Pascal Wehrlein was quickest in the final practice session of the Berlin E-Prix, as the second race day of the doubleheader at Tempelhof Airport got underway. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver’s best time of 1m 1.922 was 0.043s quicker than Saturday race …
Pascal Wehrlein was quickest in the final practice session of the Berlin E-Prix, as the second race day of the doubleheader at Tempelhof Airport got underway.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver’s best time of 1m 1.922 was 0.043s quicker than Saturday race winner Nick Cassidy with DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne third, 0.133s back.
Maserati MSG’s Jehan Daruvala and Maximilian GUenther completed the top five, ahead of Cassidy’s Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Mitch Evans, Andretti’s Jake Dennis, Jean-Eric Vergne in the second DS Penske entry, Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, and Dan Ticktum of ERT.
Envision Racing rookie Paul Aron was 11th quickest, ahead of Saturday polesitter Edoardo Mortara and Lucas di Grassi, with Jordan King and Kelvin van der Linde 14th and 15 respectively.
The Nissan dio of Sacha Fenestraz and Oliver Rowland were next, with NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard 18th, the highest-placed driver to set his best time not using the full compliment of 350 kW.
Joel Eriksson, Jake Hughes, Norman Nato and Sergio Sette Camara completed the field.
Pascal Wehrlein secured his second consecutive Formula pole, and third of the season, by defeating Stoffel Vandoorne on the streets of Monaco. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver’s best time of 1m29.861s was 0.433s quicker than the DS Penske man, with both …
Pascal Wehrlein secured his second consecutive Formula pole, and third of the season, by defeating Stoffel Vandoorne on the streets of Monaco.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver’s best time of 1m29.861s was 0.433s quicker than the DS Penske man, with both making it through to the Duels final after defeating both Jaguar TCS Racing drivers in the semifinals.
Wehrlein defeated Mitch Evans, who’d topped both practice sessions earlier in the morning, but an error at the Nouvelle Chicane cost him. Vandoorne recovered from a mistake at the start of his lap to overhaul Nick Cassidy who lost time at the swimming pool section towards the end of the lap.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]
Ahead of the Jaguar Duels, Wehrlein beat Maximillian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) while Vergne knocked out his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. Evans and Cassidy defeated Antonio Felix da Costa (Porsche) and Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) in their respective opening Duels.
Wehrlein’s route to pole began by finishing second to Evans in the first part of group qualifying, ahead of Guenther and da Costa, with Robin Frijns (Rnvision), Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), Nico Mueller (Abt Cupra), Nyck de Vries (Mahindra), Oliver Rowland (Nissan), Lucas di Grassi (Abt Cupra) and Norman Nato (Andretti) all failing to advance.
Vandoorne, meanwhile, topped his group, ahead of Cassidy, Buemi, and Vergne, with Jehan Daruvala (Maserati), Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra), Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan), and the British quartet of Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren), Jake Dennis (Andretti), Dan Ticktum (ERT), and Taylor Barnard (McLaren) all failing to advance.
Behind the front row of Wehrlein and Vandoorne, it will be Cassidy in third and Evans fourth on the grid, with champions Vergne, Buemi, and da Costa behind in fifth, sixth, and seventh. Guenther will start eighth, with Frijns and Daruvala completing the top-10 grid positions.
Sette Camara will line up 11th, ahead of Mortara, de Vries, Fenestraz, Rowland, and Hughes, with de Grassi, Dennis, Nato, Ticktum, Mueller, and Barnard completing the grid.
Mueller initially qualified 13th, but was dropped to the penultimate position due to a discrepancy with the torque being applied by his car’s rear wheels.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein dominated the Formula E season opener in Mexico City, leading home Sebastien Buemi, with the victory being investigated for an unspecified technical infringement until officials later cleared Wehrlein’s car after the …
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein dominated the Formula E season opener in Mexico City, leading home Sebastien Buemi, with the victory being investigated for an unspecified technical infringement until officials later cleared Wehrlein’s car after the post-race inspection.
The Porsche driver started from pole, making a clean getaway. Buemi, who started besides Wehrlein on the front row, had to fend off Maximilian Guenther’s play for second going into Turn 1.
The first change for the lead came on lap three when Wehrlein took the wider Attack Mode line, ceding position to Buemi who did the same on the following lap, but maintained the lead.
