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Article by Aisha Daulay
It was all or nothing for the reigning champion, TAG Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein, who had faced a tough start in the early part of the season. Despite claiming two pole positions and a podium, it hadn't been enough to set the pace, especially with pressure mounting on his title defence; the margin for error was slim.
This time, though, the German driver was in the right place at the right time when the race took a sharp turn. Andretti's Norman Nato, who had led from pole and crossed the finish line first, was swiftly relegated to sixth after a 10-second penalty for failing to complete his full ATTACK MODE allocation.
Nato wasn't the only one caught out. Multiple drivers, including Robin Frijns (Envision Racing), standings' leader Oliver Rowland (Nissan), and both NEOM McLaren drivers fell victim to the final-lap scramble after a red flag with four laps to go triggered a collision between Maximilian Guenther (DS PENSKE) and Jake Hughes (Maserati MSG Racing). Mitch Evans and his Jaguar TCS Racing machine soon joined the pileup, crashing into the barrier.
Wehrlein, on the other hand, had just four minutes of ATTACK MODE left to use after the restart—and he made the most of it. There were no penalties, no drama—just steady execution. That composure, coupled with some perfectly timed fortune, was enough to secure his first win of the season.
"I enjoy the challenge of a street circuit and the risk and reward of being very precise," he said. "Once you're close to the walls, and if you overdo it, it's done.
"We knew a lot of energy saving was required on this track. On top of that, there's the issue of dirt, and sometimes I couldn't see anything on the exit—it was full of dust."
He continued, "It feels great, even though it was a bit of a lucky win. I think somewhere on the podium, or the top five would have been possible otherwise. But we had enough bad luck this season that we can be lucky for once, so we are very happy about it.
"It was crucial only to have the four minutes of ATTACK MODE left after the red flag, which we luckily had, and some of the others still had six minutes to do. So that saved us, and we went from there. Hopefully, our season kicks off now."
Behind him, Lucas Di Grassi secured a surprise P2 for the newly rebranded Lola ABT Yamaha squad—marking their first-ever podium—while Wehrlein's teammate, Antonio Felix Da Costa, rounded out a successful weekend for TAG Heuer Porsche with a solid third-place finish.
The result launches Porsche into the lead of the teams' championship, while consistency remains key in the drivers' standings. Oliver Rowland holds onto the top spot with 69 points despite concluding the race in 10th. Da Costa sits close behind with 54 points, while Wehrlein now ties with McLaren's Taylor Barnard at 51 points.
Looking ahead to Monaco, the 30-year-old is eager to finally conquer the Principality. Last time out, Wehrlein led the first four laps of the race from pole, only to gradually drop to fifth as his teammate, Da Costa, got stuck behind Frijns’ Envision Racing car and fought his way back from the back of the grid to seventh.
Similarly, in Season 9, Wehrlein fought his way up from 12th to finish inside the points, while Da Costa remained 19th. Despite two DNFs in previous seasons, Wehrlein remains optimistic about reigniting his title defense—especially with Monaco hosting a double-header for the first time in Formula E history.
He added, "I'm really looking forward to it. It's obviously one of our favourite destinations. I had pole position last year and DNF the year before while leading the race.
"It's still a bit to catch up there, but generally, I'm super happy to be there again. It's one of our best tracks, and the two races will double the fun."
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