Wehrlein holds off Evans to secure Formula E victory in London

Pascal Wehrlein powered to victory in the Formula E London race at the ExCel Circuit.

Polesitter Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) was quickest off the line at the ExCel Circuit in London, but there was drama on the opening lap as Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) hit a wall and prompted a safety car.

Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) was in the hunt from the off, but Wehrlein (Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) seized control mid-way through the race and the Porsche driver overtook the polesitter for the lead.

A late safety car spiced things up, but Wehrlein held on for the win from Evans to secure the championship lead as Nick Cassidy’s (Jaguar TCS Racing) nightmare weekend continued.

London ePrix winner and the new championship leader Wehrlein said: “It’s been a great day so far. The Jaguars were a bit quicker than us in qualifying but that didn’t disturb us in feeling confident for the race.

“We delivered a good performance here and did a perfect strategy, it seemed like the race tried to make it more difficult in the end as I was leading the race.

“But never mind, today has been great and today is only 50% so tomorrow is another important day and we are happy now for a couple of minutes then we can focus on tomorrow.”

After starting from pole position, Evans nearly tasted victory but lost to his nearest championship rival after struggling with energy throughout the race.

Evans said: “We approached the race wrong and that was it, so credits to Porsche and Wehrlein but yeah I’m disappointed because we got the pace to win but we just executed it poorly.

“We look to tomorrow, the pace is there but the execution was a bit off.”

The race got off to the perfect start for the Jaguar polesitter Evans, he had the championship lead in sight as his team-mate began the race in 17th place.

Launching his Jaguar off the line, Evans led the pack on the opening lap before chaos ensued behind as Frijns planted his Envision into the wall.

A first-lap safety car shook up the race, putting Evans under pressure from the two Porsche drivers looking to snatch crucial points for the championship fight.

It all seemed to be going smoothly for Evans until two separate incidents on Lap 7 brought out yellow flags as Antonio Felix da Costa (Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) was caught in a race-ending crash.

After ending his four-race winning streak, just one Porsche was left in contention for the title and he definitely seized it.

Initially, Wehrlein lost two places off the line to Buemi and Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E), but quickly proved his dominance.

Evans’ good luck charm slowly faded as Buemi snatched the lead on Lap 10, putting him under pressure from the hungry Porsche climbing back up to third place.

Momentarily regaining the lead, Evans got a whiff of victory but the dream was stolen by Wehrlein who pulled off a glorious Turn 1 overtake on the Jaguar driver.

From that moment, the race belonged to Wehrlein. Clocking in the fastest lap of the race, the Porsche driver carefully utilised attack mode to stay ahead of the pack.

Another safety car was called to clear debris on track towards the closing stages of the race, as the London ePrix I received two additional laps for the early safety car.

Wehrlein managed to survive the safety car, pulling away from Evans in second as the Jaguar driver began to struggle with less energy.

Chaos unfolded yet again when a full yellow was called as both Maserati drivers found themselves in sticky situations; Maximilian Gunther was running in second place but lost power and parked himself on the exit of Turn 14, while Jehan Daruvala suffered a massive shunt and was planted into the wall.

Unsurprisingly, Wehrlein prevailed and dominated the rest of the ePrix to secure victory in London and jump to the top of the drivers’ standings.

DRIVER OF THE DAY: PASCAL WEHRLEIN

After one Porsche driver suffered a race to forget, the other found himself leading the championship.

Wehrlein came to the London ePrix on equal points with Mitch Evans hoping to snag the lead, and he did so in glorious fashion.

Snatching the race lead from the Jaguar on pole, Wehrlein survived multiple safety cars and yellow flags and came out tasting victory.

Pulling off a well-deserved overtake on Evans to take the lead, Wehrlein dominated the race and finishes three points above Evans in the drivers standings.

WHERE THE RACE WAS WON AND LOST

1/37 FIRST LAP SAFETY CAR CHAOS – Mitch Evans launches his Jaguar off the line while Sebastien Buemi and Norman Nato jump Pascal Wehrlein on the start but a first-lap incident with Robin Frijns neutralised the race with a safety car.

5/37 AWAY WE GO (AGAIN) – Evans retained his clean lead heading into Turn 2 but two separate incidents on Lap 7 have brought out another yellow flag as Da Costa and Rowland made contact coming out of Turn 1, costing the Porsche driver the chance to fight for the championship.

24/37 WEHRLEIN JUMPS EVANS FOR LONDON EPRIX LEAD – In a glorious overtake around the inside of Turn 1 for the lead, Pascal Wehrlein jumped his championship rival Mitch Evans using his attack mode.

33/37 SAFETY CAR OUT AGAIN – The field is bunched up yet again as another safety car brings drama to the London ePrix to clear up debris on track, after Wehrlein built a strong gap to Evans who lost his second place to Maximilian Gunther.

36/37 FULL YELLOWS AS MASERATIS SUFFER – Both Maserati drivers find themselves at the back of the pack as Maximilian Gunther lost his second slot on the podium after losing power, handing the place back to Evans on the hunt for the win.

39/39 WEHRLEIN NAILS ANOTHER RESTART AND WINS IN LONDON – Pascal Wehrlein nailed another restart as racing ensued again on Lap 37 with two extra laps of dominance to jump to the top of the standings.

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