Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Pascal Wehrlein took arguably the most important race victory of his Formula E career with a measured and decisive drive around the ExCel Arena in London. The German driver executed his plan to perfection, taking both attack modes later on and elbowing Mitch Evans out to retain his lead.
Evans capitalised on a late retirement for Maserati's Max Gunther to finish second, while Sebastian Buemi took a special podium, his kids accompanying him to the rostrum in a wholesome moment for the Envision racer.
Mahindra had their best result of the season with Nyck de Vries finishing fourth and Edoardo Mortara in fifth, while Nico Muller continued his stellar form, finishing sixth for ABT Cupra.
Nick Cassidy started the race weekend in the lead, but managed to limit the damage in the standings to only seven points, with a strong recovery drive to seventh, while Sam Bird recovered from a lap one altercation to finish eighth.
Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth for DS Penske, while Norman Nato was able to recover and finish tenth despite his crash at turn one late in the race.
A chaotic race at London, once again, and here is how everything unfolded.
AS IT UNFOLDED
Mitch Evans maintained his position off the five red lights, as did Sebastian Buemi, while Norman Nato took third from championship contender Pascal Wehrlein, who backed out to sit fourth.
Further back, Jake Dennis primed himself for an ambitious move into turns 10 and 11 on Robin Frijns, clouting the inside kerb and sending the Envision Racing driver into the barriers. McLaren's Sam Bird too got caught up in the incident, with the stranded green Envision bringing out the safety cars.
With the safety car coming in at the end of lap four, it would be found out that Dennis had been slapped a ten second penalty for his collision, as Evans led the field to green flag running once again.
Drivers immediately dived in for attack modes, with Sacha Fenestraz and Stoffel Vandoorne diving in for their first dose of extra power. Unfortunately for championship leader Cassidy, he missed the sensors at turn 16, losing further ground.
Lap six saw two pairs of incidents prove telling in the championship battle. Dennis was in the wars once again, this time going into Jean-Eric Vergne at turn 16. Further ahead at turn 19, back indoors, two drivers in contention for the title had come together, with Oliver Rowland and Antonio Felix Da Costa coming to blows in the final corner.
With the crippled Porsche limping into the pits after suffering a broken steering arm, Da Costa's slim championship hopes had evaporated in the atmosphere at London.
A lead change later saw Buemi overtake Evans for the lead into turn one, with Wehrlein now looming in the background, hungry to pounce.
An aggressive spell of driving saw Dennis move up into eleventh, making contact with Cassidy's rear tyre at turn eight. The Briton continued to hound Cassidy onto lap 12, barging his way past the Kiwi in turn three, making contact and causing the Jaguar to have a bent steering.
Dennis racked up another five seconds in penalties for his contact with Vergne, while Rowland too received a five-second penalty for his collision further ahead.
Cassidy would have another run-in with Vandoorne at turn seven, falling behind the Belgian driver and into 14th.
Wehrlein made a decisive move to take the lead on lap 22, having six minutes of attack mode still to use. Getting to the head of the field could open up a possibility to push hard and build a gap to take two attack modes and emerge in the lead.
It was as though the German had a set plan in mind, immediately setting the fastest lap as he looked to pull away.
Taking attack mode on lap 23, Wehrlein emerged just ahead of the charging Jaguar behind. However, he still had another attack mode to take.
Evans too dived in for his final dose of attack mode, emerging ahead of Buemi, and holding fort in second. The challenge would be to cling onto the charging Porsche ahead.
Wehrlein took his all important attack mode on lap 27, and emerging just ahead of Evans. However, they went side by side into turn 17, and the Porsche driver elbowed Evans out to retain the lead.
Having fallen out of contention, Evans was instead falling into the clutches of the chasing Maserati MSG of Gunther, the blue Maserati surging past in turn 10 on lap 30. He was now up into second.
A late incident with Nato and Fenestraz at turn one saw the safety car being deployed on lap 33. With the laps expected to tick by, the race director Scott Elkins instructed drivers to bunch right up, renewing hope for some, whilst keeping Wehrlein on his toes into the closing stages.
As the safety car peeled in, Wehrlein led the field to green on lap 34, as Gunther loomed in the background. It would be heartbreak for Gunther, the blue Maserati pulling off on the run down to turn 10, allowing Evans to jump up into second, and a last-gasp shot at race victory.
Race control announced two added laps due to the earlier safety car periods, and declared a full course yellow to remove the stranded Maserati at turn 13.
Another incident between Daruvala and Vergne saw the Indian driver spun around, demoted to the rear of the field.
Despite all the pressure exerted by the chasing Jaguar, Wehrlein held firm, and took what could arguably be the most important win of his Formula E career. His third win of the season meant he took the lead of the championship, while Evans second place helped him stay within three points.
Further back, penalties for Dennis and Fenestraz promoted Cassidy to seventh on the road, ensuring he stayed within seven points of Wehrlein ahead.
A frenetic race at London turned the championship on its head once again, and here is the final finishing order after penalties were applied:
Final Classification:
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche)
Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing)
Sebastian Buemi (Envision Racing)
Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing)
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)
Nico Muller (ABT Cupra)
Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing)
Sam Bird (NEOM McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske)
Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E Team)
Lucas Di Grassi (ABT Cupra)
Sergio Sette Camara (ERT Formula E Team)
Dan Ticktum (ERT Formula E Team)
Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team)
Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team)
Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E Team)
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske)
Jehan Daruvala (Maserati MSG)
Max Gunther (Maserati MSG)
Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren)
Antonio Felix Da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche)
Robin Frijns (Envision Racing)
Here are the standings after round 15 at London:
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) - 180 points
Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) - 177 points
Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) - 173 points
Antonio Felix Da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche) - 134 points
Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) - 131 points
The constructors standings after round 15 are:
Jaguar TCS Racing - 350 points
TAG Heuer Porsche - 314 points
DS Penske - 186 points
Andretti Formula E Team - 169 points
Nissan Formula E Team - 157 points
That is it from round 15 at the ExCel Arena in London! With seven points separating the top three, it's all to play for as the grid returns to the circuit in 24 hours time, ready to battle it out once again.
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