JAKARTA, Indonesia — 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” maneuver forcing Dennis to take evasive action.
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.
“It feels awesome obviously. A very good race, qualifying was much better than in previous races,” Wehrlein said. “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.”
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 four.
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-80s.
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 Six 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 Three, 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 128 points in the standings while TAG Heuer Porsche leapfrogged Envision Racing at the top of the Teams’ running with a nine point advantage on 198 points.