The overlooked Formula E asset that proved crucial in Porsche's title turnaround

The 2023-24 Formula E Championship looked destined to be heading the way of Nick Cassidy and Jaguar, before capitulation over the final two events opened the door for Pascal Wehrlein to snatch the drivers’ crown. But while the title was decided in a dramatic London winner-takes-all finale, the 15 other races during the season played their part in shaping the outcome of the championship. At points this year, Porsche star Wehrlein was undoubtedly the man to beat.

Pole and a dominant victory in the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix set the tone, and put down a marker that Wehrlein and Porsche were going to be a force to be reckoned with. While it would be another six races until the German won again, at Misano, consistency across the opening half of the season meant he held a seven-point lead leaving Monaco at the halfway point.

It was this steadiness – just two non-scores across the 16-race campaign, due to a broken front wing at Misano and puncture at Shanghai – that provided the backbone to his title assault. Even though Wehrlein went into the final round of the season in London on the back foot and the “odds were not really with us” on a track suited to the Jaguar-powered cars, “we still had it in our hands”, reckoned a man who sat only seven points behind Cassidy.

PLUS: How Porsche's underdog outfoxed Jaguar to steal Formula E glory

“We scored [nearly] every race and that’s crucial in Formula E because it’s such a tough competition,” Wehrlein continues. “Everyone is so close together and winning the championship in the end by seven points just shows you how close it was.

“Consistency is key, scoring good points every weekend, every race. Sometimes it feels like a P4 or P5 is the maximum you can do in the race, but it’s still 12 or 10 valuable points. I think this year we improved our consistency quite a lot, we improved our qualifying as well, and that just enabled us to score big points on every occasion, even if it wasn’t a win.”

Wehrlein began his season in fine form with victory in the Mexico opener and only failed to score on two occasions

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Somewhat ironically, at various points this year Wehrlein often stated that qualifying may as well have been decided by a lottery, so little was its impact upon many of the races. This was due to the frenetic peloton style of racing, where drivers stayed in the slipstream to save energy, and meant wide, open circuits such as Misano, Shanghai and Portland generally became lotteries, with drivers sometimes going five-wide to cycle up and down the pack.

The two caveats to qualifying were around tight, twisty street circuits where track position was key, such as London’s ExCeL, and that three points were awarded for pole position. Wehrlein took the joint most poles in the season along with title rival Mitch Evans and Jean-Eric Vergne – three apiece equating to nine points. With his title-winning margin at the end of the season standing at seven over Evans, it puts into context how crucial that upturn in qualifying performance proved to be for Wehrlein and Porsche.

The Porsche 99X powertrain’s one-lap pace was an acknowledged Achilles’ heel in 2023, when Wehrlein took an average qualifying position of 9.8 compared to 5.1 this term, and two vital second-row starts in London for the title showdown were the culmination of that performance increase.

"You cannot always progress from P10 to the podium, and that was a big goal this year – to improve our qualifying pace to also make our life easier in the races"
Pascal Wehrlein

“I feel like last season slipped out of our hands because of poor qualifying results,” he acknowledges. “We’d taken a couple of race wins, we’d led the championship on many occasions as well, but just towards the end of the season we didn’t manage to qualify at the front and that meant quite often we didn’t get to score big points.

“I was a P7, P8 or even a DNF because it’s just a lot more chaotic in the midfield. You cannot always progress from P10 to the podium, and that was a big goal this year – to improve our qualifying pace to also make our life easier in the races.”

Even with better qualifying and greater consistency, the task of beating Cassidy and Jaguar seemed an unlikely one. Wehrlein lost the lead of the championship leaving Berlin, and the deficit grew to as much as 25 points – equal to a race win – before the penultimate round of the season at Portland.

Cassidy had moved across from Jaguar customer team Envision after finishing runner-up in the 2022-23 season, and began life with the factory effort in strong form. He registered a third place in both Mexico City and Diriyah, before winning the second race in Saudi Arabia. But then came some blips; Cassidy crashed out in Sao Paulo after his front wing became lodged under his car, and a further retirement followed at Misano after another front wing went missing in a collision with Vergne, who was penalised.

