Diriyah E-Prix: Wehrlein takes double victory; no points for Mahindra

Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein won both Diriyah E-Prix races to take the overall 2023 Formula E championship lead. Porsche-powered cars dominated proceedings, with customer team Andretti’s Jake Dennis finishing second in both races as well.

• Wehrlein takes championship lead
• Dennis P2 in both races
• Rast hands McLaren their first Formula E podium

Porsche dominance

Porsche enjoyed a stellar start to Formula E’s Gen3 era in Mexico, with Andretti’s Jake Dennis winning ahead of factory driver Wehrlein. However, Mexico has always been a strong venue for the manufacturer. The two Diriyah races have clearly cemented Porsche’s position as a frontrunner, though.

After starting from ninth on the grid, Wehrlein picked his way through the field and was already up to second place by Lap 24/39. He made the move for the lead on Lap 30, passing Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird.

Bird did, however, make it to the podium in third place – his first podium appearance since his 2021 New York E-Prix victory. Dennis had his own charge from 11th on the grid. After overtaking Bird, he took the fight to the very line, but couldn’t find a way past Wehrlein.

McLaren’s first Formula E podium

Wehrlein enjoyed a better qualifying for the second race and started from fifth on the grid, while McLaren’s Jake Hughes was on pole. However, the race ended up being another Wehrlein vs Dennis battle with a late Safety Car appearance bunching up the field once again.

But Wehrlein was able to fend off the competition to take his second win in as many days. Bird looked set to take third place again, but lost the spot and couldn’t gain it back after using his Attack Mode. The Jaguar driver got his braking wrong while attempting to pass McLaren’s Rene Rast.

Despite closing up the gap, Bird had to settle for fourth. A third place for Rast sees McLaren secure their first-ever Formula E podium, in only their third race in the championship.

No points for Mahindra Racing

It was a disappointing two races for Indian squad Mahindra Racing. After a chaotic start to the first race, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Rowland could only manage finishing 13th and 19th, respectively.

Rowland had to retire from the second race after picking up a puncture, while Di Grassi finished 15th.

2023 Formula E standings

Wehrlein leads the standings by six points over Dennis. Buemi is third overall, but he’s already 31 points behind Dennis.

Next up on the calendar is the Hyderabad E-Prix, with Formula E visiting India for the very first time.

2023 Diriyah E-Prix results

Round 2
Pos	Driver	Team
1	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche
2	Jake Dennis	Andretti
3	Sam Bird	Jaguar TCS
4	Sebastien Buemi	Envision Racing
5	Rene Rast	McLaren
6	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing
7	Jean-Eric Vergne	DS Penske
8	Jake Hughes	McLaren
9	Andre Lotterer	Andretti
10	Mitch Evans	Jaguar TCS
11	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske
12	Norman Nato	Nissan
13	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra Racing
14	Dan Ticktum	Nio 333
15	Sergio Sette Camara	Nio 333
16	Kelvin van der Linde	Abt Cupra
17	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan
18	Antonio Felix da Costa	Porsche
19	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing
NC	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati
NC	Max Guenther	Maserati
NC	Nico Mueller	Abt Cupra

Round 3
Pos	Driver	Team
1	Pascal Werhelin	Porsche
2	Jake Dennis	Andretti
3	Rene Rast	McLaren
4	Sam Bird	Jaguar TCS
5	Jake Hughes	McLaren
6	Sebastien Buemi	Envision Racing
7	Mitch Evans	Jaguar TCS
8	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan
9	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati
10	Dan Ticktum	Nio 333
11	Antonio Felix da Costa	Porsche
12	Andre Lotterer	Andretti
13	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing
14	Norman Nato	Nissan
15	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra Racing
16	Jean-Eric Vergne	DS Penske
17	Sergio Sette Camara	Nio 333
18	Kelvin van der Linde	Abt Cupra
19	Max Guenther	Maserati
20	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske
NC	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing
NC	Nico Mueller	Abt Cupra

Also see:

Andretti’s Dennis wins Mexico City E-Prix; Mahindra on podium

from Autocar India https://ift.tt/rGTlsEo