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Pascal Wehrlein took the first Formula E victory of 2024, whilst defending World Champion Jake Dennis endured a lacklustre start to the season.
It’s 2024, and Formula E is back for its tenth season. With the Gen3 car homologated, few material changes have been made over the off-season. Unsurprisingly then, it was the Porsche and Jaguar powertrains that appeared to be the most dominant forces on the grid.
Jake Dennis is seeking to defend his championship crown this season, the British driver having enjoyed a strong run in the Andretti team in 2023. Last season’s championship battle was tight, with Nick Cassidy, Mitch Evans, and Pascal Wehrlein all falling short. Dennis certainly has a target on his back this year; his competitors will be hungrier than ever. Season 10 could well see a fierce fight for the title.
Who qualified where?
Pascal Wehrlein claimed pole position, hinting at a promising start to the season for the Porsche driver. The battle for pole ultimately came down to Wehrlein and Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, the German pipping Buemi to the post by just over two tenths.
Andretti, however, didn’t quite seem to be enjoying the start to the season that they might have hoped for. Defending World Champion Jake Dennis qualified only P14 — a position behind his new teammate, Norman Nato. Jaguar, however, put in a much stronger performance, with Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans qualifying third and fourth respectively. A one-place grid penalty for both drivers did, however, see them start the race from P4 and P5 instead.
After narrowly missing out on championship glory last season, both Cassidy and Evans have their sights set firmly on the title. It’s safe to say that Dennis had started his championship defence on the backfoot…
The starting grid
Here’s how our drivers will line up for the @Hankook_Sport #MexicoCityEPrix ⚡
Both @JaguarRacing drivers and @svandoorne have been handed respective one-place grid penalties for not following red flag procedure during FP1.
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) January 13, 2024
We go green in Mexico…
Pascal Wehrlein enjoyed a strong start, maintaining the lead as the race got underway. Robin Frijns, now back at Envision after a stint with ABT Cupra, suffered a rathe more difficult start to the race. From P7, the Dutchman found himself slipping down to P15. Rookie Johan Daruvala didn’t have the debut he would have hoped for, whilst a technical problem meant that ERT’s Sergio Sette Câmara didn’t see the race start.
Lucas Di Grassi found himself in the barrier mere moments into the race, slipping down to the back of the grid. A further spell of misfortune hit the ABT team, as Porsche’s Antonio Félix da Costa found himself entangled with Nico Müller.
Nyck De Vries, who has returned to Formula E after a short-lived stint in F1, started at the back of the grid but found himself clawing back positions in the opening stages of the race.
The first of the Attack Modes were taken early on into the race, with the majority of the grid opting to enact the extra power allotment on Lap 4.
The order re-shuffled
Lap 6 saw Envision inform second-placed Sebastien Buemi to “under consume” his power, on account of race leader Pascal Wehrlein being under-investigation for a technical infraction. It wasn’t immediately clear what exactly Wehrlein was under investigation for.
As Wherlein and Buemi took Attack Mode, the Envision driver took the lead. However, yellow flags soon waved on Lap 9, as Robin Frijns lost the rear into Turn 17, sending his Envision into the barriers. A full course yellow was enacted, as the drivers carefully weaved themselves past Frijns’ stricken car.
SAFETY CAR
Frijns makes contact with the wall on the exit of the Foro Sol.
That is two DNFs in two years at Mexico City for the Envision Racing driver.@Hankook_Sport #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/e6pEsYCn8C
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) January 13, 2024
Safety Car
As marshalls worked to recover Frijns’ Envision, out came the safety car, bunching up the pack. Good news for Pascal Wehrlein, but not such a pleasant turn of events for race leader Buemi.
Racing got back underway on Lap 12, with Sebastien Buemi leading the charge. McLaren’s Jake Hughes, back in P6, looked eager to make some moves on Mitch Evans. Another strong contender was Maserati’s Max Günther, the German driver running in P3.
As Buemi took Attack Mode, Pascal Wehrlein regained the race lead. Buemi appeared to take a rather more conservative approach to the race, seemingly biding his time, allowing Wehrlein to eke out a second’s advantage.
Half-way point
With four minutes of Attack Mode remaining, Max Günther was instructed to opt for the energy advantage. By Lap 16, the top nine contenders had used their full Attack Mode allotment, meaning they now faced a straight race to the end.
Having taken Attack Mode, Günther slipped down to P4, Nick Cassidy getting ahead into third. Günther, however, found himself under pressure from Mitch Evans, the Jaguar driver just over seven tenths behind the Maserati.
Though Wehrlein was leading the race, Buemi was only nine tenths back — a strong presence in the Porsche driver’s wing mirrors. Meanwhile, defending World Champion Jake Dennis now found himself inside the top ten, having gained five places from P14.
Ten laps remaining…
Pascal Wehrlein continued to lead the pack, Sebastien Buemi now two and a half seconds behind the Porsche. Nick Cassidy remained third, Günther as yet unable to regain P3 after taking his final Attack Mode. Behind Günther was Cassidy’s teammate Mitch Evans, with Jean-Eric Vergne steadily holding down P6.
Heading up the back of the pack was ERT’s Dan Ticktum in P18, with Nico Müller in P17 and newcomer Jean Daruvala in P16.
Final five laps
Buemi began to up the pace, starting to close the gap to Werhlein. There was little shift in the running order, Nick Cassidy looking set to round out the podium in third.
What it's like to try and chase down @PWehrlein in Mexico City ??@Hankook_Sport #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/GYQNe13CLC
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) January 13, 2024
Two laps of racing were added, making up for time lost under the earlier safety car. Buemi continued to eke ever closer to Wehrlein, but the Porsche driver looked able to hold a steady lead.
And maintain the lead was exactly what Wehrlein did. The Porsche driver crossed the finish line in first, with Buemi and Cassidy accompanying him to the podium. Max Günther fell just short of a trophy, finishing in fourth, whilst Jaguar’s Mitch Evans rounded out the top five.
Full race results can be found here.
Featured Image Credit: Dom Romney / Formula E