An exciting, tense finale, with three drivers competing for the title. The last event in London provided an ePrix that crowned Pascal Wehrlein Formula E world champion, thanks to a second place that was enough to beat his other rivals in the title fight, namely Mitch Evans, third today, and Nick Cassidy, forced to retire after a contact.
A goal achieved for the German, who arrived at the last race as the world championship leader, after having won the weekend’s race, the one on Saturday. A day to remember for Porsche, because in addition to the title with Wehrlein, the constructors’ title also arrived, while the one reserved for the team classification went to Jaguar.
The race was characterized above all by the three drivers who were fighting for the world championship, who, in the space of a few laps, moved right into the top three positions, overtaking Max Gunther, who started from the second spot. This opened up an extremely tense and uncertain race because, given the standings, whoever would have managed to win among them would have won the world championship.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Evans and Wehrlein managed to climb to second and third, before the Safety Car was deployed due to an accident involving Sam Bird. At that point, the Jaguar pits asked Evans to give his teammate space to activate the first of the two Attack Modes: an understandable request for the Jaguar brand, which wanted to ensure it could compete in the championship with two strikers.
Evans agreed to the request, leaving room for Cassidy to return to the lead after activating Attack Mode, but from that point on, it was every man for himself. In fact, a few laps later Cassidy also activated the second Attack Mode, returning to third place, right behind his two world championship rivals.
At that point, Evans, who in the meantime had taken the lead but still had two mandatory Attack Modes to exploit, began to slow down and keep the group compact for two reasons: on the one hand, to reduce energy consumption, given that Wehrlein behind him could count on about 2% more energy. On the other, to keep the group compact to put the two title rivals in difficulty. A tactic that, in fact, had its effects, because before the final, Nick Cassidy in the group was involved in a double contact, first with Antonio Felix Da Costa and then with Max Gunther, which put him out of the game, reducing the title challenge to a clash between Evans and Wehrlein.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
The decision to keep the group compact also had its downsides, however, because with two Attack Modes still to complete, they had to find the ideal moment not only to avoid ending up in traffic, but also to serve them before the checkered flag. Not using all six minutes of mandatory boost, in fact, would have meant taking a penalty, putting an end to their dreams of glory.
With Cassidy out of the running, the two waited a long time before activating Attack Modes, allowing Oliver Rowland to re-enter the race for the win. The turning point, however, came with the second activation, when Evans missed the mandatory Attack Mode zone and had to pass through that area a third time, climbing behind Wehrlein.
Rowland also took advantage of the opportunity, taking the lead in the Grand Prix and then going on to win the last ePrix of the world championship. A significant victory also for Nissan, which thus also overtook Stellantis in the constructors’ standings, climbing onto the podium behind Porsche and Jaguar: a great satisfaction for the Japanese brand that this year has taken a big step forward, relaunching the challenge for next season.
Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
For Evans, missing the second activation had a double consequence: on the one hand, going from second place, with the possibility of still aiming for the triumph that would have guaranteed him the title victory, to third position behind Wehrlein, on the other hand, having to slow down in the last two to serve the remaining four minutes of Attack Mode, having to say goodbye to the dreams of glory. Evans in fact finished almost three seconds behind Wehrlein, with the dream vanished right at the end.
Sebastien Buemi finished fourth, author of a great comeback with the first Envision. The Swiss precedes Da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne and an excellent Nico Mueller, who once again gives important points to ABT Cupra, thus preceding the official Mahindra team in the team standings. A satisfaction for the German team, which will start a new adventure next year with a new Powertrain, the one developed by Lola for the future Gen 3 EVO. Stoffel Vandoorne and Lucas di Grassi with the other ABT close the points zone.
#London #Wehrlein #crowned #champion #beating #Jaguar #duo