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Sitting second in the Drivers’ World Championship standings, these final few races have to be ‘full send’ for TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. He is currently 24 points behind Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, but a piece of debris ruined any chance of getting close to the front to fight his title rivals in Portland.
Cassidy failed to score any points in Round 13 after an unusual mistake from him on the penultimate lap, and Mitch Evans (Jaguar) who sits in third in the standings, was forced to settle for eighth after receiving a five-second penalty for contact. However, Wehrlein had his own woes too.
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“I hit some debris,” the German stated after the chequered flag where he picked up a single point. “I think it was Mitch and Jake [Hughes, NEOM McLaren] when they touched out of Turn 7. The end-plate got stuck under my car. No balance, no breaking performance, actually, the front drive shaft was quite damaged.
“I just tried to bring the car home, which is a bit of a shame, because today could have been a very good opportunity to score big points. I didn't score high, but from lap six onwards my race was pretty much done.”
Evans was found to be at fault for the contact between himself and Hughes, which resulted in the NEOM McLaren driver gaining a puncture and ruining his race. The duo, who were both starting from the front row with Evans earning the Julius Baer Pole Position, were fighting for position when Evans tapped the back of Hughes and lost the front wing of his Jaguar. The Stewards decided to give Evans a five-second time penalty which dropped him from first at the flag down to eighth.
“Today I feel sad and frustrated, which is normal, but tomorrow is another chance and another go.”
When asked if he’d seen the incident where Cassidy threw away the win in the final moments of the race, Wehrlein confessed he was so focused on what was going on with him to notice: “I was so busy trying to bring the car home and it was pretty chaotic. I was losing speed on the straight, losing braking performance, the balance being completely off, so I had a lot to do to just bring the car home.”
Although Wehrlein wasn’t able to take the win, his teammate Antonio Felix da Costa continued his impressive streak with three wins in the last four races. It’s great news for the team, who lead the Manufacturers' Championship, and will be a sign of hope for Porsche that they can be back and win again tomorrow.