Pascal Wehrlein dominated the opening race of the Shanghai Formula E round as he converted pole into victory despite rain and a safety car intervention.
Having retained the lead form pole, the Porsche driver only briefly handed top spot to Jake Dennis, before pitting at the end of lap 15 and then cycling into the lead once everyone had completed their stops.
The much-anticipated rain, which had forced organisers to revise the schedule, had started to fall from lap 5 and intensified after the stops, forcing officials to send out the safety car on lap 19, – denying those who had just started an Attack Mode.
Among them were Edoardo Mortara, who had climbed to third, but also Pepe Martì, Dan Ticktum and Nick Cassidy.
The safety car released the field on lap 22 – adding one lap to the race duration – and Wehrlein immediately activated Attack Mode to try to break away, leaving behind him Antonio Felix da Costa, who was unable to catch him and had to settle for second place by 1.6 seconds.
Behind the Jaguar driver, Andretti’s Dennis completed the podium and Drugovich, the latter able in the closing stages to put a gap between himself and Nyck De Vries, who at the wheel of his Mahindra made a fantastic comeback from the back of the field to fifth place.
Maximilian Guenther, DS penske
Photo by: DPPI
Jean-Eric Vergne had indeed been in contention for the top five but got sucked into the midfield battles in the second part of the race, partly due to contact with Mortara that unsettled him and made him lose touch with the leading group. The Citroen driver took sixth after beating Joel Eriksson to the line who was charging back with his Envision.
Mitch Evans also has reasons to complain about a race that had seen him start among the frontrunners and then drop down the order to eighth place at the finish. The Jaguar driver still leads the Formula E standings but his advantage has been slashed to three points by Wehrlein.
DS Penske’s Maximilian Guenther and Mortara rounded out the top 10, with the Mahindra driver investigated post-race for the contact with Vergne.
The second Shanghai Formula E race will take place at 5:05am UK time, after the schedule changes due to the weather precautions.
Formula E Shanghai E-Prix results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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