A run of five podium finishes put Cassidy’s title aspirations back on course, including a sensational win in the opening Berlin race. Here, the Kiwi sat deep in the pack and saved vast amounts of energy before unleashing his true pace in the final laps to win by 4.6s, demonstrating his ability to look at the bigger picture during a race.

Although a podium eluded Wehrlein in Sao Paulo, he had taken a second pole of the year and three bonus points with it

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

This facet had already helped him orchestrate a Jaguar 1-2 in Monaco in favour of team-mate Evans – the older New Zealander’s first win of the campaign. But the British manufacturer’s reluctance to favour one driver over the other would come back to haunt it.

Cassidy led Evans in the opening Portland race, and was “one lap away” from the title when he spun from the lead. Jaguar had told its drivers that they were free to race, despite Evans being handed a five-second penalty for an earlier collision. Cassidy non-scored in race two after contact in the middle of the pack, and somehow salvaged seventh in the opening London race after a disastrous qualifying left him 17th.

With the pressure at its highest, and now trailing Wehrlein in the points, Cassidy took his first pole of the season for the crucial final race. He was lying third and had already taken both Attack Modes, unlike Evans and Wehrlein ahead. But then he was the blameless victim in a collision with the second Porsche of Antonio Felix da Costa that finally ended his title aspirations.

For the fourth year in a row, Evans also went into the final round with a shot at a maiden Formula E title after playing catch-up following a sluggish start. A second win came at Shanghai after a last-lap pass on Wehrlein, but he was denied another win at Portland with his penalty.

Heading to London he was tied on points with Wehrlein, and had to follow his rival home in both races when Jaguar failed to implement a good enough strategy. That Jaguar claimed a maiden teams’ title and the new-for-2024 manufacturers’ trophy by relatively healthy margins offered little consolation for Cassidy and Evans, and it was Wehrlein who kept his cool to snatch a worthy maiden Formula E title from under their noses.

“I was always believing in it and even when we had more than a 20-point disadvantage to our competitors, I always thought that we can still turn things around,” smiles Wehrlein. “Going into the last race, I had this mindset that I can do it.

“I told myself so many times that we can do it. I definitely think this helps in a championship campaign – you should never lose faith or lose hope.”

Wehrlein gave the works Porsche team its first Formula E title with an assured performance in London

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Race by race

Mexico City
1. Wehrlein
2. Buemi
3. Cassidy

Wehrlein takes pole and victory, leading 30 out of 37 laps, but is investigated post-race for technical infraction around ‘primary throttle pedal map’ before being cleared. Buemi shadows throughout for runner-up, while Cassidy moves up from fourth to claim podium on Jaguar debut.

Diriyah 1
1. Dennis
2. Vergne
3. Cassidy

Dennis dominates after moving to the front through Attack Mode, winning by 13s. Energy-deprived Vergne becomes a roadblock in the closing laps; Evans is unable to find a way through and drops to fifth with a last-lap overtake attempt, team-mate Cassidy and Bird moving ahead.

Diriyah 2
1. Cassidy
2. Frijns
3. Rowland

Cassidy takes championship lead with victory, besting Envision racer Frijns through Attack Mode activations. Poleman Rowland hangs onto third. Wehrlein finishes seventh to leave Saudi Arabia with a double points finish. “Finger problems” with Evans’s car in qualifying leave him 10th at the flag.

Sao Paulo
1. Bird
2. Evans
3. Rowland

Thrilling last-lap overtake on Evans hands Bird first win since New York 2021 and McLaren a maiden Formula E triumph. Battling Dennis and Wehrlein compromise exit of final corner, allowing Rowland to snatch third on the run to the line. Cassidy crashes out after front wing lodges under car.

Only win of title defence for Dennis came in Diriyah before the Andretti-Porsche man slumped to seventh in the standings

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Tokyo
1. Guenther
2. Rowland
3. Dennis

Guenther passes energy-saving Rowland in closing stages to deny Nissan on home soil. Dennis snatches third from da Costa after Porsche driver loses momentum with failed outside move on Rowland. Wehrlein fifth, with Cassidy eighth after losing qualifying times due to a car technicality breach.

