Pascal Wehrlein won the first of two races in the Formula E double-header in Jakarta, holding off Jake Dennis over the final laps.
Dennis finished less than half a second behind but was incensed by what he believed was overly-aggressive defending by the race winner, whose driving was not deemed worthy of investigation by the stewards.Wehrlein’s third win of the season moves him within two points of championship leader Nick Cassidy, while Maximilian Guenther claimed third for Maserati.
When the lights went out, pole winner Guenther was challenged for the lead by Wehrlein, but managed to fend off the Porsche. Stoffel Vandoorne settled into third place with Jake Dennis in fourth and Jean-Eric Vergne fifth in the second DS Penske.
At the start of lap four, Wehrlein took the lead by pulling to the inside of the Guenther into turn one. With drivers having a total of eight minutes of Attack Mode for the race, Vandoorne was the first of the leaders to take his first segment of extra power, opting for a whole six minutes’ worth, which dropped him behind team mate Vergne.
Wehrlein surrendered the lead by taking his first two minutes of Attack Mode on lap six to hand the lead back to Gunther, while Vergne returned a position to his team mate by taking six minutes on the same lap. On the next lap, Guenther returned the lead to Wehrlein by taking six minutes of Attack Mode, and when Wehrlein’s power boost expired Guenther began to put the Porsche under pressure.
Wehrlein responded by taking his second phase of Attack Mode to use up the remaining six minutes, allowing Guenther back into the lead and falling behind Vandoorne into third. Wehrlein gained back second when Vandoorne took his second Attack Mode and then the lead when Gunther took the last of his. Dennis used his extra power to pass Vandoorne on-track into turn one, moving up into third place.
Just past the halfway point, Cassidy came close to crashing out while trying to pass Vergne for fifth from a long way back into turn one. Despite making slight contact with the rear of Vergne’s car he was able to continue without damage.
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Meanwhile, up ahead, Dennis charged through into second place by successfully passing Guenther into the first corner. Wehrlein came under heavy pressure for his lead from Dennis into turn one but managed to repel the Andretti driver along the main straight.
The four leaders continued to run in order as the laps wound down, content to conserve energy and wait for the final laps to attack. Back in the pack, the yellow flags were briefly shown at turn one when Jaguar driver Sam Bird hit the back of team mate Mitch Evans, spinning the championship contender into retirement for the second time in the season.
But at the front, Wehrlein was still in control. Despite having less energy than those chasing him, the Porsche driver continued to keep cool and checked off the remaining laps to take the chequered flag and secure his third win of the season, tightening up the points situation at the top of the championship.
Dennis was less than half a second behind in second place with Gunther completing the podium. The two DS Penskes of Vandoorne and Vergne were third and fourth with Edoardo Mortara sixth in the second Maserati. Cassidy finished seventh to retain the championship lead by just two points, with Antonio Felix da Costa, Robin Frijns and Jake Hughes completing the top ten, Hughes gaining the final point through contact with Bird in the final laps.
The second race in the Jakarta double-header will take place at the same time on Sunday.
Jakarta Eprix race results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche | Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 |
| 2 | 27 | Jake Dennis | Andretti | Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 |
| 3 | 7 | Maximilian Guenther | Maserati | Maserati Tipo Folgore |
| 4 | 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | DS E-TENSE FE23 |
| 5 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | DS E-TENSE FE23 |
| 6 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara | Maserati | Maserati Tipo Folgore |
| 7 | 37 | Nick Cassidy | Envision | Jaguar I-Type 6 |
| 8 | 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Porsche | Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 |
| 9 | 4 | Robin Frijns | Abt Cupra | Mahindra M9Electro |
| 10 | 5 | Jake Hughes | McLaren | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 |
| 11 | 51 | Nico Mueller | Abt Cupra | Mahindra M9Electro |
| 12 | 58 | Rene Rast | McLaren | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 |
| 13 | 17 | Norman Nato | Nissan | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 |
| 14 | 33 | Dan Ticktum | NIO 333 | NIO 333 ER9 |
| 15 | 11 | Lucas di Grassi | Mahindra | Mahindra M9Electro |
| 16 | 23 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 |
| 17 | 36 | Andre Lotterer | Andretti | Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 |
| 18 | 3 | Sergio Sette Camara | NIO 333 | NIO 333 ER9 |
| 19 | 8 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra | Mahindra M9Electro |
| 20 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Envision | Jaguar I-Type 6 |
| 21 | 10 | Sam Bird | Jaguar | Jaguar I-Type 6 |
| 22 | 9 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | Jaguar I-Type 6 |
Formula E
- Canny Cassidy controls proceedings to win second Diriyah race
- Dennis dominates in Diriyah as Evans loses podium finish at final corner
- Formula E attracts backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
- While F1 is eager for more street tracks, Formula E is drifting away from them
- Wehrlein confirmed winner of season opener in Mexico after throttle map investigation
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