WEHRLEIN FINISHES TOP 10 IN LONDON’S RACE-1 DESPITE BEING RAMMED

Monaco Increase Management driver Pascal Wehrlein concluded Round 15 of the 2023 FIa Formula E championship in tenth place after battling for top positions for most of the race. The short and narrow course of the Hankook e-prix proved prone to accidents, the race being red-flagged twice. Wehrlein had entered the weekend with a residual chance of clinching the World title for both himself and Porsche, but his hopes were thwarted altogether by a questionable move from Rene Rast (which led to an investigation by the Steward), who lost control of his McLaren car over the kerb and drove straight into Wehrlein’s Porsche car as the German-Mauritian was trying to get round him on the outside. As a result, Wehrlein dropped into P13 after having fought in the top 5 positions for most of the race. The World Champion title went to Andretti’s Jake Dennis but the British driver did not impress the public as he openly complained over the radio that Wehrlein was battling for position with him, apparently forgetting that the Porsche works team also had a target to go for in the race and could hardly make any concession to their customer team in those circumstances.

Wehrlein had started the race from P7 on the grid, clearing the first stage of his Group B qualifying but losing the quarter final to title contender Nick Cassidy (the Kiwi driver being sidelined in the race by a collision triggered by his team-mate Sebastien Buemi). From the fourth row, Pascal quickly made up one position and tried to postpone his Attack Modes for the last stage of the race. His chances for the title were slim but he tried everything he could, eventually losing all his hopes when Rast crashed into hi, forcing hime to a back-of-the-grid restart with yet another Attack Mode to serve. Even so, Wehrlein managed to gain several positions to increase his championship tally to 148 points. Ahead of the last round of the Formula E series, Pascal still has a chance to make into the Top three classified drivers, while fourth place has been long secured for him. The race was won by Mitch Evans while Wehrlein’s team-mate Antonio Felix Da Costa, who had managed to finish second, was later demoted by a 3-minute penalty for a technical infringement.