Five laps later, the race’s only safety car period came, as Buemi’s Envision Racing teammate Robin Frijns lost control on the exit of Turn 16, coming out of the Foro Sol stadium section, then smacking the Turn 17 wall. When the race resumed three laps later, Buemi took his remaining Attack Mode time, ceding the race lead once again to Wehrlein who was untroubled for the rest of the race, eventually crossing the line 1.164s ahead of Buemi.
While it was a dominant win, being able to control the race from pole position provided the German with the most satisfaction.
“It was a pretty good day with pole position and the race win,” said Wehrlein. “I think our focus in the off season was especially on qualifying. That was one of our weaknesses in the last half of the season last year and I hope we did a good step forward. Let’s see if it’s just a Mexican topic or if we can confirm that in the next couple of events.
“Nevertheless, really happy about the pole position — probably as happy about the race win to be honest. The race was not an easy one. It probably looked easier than it was because I was leading almost the whole race and couldn’t save a lot of energy, just always a little bit to increase my targets.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]
“I saw Seb doing one mistake behind me which then opened up a gap and put him out of the slipstream and from there the race was a bit easier.”
Nick Cassidy took third in his first race for Jaguar TCS Racing, being the only driver in the top five to gain a spot in the race, having started fourth after a one-place grid penalty. He also set the fastest lap, being the only driver to break into the 1m14s during the race.
“I think it’s really hard at this circuit to stay close,” said Cassidy. “The tires get very very hot. It’s very difficult to overtake and we were stuck. I think the grid position penalty probably really hurt me, but I can’t complain. It’s a nice start for us as a team.”
After his early flirtation with the podium positions, Guenther eventually finished fourth ahead of Mitch Evans who slipped back from the frontrunners but resisted a push from Jean-Eric Vergne in the latter stages of the race.
NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes split the two DS Pesnkes, taking seventh ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, while Jake Dennis recovered from a dismal qualifying to finish ninth ahead of his Andretti Global teammate Norman Nato – although, as with Wehrlein, both Andretti cars’ results are dependent on a post-race investigation.
While Frijn’s shunt brought out the only safety car, it wasn’t the only incident in what was a rather tame race by Formula E’s standards. Abt Cupra’s Lucas di Grassi retired on the first lap after going off on the way into the stadium section, while Antonio Felix da Costa’s race ended two laps later as a result of suspension damage from contact with Nico Mueller, who was eventually the last finisher on the lead lap, beating only Dan Ticktum who finished off the pace and a lap down.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein will start the Mexico E-Prix from pole position after beating Sebastien Buemi in the final duel of qualifying for the opening round of the 2024 ABB Formula E World Championship. After two open qualifying sessions, the field …
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein will start the Mexico E-Prix from pole position after beating Sebastien Buemi in the final duel of qualifying for the opening round of the 2024 ABB Formula E World Championship.
After two open qualifying sessions, the field being split in two for each one, the pair made it through the head-to-head duels where the fastest four drivers from each respective qualifying group compete over a single lap to set the fastest lap time.
Wehrlein’s time in the final of 1m13.298s was 0.251s quicker than Buemi, who bettered the German’s sector three time, although the late charge was not enough for the Envision Racing driver to overhaul the deficit from the first two sectors.
The pole is Wehrlein’s fourth in Formula E, and his third in the Gen3 car, while second on the grid represents a best qualifying result for Buemi in Mexico City, whose previous best qualifying result at the track was third.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy qualified third after he was beaten by Wehrlein in the semi final duels, with teammate Mitch Evans — who set the day’s best time of 1m13.103s in his quarter final duel with Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther — classified fourth after his defeat to Buemi. Both, however, will drop back a place after being hit with penalties for red flag infringements in FP1. That elevates Guenther and NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes to the second row of the grid, both having fallen to Evans and Buemi respectively in the quarter finals.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]
Robin Frijns was classified eighth after losing out to Wehrlein following a mistake going into Turn 1. He’s another driver that will move up a position, with seventh-placed qualifier Stoffel Vandoorne also dropping a place for a Friday red flag infringement. Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) rounded out the top 10 after just missing out on spots in the duels.
Another to miss out was the reigning champion Jake Dennis, who was eliminated at the group stage. While he was an early pacesetter in the second group, traffic prevented Dennis from nailing a competitive time towards the end of the session and after a mistake going into the Turn 5 hairpin, he aborted his final attempt.
