Formula E Shanghai E-Prix: Wehrlein dominates in both dry and wet for victory

Pascal Wehrlein dominated the opening race of the Shanghai Formula E round as he converted pole into victory despite rain and a safety car intervention.

Having retained the lead form pole, the Porsche driver only briefly handed top spot to Jake Dennis, before pitting at the end of lap 15 and then cycling into the lead once everyone had completed their stops.

The much-anticipated rain, which had forced organisers to revise the schedule, had started to fall from lap 5 and intensified after the stops, forcing officials to send out the safety car on lap 19, - denying those who had just started an Attack Mode.

Among them were Edoardo Mortara, who had climbed to third, but also Pepe Martì, Dan Ticktum and Nick Cassidy.

The safety car released the field on lap 22 – adding one lap to the race duration – and Wehrlein immediately activated Attack Mode to try to break away, leaving behind him Antonio Felix da Costa, who was unable to catch him and had to settle for second place by 1.6 seconds.

Behind the Jaguar driver, Andretti’s Dennis completed the podium and Drugovich, the latter able in the closing stages to put a gap between himself and Nyck De Vries, who at the wheel of his Mahindra made a fantastic comeback from the back of the field to fifth place.

Maximilian Guenther, DS penske

Photo by: DPPI

Jean-Eric Vergne had indeed been in contention for the top five but got sucked into the midfield battles in the second part of the race, partly due to contact with Mortara that unsettled him and made him lose touch with the leading group. The Citroen driver took sixth after beating Joel Eriksson to the line who was charging back with his Envision.

Mitch Evans also has reasons to complain about a race that had seen him start among the frontrunners and then drop down the order to eighth place at the finish. The Jaguar driver still leads the Formula E standings but his advantage has been slashed to three points by Wehrlein.

DS Penske’s Maximilian Guenther and Mortara rounded out the top 10, with the Mahindra driver investigated post-race for the contact with Vergne.

The second Shanghai Formula E race will take place at 5:05am UK time, after the schedule changes due to the weather precautions.

Formula E Shanghai E-Prix results

RACE

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Points	Retirement
1	P. Wehrlein Porsche Team	94		30	40'30.411		135.3	25
2	A. Felix da Costa Jaguar Racing	13		30	+1.633 40'32.044	1.633	135.2	18
3	J. Dennis Andretti Formula E	27		30	+4.709 40'35.120	3.076	135.0	15
4	F. Drugovich Andretti Formula E	28		30	+5.425 40'35.836	0.716	135.0	12
5	N. de Vries Mahindra Racing	21		30	+8.407 40'38.818	2.982	134.8	10
6	J. Vergne Citroën Racing	25		30	+12.497 40'42.908	4.090	134.6	8
7	J. Eriksson Envision Racing	14		30	+12.714 40'43.125	0.217	134.6	6
8	M. Evans Jaguar Racing	9		30	+14.120 40'44.531	1.406	134.5	4
9	M. Gunther DS Penske	7		30	+14.674 40'45.085	0.554	134.5	2
10	N. Müller Porsche Team	51		30	+15.749 40'46.160	1.075	134.4
11	Z. Maloney LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM	22		30	+16.375 40'46.786	0.626	134.4
12	D. Ticktum Cupra Kiro	33		30	+17.927 40'48.338	1.552	134.3
13	O. Rowland Nissan e.Dams	1		30	+18.858 40'49.269	0.931	134.3
14	P. Martí Cupra Kiro	3		30	+20.103 40'50.514	1.245	134.2
15	E. Mortara Mahindra Racing	48		30	+20.167 40'50.578	0.064	134.2
16	T. Barnard DS Penske	77		30	+20.684 40'51.095	0.517	134.2
17	S. Buemi Envision Racing	16		30	+21.068 40'51.479	0.384	134.1
18	L. di Grassi LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM	11		30	+21.145 40'51.556	0.077	134.1
19	N. Cassidy Citroën Racing	37		30	+37.715 41'08.126	16.570	133.2
20	N. Nato Nissan e.Dams	23		29	+1 Lap 40'52.086	1 Lap	129.6
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