Pascal Wehrlein has addressed Sébastian Buemi’s reasoning for not attacking him for the victory last weekend at the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix.
Wehrlein converted pole position – he defeated Buemi in the final duel – into victory in supreme fashion at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, ahead of Buemi and Nick Cassidy, who completed the podium. The German driver finished the race just over a second ahead of the Season 2 Champion, although Buemi believes he could’ve been closer to Wehrlein if he wanted to.
After the race, the Envision Racing driver accepted that Wehrlein was “very fast” but that he could’ve put up more of a fight if he wanted to. Buemi wasn’t keen on making a “risky” overtake as he was aware that the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver was under investigation. Effectively, Buemi settled for second but hoped that Wehrlein would be penalised.
“Pascal was very fast. I used less energy than planned on the last laps. So I could have got even closer to him,” admitted Buemi on the TV world feed. “But trying to overtake would have been too risky. As I knew that he was still being under investigation, I didn’t try much. We are very happy with second place and take the points,” said Buemi.
The investigation into Wehrlein took place after the race and lasted for four hours, with the FIA having looked into whether the German driver and reigning World Champion Jake Dennis had used a traction control device. Any form of traction device is banned in Formula E.
Ultimately, the governing body decided to take no further action, meaning Wehrlein kept his win and Buemi remained in second.
The fact Buemi decided to settle for second because of the investigation into Wehrlein is particularly interesting, as is the Swiss driver insisting that he had the pace to get “even closer to him”. It was actually a mistake by the 35-year-old which allowed Wehrlein to build a manageable gap, of just over a second.
In Formula E, a lead of just over a second is typically enough to secure a victory, as the leader can then manage their energy and their pace whilst maintaining a slight advantage. It’s very rare for a driver to close a gap of over a second, yet Buemi seemingly believes that he could’ve done it.
When Wehrlein was told about Buemi’s comments after the race by Motorsport Week, the German initially laughed, before admitting that he’s “never” seen a driver close a gap of over a second and pull off an overtake.
“I’m not sure, but I never saw someone overtaking someone else with more than a second of a gap. Maybe I’m wrong,” Wehrlein said, following a question by Motorsport Week during a virtual roundtable.
“Maybe he can overtake with a gap of more than a second. But, yeah, I think, like I said before, it was quite controlled. So, on track, I’m not sure if that would have been possible.”
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