His Andretti Global teammate Norman Nato was eliminated, too. Firstly by Wehrlein ousting him from the top four on time, but then by having his best lap time deleted for going over the power limit. Nato will start 13th, with Dennis one spot behind.
One more big-name casualty was Abt Cupra’s Lucas di Grassi, who clipped an outside wall at Turn 9, damaging his left-rear suspension. He will start the race down in 19th.
Britain’s Jake Dennis is on the brink of claiming his first world championship title as the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team driver goes into the final two races of the electric racing series’ season in front of home fans on a track where he has …
Britain’s Jake Dennis is on the brink of claiming his first world championship title as the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team driver goes into the final two races of the electric racing series’ season in front of home fans on a track where he has won twice before.
A repeat of his victory last time out on the streets of Rome would be enough to seal a first ABB Formula E world championship title for Dennis in the opening race of the Hankook London E-Prix doubleheader on Saturday. But as this season has proved time and again, anything can happen in Formula E races.
Races 15 and 16 will settle what has been arguably the most competitive and entertaining season in Formula E history. The introduction of the series’ third generation race car this year has led to a number of Formula E records falling including the fastest lap and the most overtakes, lead changes and different leaders in a race.
There have been seven different winners representing six different teams, with only TAG Heuer Porsche able count both their drivers as winners. Eleven drivers have made it to the podium and 19 drivers have led a lap.
Dennis is one of four drivers who quickly got to grips with their new EV technology and battled for supremacy all season long as the championship returned to established circuits in Berlin, Mexico City, Diriyah, Jakarta, Monaco and Rome, while debuting in no less than four cities — Hyderabad, Cape Town, São Paulo and Portland.
He has 50% more Duels appearances than any other driver in qualifying and last time out in Rome, he became the only driver to have won lights to flag in the GEN3 era. Couple those records with the joint-largest standings lead this season, tied with TAG Heuer Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein’s post-Brazil advantage at 24 points, and a podium tally of nine, two more than next best Nick Cassidy, and Dennis is sitting pretty.
The action has been wilder than ever in Formula E with the Gen3 cars. Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images
Wehrlein set the early pace after finishing second to Dennis in the GEN3 debut in Mexico City followed by a doubleheader sweep in Diriyah. Wehrlein wouldn’t return to the podium until winning Round 10 in Jakarta but consistent points in the intervening races kept him in in touch at the top.
Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy took control in midseason, claiming five podiums in six races from Rounds 4 to 9 including back-to-back wins in Berlin and Monaco to emerge as a strong championship contender.
Meanwhile, Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing entered the title picture in Round 6 in Brazil after a frustrating start to the GEN3 era for the Kiwi kept him off the podium. But Evans followed success in São Paulo with a win in the Berlin opening race to force his way into the title conversation. From midseason it was Cassidy, Dennis and Wehrlein edging the lead in the championship, often separated by just a single point, with Evans staying in close contention.
That all changed in the final stop on Formula E’s 10-city world tour before the London finale. On the sweltering streets of Rome and what is regarded as the most challenging circuit in the series, the biggest crash in Formula E history in Saturday’s race was the main talking point. But Evans secured avoided the carnage to take the win, while second for Cassidy put him a point beyond Dennis who could only finish fourth.
In the second race in Rome, Cassidy and Evans were in close formation hunting down Dennis for the race lead in the closing stages, when sharp braking caused Evans to lose control of the back of his car, clipping Dennis ahead of him, before going fully airborne and hitting the top of Cassidy’s car. Evans had to retire while Cassidy limped to P14, both losing critical points.
The dramatic incidents in Rome highlighted the uniquely intense, high-risk nature of wall-to-wall street racing in Formula E with no margin of error.
The impact on the drivers’ world championship was equally significant as Dennis delivered the most dominant performance of the season, claiming a Formula E grand slam – pole position, fastest lap and the race win — while leading the entire race from lights to checkered flag.
The result propelled Dennis to the top of the leader board with a 24-point advantage over Cassidy in second. Evans is 44 points back in third while Wehrlein still has a mathematical chance of the top spot at 49 points behind Dennis, with 25 points available for each race win, and 18 points for second (plus three points for pole position and one for the fastest lap).
The teams’ championship is also wide open and likely to go to the final race. Envision Racing leads the table by 14 points over TAG Heuer Porsche, while Jaguar TCS Racing is third with 228 points.
