Formula E: Wehrlein holds off Dennis again for another Porsche 1-2 in Diriyah

Pascal Wehrlein made it 2-for-2 in the Diriyah E-Prix weekend, beating Jake Dennis once again to take the Formula E championship lead and give Porsche power another 1-2 finish.

Wehrlein took the lead before half distance from Rene Rast and never looked back.

Dennis started his at the halfway mark and made a series of decisive passes on Edoardo Mortara, Jake Hughes and Mitch Evans to once again sit in second place.

Dennis then used his first activation of attack mode of one minute to try and close Wehrlein down.

Dennis tried to hustle Wehrlein, but the race one winner had enough energy in his battery to hold him off.

The Andretti driver closed the gap down to one second, but by this stage had run into an energy deficit compared to Wehrlein and began to lose ground over the final five laps.

Energy management is more important in Formula E than driver skill once again.

It was also a day to remember for NEOM McLaren as the British team secured its first podium in Formula E with Rene Rast holding off relentless competition from Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird to finish third.

Rast’s teammate Jake Hughes also took his first ever Julius Baer Pole Position but was unable to hold on during the race and finished fifth – a respectable result for the rookie.

Wehrlein and Dennis were well clear of the chasing pack by that point and are looking like the pair to beat this season after three consecutive race wins.

But the weekend belonged to Wehrlein who was visibly ecstatic after taking the checkered flag under the Saturday night lights at the Riyadh Street Circuit.

“This weekend has been incredible, a double victory”, he said. “Our race pace was incredible again and today we had the perfect strategy, using the ATTACK modes at the right time and not having to use it again after the safety car – that was crucial. What can I say, just amazing for my team – all their hard work has finally paid off and I am so proud of them. This weekend is one I will never forget.

“I would say yesterday was a bit more exciting as I had more cars to pass, today was not easy and I would say it was even a bit more difficult. Obviously the others learned from yesterday, Sam Bird had quite a lot of energy in the end but still had to take his ATTACK mode – so that probably saved us a little bit. But you could clearly see they made steps forward today and that made it a bit more difficult.”

Wehrlein made things easier on himself ahead of Round 3, qualifying fifth rather than the ninth he managed a day prior. From there, he always looked a threat to those ahead. Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) had taken the lead from polesitter Hughes through the first corner on the opening lap, before Hughes and Rast made it by the Jaguar TCS Racing driver during ATTACK MODE.

Rast then briefly held first through that first round of 50kW boosts before Wehrlein stepped up a gear, having bided his time behind the lead trio managing his energy. Passes on Hughes then Evans just a lap apart, each down at Turn 16, put him right with race leader Rast before Wehrlein undercut the McLaren driver through ATTACK MODE and danced into a two-second lead.

Dennis and Bird were making moves of their own as Wehrlein clambered into the lead. The Andretti driver took fifth from Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) on Lap 21, with Bird following suit thanks to a trademark audacious maneuver at the final corner.

Just a lap later, pre-race standings leader Dennis sliced by Hughes for fourth and in quick succession saw off Evans and made it three on the spin by taking second from Rast.

Wehrlein had by then drawn out a lead and looked peerless. A late-race Safety Car could have thrown a spanner in the works but no such problems for the Porsche driver who stretched his legs again to win by just over a second over Dennis and become only the fifth driver to take to the top step of the podium in both races of a Formula E double-header.

Formula E returns in a fortnight for its first trip to Hyderabad, India, for Round 4 of the season on 11 February.

Quotes

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

“This weekend has been incredible, a double victory. Our race pace was incredible again and today we had the perfect strategy, using the ATTACK MODES at the right time and not having to use it again after the safety car – that was crucial. What can I say, just amazing for my team – all their hard work has finally paid off and I am so proud of them. This weekend is one I will never forget.

“I would say yesterday was a bit more exciting as I had more cars to pass. Today was not easy and I would say it was even a bit more difficult. Obviously, the others learned from yesterday, Sam Bird had quite a lot of energy in the end but still had to take his ATTACK mode – so that probably saved us a lit bit. But you could clearly see they made steps forward today and that made it a bit more difficult.”

Jake Dennis, No.27, Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team, said:

“You know you’re having a really good season when you’re a little bit disappointed with P2! We just didn’t have a great start, Pascal had a good one and we had a bad one – and then there was just so much work to do once I got past Buemi. But a great job by the boys, we had such an efficient powertrain again, once I cleared Buemi I could move forward quite quickly, but by that point Pascal was too far away to beat. He can have this one, but we are going to come out swinging in India and try and take the Championship lead off him.

“I think they [McLaren] deserve the podium, I think they had the quickest car today over one lap – it is great to see them up on the podium. The Jaguar is really fast as well – Sam [Bird] was 2% up on us – it seems like they turned their efficiency around, so don’t expect this to happen each race. We need to collect the points while we can and try build the biggest lead we can because they are definitely going to start to close the gap.”

René Rast, No.58, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, said:

“I am over the moon to be honest. The team deserved it as they put so much hard work into this and we were executing so well the whole weekend, especially from where I came from in Mexico and on Thursday when we had no pace, to now being on the podium defending against Sam who had 2% more energy. It feels like a victory, and I cannot thank the boys and girls enough at NEOM McLaren, they did an awesome job and it is a lot of fun working with them. I am very happy.

“Before the safety car I was not about to fight him [Sam Bird] because he had much more energy, and then all of a sudden the safety car changed everything and I thought we had a chance for the podium, and I started fighting him – and it worked out in the end.”

Diriyah Race 2 Results

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