Misano 1
1. Rowland
2. Dennis
3. Guenther

On-the-road winner da Costa disqualified after car found to have ineligible throttle damper spring, so Rowland and Nissan handed first win since Berlin 2020. Dennis takes second from Guenther. Poleman Evans drops to fifth. Cassidy and Wehrlein both lose front wings and non-score.

Misano 2
1. Wehrlein
2. Dennis
3. Cassidy

Lap-counter malfunction causes leader Rowland to run out of energy on final lap, gifting Wehrlein victory, and the pair leave tied on points at head of standings. Dennis bags another runner-up finish, and Cassidy beats superb Muller on run to line for third. Evans retires with software issue.

Monte Carlo
1. Evans
2. Cassidy
3. Vandoorne

Tactical masterclass ensures Jaguar takes 1-2, Cassidy gifting Evans victory. Vergne left a frustrated fourth behind DS Penske team-mate Vandoorne, who is unable to mount serious challenge against Jaguars. Polesitter Wehrlein slumps to fifth after early Attack Mode strategy fails to pay off.

Rowland led Wehrlein into the latter stages in Misano but a tactical error put the Nissan driver out of the race

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Berlin 1
1. Cassidy
2. Vergne
3. Rowland

Cassidy at his best, and romps to second win having conserved large amounts of energy after dropping to the very back of the pack at one stage. Vergne’s stoic defence, after leading 18 out of 46 laps, means he keeps second to deny the chasing Rowland, Evans and Wehrlein.

Berlin 2
1. da Costa
2. Cassidy
3. Rowland

Da Costa keeps victory once he pulls clear of the squabbling Jaguars midway through race, Evans unintentionally blocking Cassidy after running slightly wide. Second gives Cassidy nine-point lead in standings. Wehrlein is fourth with damaged steering. Poleman Dennis is fifth.

Shanghai 1
1. Evans
2. Wehrlein
3. Cassidy

Evans battles past Wehrlein around the outside into T1 on final lap to win, the pair having gone side by side through the final sequence of corners. Cassidy, who is told to stay behind Evans, also attempts to move ahead of Wehrlein through final turns, but the pair make contact and hold position.

Shanghai 2
1. da Costa
2. Nato
3. Hughes

High temperatures mean staying in the lead for large periods pays off and da Costa wins from Nato, who secures first podium with Andretti. Poleman Hughes takes maiden Formula E podium ahead of Cassidy. Minimal contact from Bird inflicts puncture and non-score on Wehrlein.

Happier days for the Jaguar drivers in China - Evans overpowered Wehrlein to win the opener

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Portland 1
1. da Costa
2. Frijns
3. Vergne

Jaguar capitulation as Cassidy spins from the lead under pressure from Evans, who crosses the line first but with five-second penalty for earlier collision, handing da Costa victory. Frijns secures first podium since Diriyah; Vergne climbs up from 14th. Wehrlein salvages 10th after debris damage.

Portland 2
1. da Costa
2. Frijns
3. Evans

Four victories from five races for da Costa who wins on the road this time, Frijns bagging back-to-back podiums after losing lead on safety car restart. Alternate Attack Mode strategy for Evans restricts him to third ahead of front-wingless Wehrlein. Cassidy non-
scores after front wing damaged in mid-pack.

London 1
1. Wehrlein
2. Evans
3. Buemi

Brilliant Wehrlein beats Evans in a straight fight after moving ahead of the polesitter during the Attack Mode phase, while Buemi takes first podium of season. Cassidy salvages seventh via two heavy bits of contact after starting 17th. Wehrlein leads Evans by three points with one race left.

London 2
1. Rowland
2. Wehrlein
3. Evans

Cassidy takes pole to trim gap to Wehrlein to four points in winner-takes-all scenario. Mid-race, Evans heads Wehrlein and Cassidy, who takes both Attack Modes early but is out after collision with da Costa. Late Attack Mode activations, missing one, drops Evans to third behind Wehrlein.

Wehrlein delivered when it really counted in London and beat the two Jaguar drivers to the crown

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images