LONDON — Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein became a two-time ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Champion after a dramatic London finale, with DS PENSKE’s Taylor Barnard pipping the Mahindras of Nyck de Vries and Edo Mortara for a maiden race win in Round 17.
The destination of the crown changed hands three times in as many corners, as Andretti’s Jake Dennis made a late charge from the back of the pack with Wehrlein coming under severe pressure from Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar TCS Racing), who did his bit in his teammate’s fight for the title, and in Jaguar’s battle for Teams’ honors.
At the end of Lap 27, Wehrlein was told by his race engineer to let a charging Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing) past but that, and a squeeze from da Costa, left the pre-race standings leader shuffled all the way to 12th and outside the points with Dennis able to make it by for eighth, enough to the top of the points table, through his first ATTACK MODE while Evans sat fourth.
Ultimately, Evans could climb no higher, having bided his time to take ATTACK MODE; the Mahindras and Barnard had gapped the Jaguar driver and the rest out-front. A win was the only outcome that would have seen the Kiwi take the crown, even with Wehrlein being once again shuffled down the order and out of the points-paying positions by his own contact with Envision Racing’s Joel Eriksson at Turn 16 on Lap 31.
The ensuing chaos handed caught out Dennis too, and the Brit was eliminated from the race and title contention with damage to his car caused in the melee.
Barnard’s late ATTACK MODE activation saw him able to muscle by Mortara for P2, then polesitter de Vries for the win with a sneaky dive up the inside of the Season 8 champion into the final turn with just two laps left to run.
The Brit was able to convert to become the youngest Formula E race winner at 22 years and 76 days old, superseding Maximilian Guenther, on DS Automobiles final Formula E outing.
Though Evans couldn’t do enough to seal Drivers’ honors, his fourth-placed finish ensured Jaguar TCS Racing would once again be crowned Teams’ World Champions, just ahead of Porsche who secured the Manufacturers’ World Championship back in Tokyo.
Wehrlein becomes just the second two-time Formula E title-winner in the series’ 12-season history, alongside Jean-Eric Vergne.
