Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein has moved into the lead of the Formula E standings with a dominant drive in the first race of the Jeddah E-Prix.
Although Wehrlein was already in a strong position in the first-third of the race, it was ultimately the timing of his Pit Boost Stop and his impressive speed in Attack Mode that ultimately decided the race in his favour.
The German driver pulled out a lead of 7.5s before he ran out of the 600kW mode, allowing him to cruise to the chequered flag and score a comfortable win in Saudi Arabia. Polesitter Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar) rounded out the podium spots.
There was drama on the starting grid when Nyck de Vries struggled to engage drive in his Mahindra and had to be wheeled back to the pitlane.
When the race eventually got under way, de Vries’ team-mate Mortara suffered a major tyre lock-up, allowing fellow front-row-starter Maximilian Guenther to grab the lead into Turn 1.
Nissan’s Norman Nato slotted into second ahead of the other DS Penske of Taylor Barnard, with Wehrlein and a recovering Mortara completing the top five.
The virtual safety car was deployed before there was further shuffling at the front, as Pepe Marti pushed Zane Maloney into the wall at Turn 7, leaving the Lola Yamaha Abt stranded on track.
Maximilian Gunther, DS Penske
Photo by: Oscar Lumley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Guenther perfected the restart when the race resumed on lap 4, but Nato managed to find a way past the DS Penske driver two tours later to put Nissan at the front for the first time in the race.
Further back, Wehrlein was on the move in the factory Porsche, passing Barnard at the restart before snatching second from Guenther on lap 14.
On the next lap, Nato willingly moved out of Wehrlein’s way, but it was Guenther who was in the lead – courtesy of an early Attack Mode – when the field headed into the pitlane for their mandatory Pit Boost recharge.
Among the leading group, Wehrlein was the first to head into the pits on lap 18, with the likes of Guenther, Nato and Mortara following him a lap later.
Guenther initially held on to the lead after the pitstop phase, but Wehrlein had no trouble passing his countryman, using the Attack Mode to blast past him on lap 20.
Thereafter, the Porsche driver pulled away from the rest of the field, building a lead of over seven seconds with 10 laps to run.
That meant when Mortara was on the move after arming his Attack Mode late in the race, Wehrlein had a comfortable buffer at the front of the field.
Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Although the German had to aggressively save energy to make it to the finish line, he was still able to take the chequered flag with a comfortable margin of 2.6s, securing Porsche’s first win in Formula E since the 2025 Miami E-Prix.
Mortara crossed the finish line in second to put Mahindra back on the podium, while Evans leapt from 12th on the grid to finish a solid third for Jaguar.
Nico Mueller rounded out a strong day for Porsche in fourth, while Jaguar’s Antonio Felix da Costa and Citroen star Nick Cassidy took advantage of late Attack Modes to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
Sebastien Buemi put Envision in seventh ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne (Citroen), while Jake Dennis (Andretti) and Barnard (Andretti) completed the top 10.
Guenther’s decision to take the Attack Mode prior to his Pit Boost stop backfired, leaving him outside the points in 11th.
Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro) and Nato also dropped down the order late in the race, while reigning Formula E champion Oliver Rowland endured a disastrous race en route to 17th.
Formula E Jeddah E-Prix – Race 1 results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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