Pascal Wehrlein took a commanding Formula E victory in Race 1 of the Saudi Arabia E-Prix double-header, amongst the winding roads of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with Edo Mortara turning his pole position into second and Mitch Evans making a surprising climb through to third.
In a chaotic race with the order changing from start to finish, Wehrlein came out on top, surviving a brutal Pit Boost cycle that saw many drivers fall back through the order.
Mortara struggles at the start
Mortara was starting on pole position for the first time since 2024, looking to turn it into a win. However, alongside him was Maximillian Guenther, who was eyeing up a Turn 1, hoping to use his experience at the front against the Mahindra driver on pole.
As the field prepared to start the race, the burnouts caused smoke to fill the start-finish straight, Nyck De Vries remained in his position, holding back the rest of the grid. The start was delayed as De Vries found himself unable to engage his drive; the Mahindra was wheeled to the pits and moments later retired as the team failed to fix the issue.
Mortara suffered a significant burnout on the first corner, dropping down quickly through the order, ending up in seventh place. Meanwhile, Taylor Barnard jumped from fifth into second, lunging down the inside of the Porsches in the opening corners.
Guenther held onto his lead with his teammate close behind, Norman Nato found himself on the gearbox of the young Brit, taking second place.
Zane Maloney saw his fight at the back of the field come to an early end as Pepe Marti crossed the track in his fight with Nick Cassidy and clipped the Lola driver’s front wing. Maloney pulled over at the side of the track, unable to continue, while Marti pulled into the pits with suspected damage on his Cupra Kiro machinery. A Safety Car was brought out following the collision to bring out machinery to remove Maloney’s car from the track.
Wehrlein, who had been sitting in fourth, fancied himself a podium position. He made a quick move on Taylor Barnard, moving into third and instantly setting his sights on second place, which became Gunther as Nato made a move for the lead.
Flat-out fights
By Lap 10, the top five had momentarily settled with Nato now leading the pack. Nato’s gap had built to over a second, but the fight behind was still raging. Gunther was fending off consistent opposition from Wehrlein, who was all but on the rear wing of the Penske.
Guenther was given a black and white flag for moving under braking as he fought with the Porsche behind and began to close the gap to the lead. With the pit boost window looming, the drivers were flat out in their battles throughout the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Out front, Guenther was the first driver to take his Attack Mode, implying the German would be staying out in the initial pit boost phase.
Rowland was the first driver to take his Pit Boost, and as he filed out of the pits, he chose not to use his Attack Mode, while Joel Eriksson did. The Envision driver hoped to recover the time he lost by overshooting his pit box.
The reigning champion was struggling to make his way back through the pack, losing time overall with his pit stop. On Lap 19, Wehrlein dove into the pits after losing the lead to Guenther with Attack Mode. The German left the pits comfortably ahead of the first Pit Boost group. From tenth to 15th, all the drivers had activated their Attack Mode, needing the extra bump of power to push them through the field.
A final surge for Wehrlein
Luckily for Wehrlein, who was leading the pit boost group, the rest of the grid came into the pits, pushing him into the overall lead of the race on Lap 20.
Everyone in the top ten had used their Attack Mode, while the rest of the grid had yet to activate the feature. Arguably, it gives them an edge later in the race. Gunther’s late pit boost and early Attack Mode backfired on the German, and he ended the pit cycle in sixth, behind his team-mate and with Nato closing on him with the extra power of the Attack Mode pushing him on.
Barnard made a brave lunge down the inside of Nato, taking fourth place from the Nissan driver. However, Barnard found himself slipping through the order as the Jaguar duo charged through the order, closing in on the podium places. Evans made it past Mueller with one minute left in his Attack Mode, taking third place from the Porsche driver.
It seemed like a sure thing for Wehrlein, who had built a three-second lead over Mortara in second. The Mahindra driver is recovering well after his woes in the opening stages of the race. Barnard, Nato and Gunther had fallen to tenth, 11th and 12th with just one lap to go. The trio which led the first half of the race dropped through the pack as strategies played out.
Wehrlein cruises to victory
Nothing could stop Wehrlein as he crossed the line to take his ninth victory in the series and his first of the season. Behind him Mortara recovered to take second place, a strong result from his pole start and Evans’ late charge seeing him take the final step on the podium. Mueller took the chequered flag fourth, making it another good weekend for Porsche, and Antonio Felix Da Costa also brought a double points finish for Jaguar.
Cassidy and Jean-Eric Vergne finished sixth and eighth, both Citroen drivers finishing within the points. Buemi finished sixth, Jake Dennis took ninth, and Barnard managed to take a lone point after his struggles in the final stage of the race, finishing tenth.
READ MORE – Formula E 2026 Jeddah E-Prix – Race 1 Results
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