Change the ranking
The result of today’s qualifying could have been the sign of a major upheaval in the world championship standings on the occasion of the penultimate round of the championship, and so it was: however, the winner was not the poleman of the first of the two London E-Prix, Mitch Evans, but rather the third contender for the title. Pascal Werhleinwhich thanks to this success leaps at the top of the rankings right in front of the New Zealander of Jaguar and the now former leader of the standings Nick Cassidy, 7th after a comeback from 17th on the grid. Closing on the spot was Sébastien Buemi, lucky to recover the third position in the final part of the race following a technical failure of the Maserati of Maximilian Günther.
Race report
Starting from pole position on the street circuit of the English capital, Evans held a firm lead over Buemi and Wehrlein, who immediately battled with Nato for third place. However, the Safety Car came into play during the first lap following contact between Dennis (who was then penalised ten seconds plus another five for a successful contact) and Frijns, which also involved Bird. No changes at the restart, at least in the first three positions, with Cassidy who, in the midst of recovery, did not regularly activate the attack mode due to his mistake in the activation zone lane. It was therefore an uphill race for the New Zealander, who would later risk ending the E-Prix early due to contact with Dennis and Vandoorne. Still with regards to the title contenders, Da Costa’s hopes ended on lap 7, with the Portuguese ending up against the barriers after a shove from Rowland. The first real top-three battle occurred on lap 9, with Buemi passing Evans to take the lead.
A leadership that the Frenchman will maintain until the activation of his first attack mode on lap 16, which allows Evans to return to the top. However, already in the following lap, the New Zealander once again cedes the leadership to his rival due to the activation of his own attack mode. In all this, Pascal Wehrlein, still in 3rd place, does not activate the extra power, at least until the decisive episode of the race on lap 21. After having moved into second position following a mistake by Buemi, the German passes Evans on the finish line straight and tries to pull away from the Jaguar driver to allow him to defend the first position after the activation of the attack mode. A strategy that works perfectly, to the point that even after the second and final attack mode (his and Evans’s) he manages to maintain the first position by exiting the activation mode lane in front of everyone on lap 27. Wehrlein extends his lead in the following laps, with the New Zealander’s pace suddenly collapsing, allowing Günther, who also had an excellent strategy, to move into second place. On lap 32, however, the group regroups following a second Safety Car for the accident between Fenestraz and Nato, and just as the restart is underway, the German Maserati driver is forced to retire due to a broken gearbox. Evans thus returns to second place, as does Buemi in third, while Wehrlein wins the first of the two E-Prix this weekend in London.
The current ranking
With this win, Wehrlein now leads the overall standings with 180 points, with a lead of just 3 points over Evans. With his comeback in 7th place, Cassidy keeps his title hopes alive, although he drops from the lead to third place, with a gap of 7 points from Wehrlein. In terms of Teams, Jaguar maintains first place over Porsche, but with a gap now reduced to 36 points, while the Stuttgart-based manufacturer defends its lead of 8 points in the Constructors’ standings.
London E-Prix 1, order of arrival
POS. | PILOT | TEAM | LAPS/GAP |
1 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche | 39 laps |
2 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar TCS | +0.617 |
3 | Sebastien Buemi | Envision | +1.457 |
4 | Nyck De Vries | Mahindra | +2.290 |
5 | Edward Mortara | Mahindra | +13.897 |
6 | Nico Muller | ABT Cupra | +14.227 |
7 | Nick Cassidy | Jaguar TCS | +14.725 |
8 | Sam Bird | New McLaren | +15.209 |
9 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | +15.794 |
10 | Norman Born | Andretti Global | +16.615 |
11 | Lucas DiGrassi | ABT Cupra | +16.977 |
12 | Sergio Sette Camara | ERT Formula E Team | +17.419 |
13 | Dan Ticktum | ERT Formula E Team | +18.249 |
14 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | +18.712 |
15 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan | +21.036 |
16 | Jake Dennis | Andretti Global | +33.186 |
17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | +45.199 |
18 | Jehan Daruvala | Maserati MSG | +1 lap |
19 | Maximilian Gunther | Mahindra | Withdrawn |
20 | Jake Hughes | New McLaren | Withdrawn |
21 | Anthony Felix of the Coast | TAG Heuer Porsche | Withdrawn |
22 | Robin Frijns | Envision | Withdrawn |
So an unmissable appointment tomorrow for the sessions that will prove crucial and decisive for the assignment of the Drivers’, Constructors’ and Teams’ world titles. Just like today, the qualifying sessions of theLondon E-Prix 2 will take place at 13:20 Italian live on sportmediaset.itwhile the last race of the season will start at 6:00 PM. The latter can always be followed in this case on sportmediaset.itbut also in clear on Channel 20 and Eurosport 2.
#London #EPrix #Race #Victory #world #championship #leadership #Wehrlein