-TAKES-ALL SHOWDOWN
A new champion will be crowned in the British capital on Sunday, following a dramatic day of action in and around the ExCeL exhibition centre.
Pascal Wehrlein has grabbed the initiative in the chase for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Season 10 crown, with a superb third triumph of the campaign for TAG Heuer Porsche in London today (20 July) setting the scene for a tantalising final day showdown in the British capital.
Wehrlein travelled to the ExCeL Circuit 12 points shy of the summit of the standings in the all-electric single-seater series, but a virtuoso performance has vaulted him to the top of the table for the first time since Monaco almost three months ago.
The German began the first of the weekend’s two London E-Prixs from third on the grid and initially conceded a place to Andretti Formula E’s Norman Nato, but he remained firmly in the front-running pack throughout. While pole-sitter Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and Envision Racing’s Sébastien Buemi spiritedly disputed the lead over the opening half of the race, Wehrlein sagely kept his powder dry – and his energy levels well topped-up.
By mid-distance, he was into second and beginning to hassle Evans for the top spot, which he snatched with a decisive dive down the inside of his title rival into Turn One not long after. A new fastest lap immediately followed, as he exploited his extra energy and efficient Porsche powertrain in an effort to build up a gap. On both occasions that he jinked off the racing line to take Attack Mode, he narrowly retained the lead – and then swiftly bolted.
Wehrlein even had the composure to deftly handle a brace of late interruptions in the form of a safety car period and Full Course Yellow, and once he had the advantage, the 29-year-old never looked like conceding it again. His bold strategy was rewarded with a seventh career victory in Formula E – and a fourth win for Porsche in as many races.
Evans secured the runner-up spoils – and a potentially pivotal extra point for fastest lap by dint of digging deep on the penultimate tour – with the New Zealander benefitting from a late retirement for Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Günther, who had scythed his way past at the Custom House chicane prior to pulling off a few laps later.
The German’s misfortune following a brilliant drive from down in 11th on the grid also elevated Buemi, who – after his early-race heroics, moving into the lead on lap nine – was ultimately unable to keep pace with Wehrlein and Evans. The Swiss star did, however, do enough to seal third position and a first visit to the rostrum since the season curtain-raiser in Diriyah.
Fellow former title-winner Nyck de Vries similarly rolled back the years with a vintage performance for Mahindra Racing to climb from 14th to fourth as the Dutchman celebrated his finest finish since returning to the series. Team-mate Edoardo Mortara followed him home in fifth – albeit more than ten seconds behind – on a stellar day for the Indian outfit.
Nico Müller overcame an opening lap puncture that necessitated an unscheduled pit-stop to wind up sixth in his penultimate appearance for ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, just ahead of Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy, who arrived in London leading the championship but has now slipped to seven points adrift of Wehrlein.
The New Zealander endured a difficult day, qualifying a lowly 17th – his second-worst of the campaign – and then finding himself on the receiving end of contact on multiple occasions during the E-Prix, as well as missing Attack Mode twice. For so long the hunted this year, Cassidy will henceforth be the hunter going into the last day of the season.
NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s Sam Bird, DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Nato completed the points-scorers, with both Bird and Nato in the wars and in the barriers along the way. Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) and outgoing champion Jake Dennis (Andretti) took the chequered flag inside the top ten, but dropped down the overall classification once time penalties for causing collisions were applied.
With Dennis, countryman Oliver Rowland (Nissan), António Félix da Costa (Porsche) and Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) falling out of mathematical contention, the battle for glory will be fought out on Sunday (21 July) between Wehrlein, Evans and Cassidy – all of whom are chasing their first Formula E crown. The race will get underway at 17:03 local time (18:03 CEST).
Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, TAG Heuer Porsche, said:
"Jaguar was a bit quicker than us in qualifying but that didn’t stop us from feeling confident. We delivered a good performance and perfect strategy, even with the safety cars at the end making it more difficult. Today has been a great day, but it’s only 50%. We'll celebrate for a few minutes and then focus will quickly be on tomorrow!"
Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing, said:
"Unfortunately we approached the race wrong and that cost us the victory, but I left it all out there. It's disappointing as we had the pace to win and just executed it poorly - full credit to Porsche and Wehrlein though. We'll be looking to change this for tomorrow."
Sébastian Buemi, No. 16, Envision Racing, said:
"We did well in qualification, so had a good start to the race and I'm pleased that we could turn this into a podium finish. I promised my little one that I'd take him on the podium if I got there, so it was great to be able to do that. We'll be looking to do our best again tomorrow."
