Factory Porsche Racing endured a chaotic Formula E weekend in Jeddah, with a lackluster second race following a dominant victory on Friday.
Porsche was the team to beat at the opening round of the Jeddah E-Prix, with Pascal Wehrlein converting pole position into victory by 2.6 seconds, with teammate Nico Muller also taking a generous points finish in fourth. Wehrlein’s pace in his only six-minute attack mode was particularly impressive, as the German built an advantage of more than seven seconds with an additional 50kW of power.
advertise
The result means Porsche goes into the final day of the race weekend with an even bigger lead in both the constructors’ and manufacturers’ championships, with Wehrlein at the top of the drivers’ championship.
However, Saturday was no different for Weissach. Wehrlein and Muller were both eliminated in the qualifying group stage, ranking 11th and 16th respectively. Wehrlein made little progress during the race and eventually moved up to eighth, while Müller ended the points in 16th.
Interestingly, Porsche customer Cupra Kiro had a strong day with the previous generation powertrain, with Dan Ticktum leading his rookie teammate Pepe Marti to fifth and sixth places, both ahead of Wehrlein’s factory car. Andretti’s Jake Dennis was also on track for a strong result in his customer Porsche after front-row qualifying, but a puncture mid-race ended his day prematurely.
advertise
After the race, championship leader Wehrlein explained that a slight loss of grip caused him to crash out early in qualifying, while strategic errors during the race compounded his woes.
Asked what had changed at Porsche since Friday, the 2023-24 champion told Motorsport.com: “Nothing, really.
“I thought the car felt a little bit less grippy in qualifying. The other cars were a little faster and I think in the race we were a little too late at the ‘go’ moment.
advertise
“Then, from there it was difficult to overtake. We were going well from P11 to P6 in the first few laps. We ended up going into the wrong attack mode cycle and at the end, I couldn’t use my energy anymore.
“Very simple. We didn’t optimize today and that’s what it is. Still, it was a very positive weekend. A win on Friday, a good point on Saturday. Leading the race [drivers’] championship and extended two other championships [teams’ and manufacturers’]. There is much to be happy about. “
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche Formula E Team
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche Formula E Team
Asked if the efficiency of the powertrain had changed compared to Friday, Wehrlein clarified that Porsche had not made any changes to the car overnight: “Very good, very efficient as always. We didn’t change the powertrain or anything.”
advertise
Mueller’s risky strategy fails to pay off
Porsche and Muller chose a “riskier strategy” together, with Muller conserving his energy in the hope of dispatching the safety car in time. But without a warning period, the plan backfired, knocking him out of the top ten.
“We didn’t really make all the right choices in qualifying, the performance wasn’t good and the car didn’t feel as good as the day before,” the Swiss concluded.
“During the race we tried to store some energy to use later but that didn’t work out. The race got faster and we couldn’t benefit from that advantage and I had some damage to the car which slowed us down.
advertise
“It’s frustrating not to score today, but it makes us even more eager to be stronger in Madrid.”
Also read:
Dan Ticktum, Pepe Marti address ‘out of bounds’ conflict; Marti apologizes for radio slur
Formula E Jeddah: Antonio Felix da Costa ends Porsche’s struggling win drought
To read more Motorsport.com articles, please visit our website.