Formula E returns to East London’s historic docklands and the ExCeL events arena in the London Borough of Newham. The 2.09km/1.3-mile, 20-turn track starts off indoors on a silky-smooth surface offering plenty of grip, and after a quick succession of corners the track heads outside. Immediately on exit the Formula E cars will touch a strip of slippery metal, before heading down into the outdoor portion with the highly abrasive asphalt surrounding the exhibition center.
The outside features a flowing set of chicanes prime for passing opportunities. From there it’s a quick run down to a twisty set of curves before heading back up and inside the main hall to finish a lap. With changes in surface, elevation and dealing with the shift in lighting, the field face a unique challenge with this indoor and outdoor circuit.
Saturday’s race will air on CBS, while Sunday’s season finale will be available on CBS Sports Network. Free Practice Sessions and Quali will be live on CBSSports.com as well as the CBS Sports App.
A cool and collected drive by Pascal Wehrlein delivered a win in the soaring heat of race one in the Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix double-header, propelling his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team back to the top of the Teams’ championship. Wehrlein led home …
A cool and collected drive by Pascal Wehrlein delivered a win in the soaring heat of race one in the Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix double-header, propelling his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team back to the top of the Teams’ championship.
Wehrlein led home Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team), who reacted strongly after the race claiming the Porsche driver made a “ridiculous” manoeuvre forcing Dennis to take evasive action.
“It feels awesome obviously. A very good race, qualifying was much better than in previous races,” said Wehrlein. “Thanks a lot to the team, the car was awesome today, I was leading almost the whole race. It was not so easy on energy for me, I knew that the guys behind had a little bit more, and also driving in the slipstream helps. But I think we defended well and happy to be back on top. The team definitely deserves it and now we are looking forward to tomorrow.
“The last couple of races we were not where we wanted to be, hadn’t scored the points we wanted and qualifying was an issue for us. Today with P3 we qualified in the best position so far this season. A big turnaround for us in the last couple of weeks, and like I said thanks a lot to the team for all their hard work. Still a long way to go.”
Maserati MSG Racing driver Maximilian Günther stayed in the leading pack throughout the race, finishing third. He started in Julius Bär Pole Position, the first Maserati pole in single-seater motorsport since 1958.
In the first race of the double-header in Jakarta, Wehrlein started third and traded places for the lead with polesitter Maximilian Günther over the opening third of the E-Prix, having first made his way by his compatriot on Lap 4.
From Lap 12 and the second Attack Mode activation, Wehrlein was able to manage things comfortably in the most trying conditions on a hot and humid afternoon where temperatures reached the mid-30s Celsius.
Dennis started second and finished second, with not quite enough in his Avalanche Andretti to overpower Wehrlein’s factory Porsche 99X Electric. His push for the front was compromised by a late-race push from Günther, who pressured the Brit for second, allowing Wehrlein some breathing room.
Ultimately, Günther could not find a way through. The DS PENSKE teammates Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne came home fourth and fifth respectively with Günther’s Maserati MSG Racing teammate Edoardo Mortara sixth.
Standings leader Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) tried his best to outdo defensive maestro Vergne mid-way through the race. He had a lucky escape as he made a move from a long way back on an unsighted Vergne on Lap 20, narrowly avoiding damage to both front corners of his car, finishing seventh.
Season 6 champion António Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) finished eighth, some 15 seconds behind Cassidy. Robin Frijns doubled-down on an impressive qualifying performance by securing ABT CUPRA Formula E Team’s first points of the season with a ninth place finish.
Jake Hughes rounded out the top 10 for NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, earning him the ABB Driver of Progress Award for making up the most places in the race after starting back in 20th on the grid.
However, it was another frustrating outing for Jaguar TCS Racing as their cars came to blows again, as they did in Hyderabad, with Sam Bird sending Mitch Evans spinning out of eighth position and crucial points late on in the race.
Two victories and a second place on the first three races of Season 9 put Wehrlein to the top of the Drivers’ championship. However, since his last win in Round 3, Wehrlein failed to make the podium until today while Cassidy hit form and took the lead in the standings with his win in Monaco, the race before Jakarta.
Todays’ win means Wehrlein is just two points behind Cassidy who is on 128pts in the standings while TAG Heuer Porsche leapfrogged Envision Racing at the top of the Teams’ running with a nine point advantage on 198pts.
