Pascal Wehrlein dominated the opening race of the London E‑Prix weekend, securing the Formula E championship lead ahead of Sunday’s title decider.
The factory Porsche driver won by six seconds, finishing ahead of former points leader Jake Dennis (Andretti), while Jaguar’s Antonio Félix da Costa completed the podium at the compact ExCeL Arena.
The result leaves Wehrlein five points ahead of second‑placed Dennis, with 29 points still available, while finishes 11th and 10th by Mitch Evans and Oliver Rowland effectively remove them from contention.
Porsche dominated the weekend as both factory cars reached the final qualifying duel, where Nico Müller forfeited the final sector, handing pole position to his teammate Wehrlein.
Combined with Dan Ticktum starting second on the grid in Kiro’s customer Porsche alongside Evans, the qualifying session proved ideal for the German driver, who had predicted team orders could influence the championship battle.
Consequently, it came as no surprise that he entered Turn 1 unchallenged, producing an unusually clean start at ExCeL and establishing a three‑second lead on the opening lap.
The aim was to back up Jaguar’s Mitch Evans
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Müller’s role was to support Evans and the rest of the field at the indoor‑outdoor venue, where tight characteristics enabled him to withstand Jaguar driver attacks.
These tactics incensed Evans, who labeled Müller’s moves as “dodgy”; additionally, laps seven and eight were run under yellow‑flag conditions, further disadvantaging him.
The incident followed contact between Lola’s rookie Zane Maloney and Edoardo Mortara’s Mahindra, damaging Maloney’s car and forcing an early retirement.
When green‑flag conditions resumed, the field resumed running, with drivers activating attack mode and making pit‑stop boosts around lap 17; Evans pitted early.
This allowed him to gain clean air, take Attack Mode on lap 18, and overtake Müller the following lap, moving into net second place while Wehrlein remained unpitted.
Initially, Evans appeared to have executed the optimal strategy, positioning himself to potentially overtake his title rival once Porsche pitted the 2025 champion.
However, the racing gods intervened when Lucas di Grassi crashed into the Turn 9 barrier on lap 21, enabling Wehrlein and others to make a cheap pit stop under yellow‑flag conditions.
Nyck De Vries finished 13th
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Consequently, he retained his net lead, prompting a frustrated Evans to realize his championship challenge had ended, shifting his focus to a top‑10 battle rather than a podium.
The situation worsened when Müller overtook him—also impacted by the untimely FCY—just as Wehrlein enjoyed a healthy eight‑second lead over the now second‑placed Ticktum.
The battle intensified behind the Kiro driver as da Costa, Dennis, and others contested the final podium spots, with the Andretti driver securing third place on lap 28.
Soon after, the former championship leader seized second from Ticktum and quickly extended his advantage, as Da Costa overtook the Briton.
The podium was ultimately decided, but Ticktum dropped further, embroiled in a chaotic four‑way fight for fourth in the closing laps, dropping to seventh behind Buemi, Mortara, and Taylor Barnard.
After the race, he climbed to sixth following Mortara’s descent to seventh due to a penalty for a late collision with Ticktum at Turn 1; Evans, Nick Cassidy, and Rowland rounded out the top ten.
Formula E London E‑Prix – Race 1 results
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