Pascal Wehrlein put himself in the best position in the ongoing championship fight after the first race of the London E-Prix weekend.
With a dominant lights-to-flag victory and three points for pole position, Wehrlein took the championship lead into the final race of the season. Jake Dennis managed to fight back to P2, but the German had the clear edge on the field throughout the day.
Mitch Evans, the third contender, was unlucky with a full-course yellow and fell through the order, which left him 19 points behind Wehrlein going into the final shot at the title.
A perfectly executed race
The German was in high spirits after the race, naturally praising the team for the strong performance not just in the race but throughout the weekend.
“Yeah, except for the fastest lap, but no, it was a great day. The whole weekend was good performance already in the practise sessions, always in the top two, top three.
“So qualifying was executed perfectly, putting both cars in the first row, and then, yeah, it went by plan also in the race.”
Nico Mueller, Wehrlein’s teammate, played a significant role in his victory and ability to fight at the front over the weekend. In qualifying, Mueller pulled off the gas, allowing his teammate to take the three extra points awarded for pole position.
In the race, Mueller held up Evans, which let his teammate build a gap out front and ultimately take the win.
The championship leader was quick to thank his teammate, who slipped away from his second-place position as he was also caught out by the full-course yellow.
“Well, he was still in P2, so yeah, obviously he helped me quite a lot, but was unfortunately on the wrong side of the strategy by pitting early and with that intervention; otherwise I think it could have been a double podium today for the team.”
The German was asked how much he considers those around him during a race, with Evans falling to the poor timing and taking him out of podium contention. Yet Wehrlein admitted he wasn’t told much by his engineers, focusing instead on his own race.
“Not so much, just informed about the pace, when to take attack mode, what the reference lap times are, and that’s about it. Focused on my race.”
A close fight for the title
Just five points separate Dennis and Wehrlein with one final chance to take the title. Both drivers have already claimed a title in Formula E, but neither has managed to repeat the performance.
Wehrlein’s first title played out in a very similar fashion to the way the tides are headed in London. He battled until the final race in a close championship fight, coming out on top with one win and one podium over the weekend.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race and qualifying, Wehrlein told the media that his goal is naturally to win again, but if that’s not possible, he’ll calculate where he needs to finish to clinch the title.
“Yeah, for sure, plan A is to try and win that race again. First of all, I need to make sure to put it somewhere at the front in qualifying, and yeah, for sure the aim is to win.If we can’t win, obviously we try and make calculations when it’s needed, but the first goal is to win.”
READ MORE: Pascal Wehrlein inches closer to Formula E title with London victory
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