FE | Misano 2: Wehrlein triumphs by taking advantage of Rowland's retirement

If Saturday's race was characterized by efficiency, with continuous exchanges of positions and a compact group that had opened up only three laps from the checkered flag, today's race was less extreme in terms of changes in the lead, but it provided surprises until the last second.

For better or for worse, this was a Porsche-branded weekend: after yesterday's victory, which was then snatched due to a technical infringement linked to the spring that manages the accelerator pedal, today the German brand responded. However, if on Saturday it was Antonio Felix da Costa who prevailed, today it was Pascal Wehrlein who achieved success, sending an important signal also in terms of the championship after the scoreline of the first race following a contact.

The German drove an intelligent race, remaining in the leading group for the entire first part of the race, the most eventful with various exchanges of positions and several accidents which forced several drivers either to return to the pits or to stop on the side of the track with damage to the front wing or suspension. If yesterday the break came with three laps to go, today the group began to open up about ten laps before the checkered flag, with Oliver Rowland and Pascal Wehrlein himself starting to get ahead of the pursuers.

Despite having 2% less energy than the German, the Nissan driver continued to push and regained the lead with around five laps to go. Given the difference in residual energy, it was clear that Rowland would have some difficulty in containing Wehrlein at the end and, in fact, his hopes were extinguished with one lap to go, when he was forced to stop his car on the side of the track as he was now left without energy.

Clearly there was great disappointment from the Nissan garage who, speaking immediately after the race, declared that they still did not have a clear idea of ​​the reason why the Briton ran out of gas. The suspicion is that there was some error in the management or preparation of the software after the review of the shortened distance for today's race, but more in-depth analyzes will be carried out once the car returns to the pits to download the telemetry and data accumulated. This marks the end of the positive streak of four consecutive podium races for Rowland and Nissan.

It was Wehrlein who took advantage of this and, with a higher percentage of energy, only had to bring his Porsche to first position under the checkered flag at the end of a race managed with great intelligence, despite the duel with Rowland. The German preceded one of his great rivals for the title, Jake Dennis, by about two seconds, who recovered from ninth to second position.

Nico Muller, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, M9Electro, Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04, Jake Hughes , McLaren, e-4ORCE 04, the rest of the field

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Also on the podium was Nick Cassidy, who beat Nico Mueller in the sprint by just 50 thousandths. The podium is therefore made up of three of the big favorites for the championship, ahead of the Swiss ABT Cupra, which remained in the top 3 for a long time, even taking the lead of the race at certain moments: for the German team this is still an excellent result, also from a team ranking perspective, in which he managed to manage energy in critical moments despite the Mahindra Powertrain being behind in terms of efficiency.

Fifth position for the poleman of the day, Jake Hughes, who preceded the Nissan of Sacha Fenestraz, demonstrating the competitiveness of the Japanese package beyond Rowland's retirement, clearly linked to incorrect energy management. Another seventh place for Sergio Sette Camara, as yesterday: the hope is that, however, unlike Saturday's race, this time the Brazilian can maintain his position, given that yesterday he was disqualified for having used superior power to what is permitted.

Closing out the top ten are Jean-Eric Vergne with the first DS, Max Gunther and Jehan Daruvala, thus bringing two Maseratis into the points. Sam Bird and Lucas di Grassi outside the top ten, ahead of Edoardo Mortara's Mahindra, Dan Ticktum's ERT and De Vries' other Indian car.

Unluckiest day for Nato, Da Costa, Evans, Vandoorne and Buemi, all involved in some contacts which forced them to return to the pits to replace the winger, thus having a significant gap from their opponents or to stop directly on the track like the New Zealander from Jaguar.