Written by Maria Fashchevskaya
Pascal Wehrlein drove home to win the tenth season of Formula E, as the championship was decided in the last day of the season in London. British driver Oliver Rowland won the E-Prix in front of Wehrlein and Evans, while Cassidy crashed out of the race mid-way through.
It did not look like it from the start: German Pascal Wehrlein drove to driver championship victory with Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, as Mitch Evans was held back by a failure to activate his last portion of extra energy on time. Initial pole-sitter Nick Cassidy used up his energy beforehand and was in comfortable contend for the win of the championship. However, he was pushed out a little more than mid-way through the race and had to pull out into the pits.
One of the biggest winners of the evening is home-hero Oliver Rowland, who drove to his first win on home soil in London. Meanwhile, in fifth place finished Antõnio Felix Da Costa, helping his teammate Wehrlein in the championship competition, as he held up Buemi at first but let him through later to fourth.
Earlier in the race, two safety cars pulled out, as Dennis and Mortara crashed into each other in lap two, both retiring the cars. In lap seven, Daruvala drove into Bird and pushed him out of the race harshly, leaving the Neom McLaren with no choice but to retire the car. However, Daruvala had too much damage, pulling into the pits shortly after.
Earlier in the day, Nick Cassidy had delivered an incredible comeback, as he sat on pole for the decider race in London this season. Therefore, the Kiwi had closed the gap to contend for the driver championship. Just before the race, it looked like a heavy battle between Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans and pole-sitter Nick Cassidy, the three only separated by seven points in the standings.
In the team standings, just before the season's last race, Jaguar TCS Racing stood before the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team with a 36-point difference between them. Yesterday Pascal Wehrlein had won the race, whereas he finished fourth in qualifying for the decider race, making his drive a little more difficult. If Wehrlein snatched more points than the others in London, it would be his first Formula E title and the team's first one. Let's read how it was:
HOW IT UNFOLDED
As the lights went out, Mitch Evans had the best start, passing Maximilian Günther into turn one. His teammate Cassidy blocked everyone behind him, as he sped away. Behind, Wehrlein needed to defend himself against Robin Frijns into turn one, the German driving on the dirtier side of the track. It was a dream start for Jaguar, temporarily securing all championship titles with both drivers in the loop for it.
With the start of the second lap, Jake Dennis and Edoardo Mortara crashed into each other into the first turns, calling out a yellow flag. Dennis could not do anything, with Mortara being in his blind spot there. This meant all drivers slowing down, with also the safety car moving out on track just as Wehrlein made his first move onto Maximilian Günther.
The green flag was waved in lap four. Just then, Mitch Evans tried to overtake his teammate into turn 16, but needed to back off to save energy. His team orders were onto a win for Nick Cassidy, as he seemed to be the better contender for the title fight at that moment.
Wehrlein made a move on Günther on the outside of the track in lap seven, and Robin Frijns almost came through, too! But Günther managed to maintain his position and hold the Dutchman off. Meanwhile, Jehan Daruvala, further down the grid, made a risky move into the turn, hitting Sam Bird in the side.
This brought out yellow flags and a safety car again, as Bird sped into the barriers and needed to retire the car. Daruvala had damage, too, waving on track to lose some broken parts on the rear end of his car. Nevertheless, he needed to pit and eventually was out of the race, too.
Now, Jaguar needed to be smart, if they wanted to win all three titles here today. Thus, they ordered for Cassidy to back off and use up his attack mode, to the distrust of the driver. In the meantime, Evans and Wehrlein went through and raced each other for first and second place. With two drivers in the run for the driver's title, it has been a dilemma for the Jaguar team, as someone would be upset anyway.
The decider race resumed in lap ten: the possible win for Evans meant also his victory in standings were secured. As Nick Cassidy backed off to use his attack mode fully, the team could not manage it well, as Evans did not use his at the same time. He was defending against Porsche and Pascal Wehrlein, who in turn still needed to use his extra energy, too.
Nick Cassidy started to complain about the team orders around lap 15, as Evans was still in front of him, making it impossible for Cassidy to win. Moreover, Wehrlein in the middle of the two Jaguars was clearly managing his energy better than the Jaguar drivers. Everyone had still a little over 60 percent left overall.
In lap 20 Wehrlein made his first move onto passing Evans but was pushed harshly into the wall, almost crashing around turn one. Meanwhile, down the grid, more and more drivers had used their extra energy. Maximilian Günther, who had started from third place into the race, lost many positions and sat in fifth place. Before him drove the Nissan of Oliver Rowland, who initially started in ninth place.
Günther used his last bit of extra energy as well as Buemi in eighth. Race control gave out a last warning to Mitch Evans in lap 22 for moving under breaking. Most drivers had used up their attack modes so far, except both championship contenders in front, Wehrlein and Evans.
There came the German in lap 24, trying to pass Evans again and moving from one side to another for that. Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergine overtook Günther and Da Costa at the same time. Da Costa lost his place to Maximilian Günther, too. Race control gave a black and white flag to Mitch Evans in lap 26 for moving in the braking zone. That might be crucial, as he could earn a 5-second-penalty, handing over his momentous advantage.
In lap 28 the cards looked good for Nick Cassidy, as he waited for the two drivers in front of him to start their attack modes. But then Rowland overtook him for third, and Cassidy crashed! He was driving into the pits. What happened there?
Maximilian Günther pushed into the rear of the Jaguar, as Rowland squeezed through and Cassidy could not go away of the crash. That sealed an end for his dreams of a title today, as he retired the car. Yellow flags were waved and the safety car went out. Maximilian Günther suffered some damage, too, and pulled into the pits, ending his race.
Just then, Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein went to start their attack modes: But both failed to hit the narrow space of activation! And Rowland passed both in the meantime. Now the driver's title standings looked like Wehrlein could seal the victory, even with Oliver Rowland winning the race. But the Nissan driver needed to hand back his place to Evans to avoid punishment for overtaking under the safety car.
As the safety car left in lap 30, Evans and Wehrlein activated their attack modes, falling behind Nissan's Rowland. But Mitch Evans missed the mark! This was madness: He needed to back off again, handing his position over to the German behind him. This marked Wehrlein's victory in the standings, with Evans out of the contending, too.
The Kiwi driver needed to slow down in the last laps, as his attack mode had needed to finish before he got the chequered flag. This sealed a first home race win for Oliver Rowland in the Nissan.
A thrilling ride for Porsche! The mistakes of team Jaguar sealed the manufacturer's win of Porsche and the driver's title for Pascal Wehrlein. Under the cheering of the team, the German drover over the finish line.
Thus, Pascal Wehrlein wins his first Formula E driver title, as Porsche snatches their first ever manufacturer title, too.
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