Pascal Wehrlein put an assertive end to the dominance of Maximilian Guenther in Formula E’s Race at Home Challenge, taking victory on the virtual streets of Monaco.
Following back-to-back victories in Hong Kong and at the Electric Docks Circuit, Guenther was the driver to beat in the run-up to the third event, however, come qualifying, it was Wehrlein who secured pole position, with the championship leader lining up in sixth place.
With Stoffel Vandoorne emerging as Wehrlein’s nearest competitor, the Belgian was unable to make an impression at the start of the race from second, with a poor getaway for the Mercedes EQ driver playing to the advantage of Edoardo Mortara who closed in from behind.
As the pack bunched up into Turn 1, a hit for Mortara caused the Swiss-Italian racer to clip Vandoorne, pitching the second-placed starter into a half-spin.
While Vandoorne escaped to maintain second, a multi-car pileup behind ensured a chaotic start to the race, with Mortara dropping out of the top 10, airborne on the approach to Turn 3.
This action played to the advantage of polesitter Wehrlein who established an early lead as the rest of the pack squabbled.
With Vandoorne unable to close in, Wehrlein remained unchallenged for the entirety of the 15-lap affair to deliver Mahindra Racing with a complete haul of 27 points after also securing the fastest lap.
Over three seconds behind Wehrlein, Vandoorne secured the runner-up spot while Guenther completed the podium for BMW i Andretti Motorsport, avoiding the accident of Turn 1 to extend his championship lead.
Neel Jani landed back-to-back points finished for Porsche by taking fourth while Robin Frijns completed the top five for Envision Virgin Racing.
Oliver Rowland was sixth for Nissan e.dams while Andre Lotterer was seventh, overtaking eighth and ninth-placed finishers Nico Muller and Ma Qing Hua late on.
Despite his first lap accident, Mortara recovered to take 10th, completing the points-paying positions for ROKiT Venturi Racing.
| # | Driver | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pascal Wehrlein | – | (27) |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | +3.630s | (18) |
| 3 | Maximilian Guenther | +5.163s | (15) |
| 4 | Neel Jani | +10.988s | (12) |
| 5 | Robin Frijns | +13.090s | (10) |
| 6 | Oliver Rowland | +13.710s | (8) |
| 7 | Andre Lotterer | +20.791s | (6) |
| 8 | Nico Mueller | +22.112s | (4) |
| 9 | Ma Qing Hua | +23.264s | (2) |
| 10 | Edoardo Mortara | +24.584s | (1) |
| 11 | James Calado | +27.843s | |
| 12 | Alexander Sims | +1 Lap | |
| 13 | Brendon Hartley | 13 Laps | |
| 14 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | 12 Laps | |
| 15 | Felipe Massa | 11 Laps | |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | 10 Laps | |
| 17 | Lucas di Grassi | 9 Laps | |
| 18 | Oliver Turvey | 8 Laps | |
| 19 | Daniel Abt | 7 Laps | |
| 20 | Sam Bird | 6 Laps | |
| 21 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 4 Laps | |
| 22 | Nyck de Vries | 4 Laps | |
| 23 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 3 Laps | |
| 24 | Mitch Evans | 2 Laps |
Discussion about this post