TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein sealed his third win of the season to take the lead in the Drivers' World Championship championship as we head into the final race of the season on Sunday 21 July. It was a strong drive from the German, who battled closely with Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans who finished behind in second with Jaguar teammate and prior standings leader Nick Cassidy coming home seventh in a race of damage limitation.
RESULTS: The full Hankook London E-Prix Round 15 classification
Wehrlein hit the front on Lap 22 and had managed to gather three percent usable energy to the good on Jaguar TCS Racing's Mitch Evans and Envision Racing's Sebastien Buemi in the customer Jaguar I-TYPE 6 while running behind and between the pair in the opening half of the encounter.
The Porsche team masterfully elected to have Wehrlein take both of his mandatory ATTACK MODE activations late on once the field spead somewhat and after those around him had used their 50kW boosts. With energy in-hand, and clear air out front, he was able to pass through the activation loop twice and retain the lead twice.
From there, the German had enough to hold off Evans and Buemi to the flag, with Maserati MSG Racing's Maximilian Guenther - having clambered from 11th on the grid to split the top three - retiring from second with technical issues after a second appearance for the Safety Car in a frenetic race around London's Docklands.
Mahindra Racing's Nyck de Vries scythed through the pack from 14th to fourth for his and the team's best finish of Season 10 so far, with teammate Edo Mortara following the Dutchman home having also climbed from way down the order at the outset, 16th.
Nico Mueller came home an impressive sixth on his final weekend for ABT CUPRA, while the standings leader heading into Round 15, Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) did well to recover from a lowly 17th on the grid, and two missed ATTACK MODE activations - eventually winding up seventh at the chequered flag, with six points to his name which could well prove crucial in the Drivers' title race.
The championship aspirations of Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE), Oliver Rowland (Nissan), Antonio Felix da Costa (Porsche) all ended in contact, with each failing to score.
As it stands, just seven points split the top three in the title race with Wehrlein hitting the front on 180 to Evans' 177 and Cassidy on 173. Evans' bonus points for Julius Baer Pole Position and the fastest lap could be vital.
In the Teams' running, Jaguar TCS Racing head TAG Heuer Porsche 350 to 314 points. The race for the inaugural Manufacturers' Trophy sees Porsche's advantage squeezed to just eight points by Jaguar: 433 plays 425.
The title fight for Drivers', Teams' and Manufacturers' honours will all go down to the final race in London tomorrow, 17:00, 21 July at London's ExCeL.
As it happened...
Mitch Evans got off to a strong start with Buemi close behind, but it was Norman Nato who pushed his way into third after a cautious Pascal Wehrlein took things easy. However, there was drama further back as Jake Dennis squeezed out Robin Frijns which sent him into the wall and out of the race. The incident also picked up Sam Bird, and resulted in an appearance for the Porsche Taycan Turbo Safety Car.
Things got back underway by Lap 5, and saw the pack start to take their ATTACK MODEs. One notable activation belonged to Nick Cassidy who missed one of the sensors and had to try again, losing crucial time as he went off the racing line.
Oliver Rowland was getting his elbow out, fighting and trying to pass Jean-Eric Vergne but delivered a move up the inside. That wasn’t the only on-track battle for two-time champ JEV, as he also found himself getting tangled with Jake Dennis and the two cars resting on top of eachother for a brief moment.
Fighting for position, Rowland ended up clashing with Antonio Felix da Costa at the final corner and causing the two to come to a stop. For Rowland, he was able to get going again but it was game over for Da Costa as he limped back to the pits. His front suspension was damaged in the incident, and has caused a serious dent in his championship hopes as he was forced to retire. “Such a sore loser this guy,” da Costa said, bringing an end to his run of three consecutive wins.
Buemi passed Evans for the lead on Lap 10 in a lovely tidy move up the start-finish straight. Meanwhile, Dennis was out causing more trouble as he banged wheels with championship leader Cassidy. “My steering is all bent,” Cassidy said as he fought to keep his title hopes alive in the penultimate trace of the season.
Up ahead, Evans and Buemi took their ATTACK MODEs with Evans emerging out ahead, but Wehrlein was on the hunt and saving some seriously good energy and soon he was up into second. By Lap 22, Wehrlein was into the lead of the race!
Cassidy was also smacked into the wall as he fought Stoffel Vandoorne, but was able to continue. He also complained of his beacons not working and missed ATTACK MODE again when he tried to take the mandatory power boost.
Wehrlein and Evans fought up ahead as they took their ATTACK MODEs, in thrilling scenes as they fought for track position. It was close on many occasions, but it was Wehrlein who held his line and went defensive when he rejoined the track.
Evans complained of energy issues, and was eventually passed by Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) for second place, yet disaster struck when his car suffered a problem and saw him drop down the order and eventually stop on track in the final stages of the race. The German made up nine places before his issues which made for heartbreaking scenes in their garage. It wasn’t the only problem for Maserati MSG Racing on that lap as Jehan Daruvala clashed with Vergne and had to pit for a new front wing.
Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz added to the accident damage as they came together in the last moments of the race.
But Pascal Wehrlein kept his cool up in front to take his third victory of the season, with Evans behind in second and Sebastien Buemi in third.