Pascal Wehrlein wins out in dry-to-wet Shanghai E-Prix, closes gap in championship
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein triumphed at the end of a fantastic Round 12 in Shanghai, with former teammate António Félix da Costa only just back in second. Andretti's Jake Dennis rounded out the podium after 30 laps of racing in China, scoring a second successive podium on Chinese soil.
His teammate Felipe Drugovich finished fourth, with Mahindra's Nyck de Vries recovering from a lowly grid slot to finish fifth after an excellent drive over the course of the race. Further back, Citroën's Jean-Éric Vergne took his best result of the season with sixth, ahead of Envision's Joel Eriksson in seventh.
Championship leader Mitch Evans still maintained his position atop the standings, with eighth on the road, ahead of DS Penske's Maximilian Günther, while Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara rounded out the top 10, taking home one point after starting towards the rear of the grid.
An excellent haul of points for Wehrlein saw him make plenty of ground in the standings, closing down the gap to just three points in the standings, while the likes of Evans, Mortara and Rowland all encountered difficult races.
AS IT UNFOLDED - Shanghai E-Prix (Round 12)
With an earlier start to the race weekend due to inclement weather, qualifying would see the championship-contending duo of Wehrlein and Evans on the front row, ahead of Sanya E-Prix winner Jake Dennis alongside.
With dark clouds looming in the background, all eyes would be on how the drivers navigated the conditions in the early laps, as they chased track position before the impending showers hit.
Off the five red lights, the pole-sitter Wehrlein would maintain his position into Turn 1, with Dennis managing to get past Evans to sit in second. However, the biggest gainers in the early laps would be the other Andretti of Felipe Drugovich, who had risen all the way up to third at one point.
He would sit towards the front of the field, with the likes of Maximilian Günther slotting into third. Further back, the other DS Penske of Taylor Barnard would dive into the pits at the end of Lap 4, reporting a puncture that put paid to his Shanghai race.
Dennis would claim the lead on Lap 4, with Andretti reporting to him over the radio about their idea on him leading the race. Yet, this would be for just a lap, with Wehrlein claiming back the race lead once again.
However, the drivers would be intent on pushing hard all along, with Dennis and da Costa then claiming the top two spots. The lead battle, though, would keep changing as the droplets of rain grew on the screens, with drivers happy to spend more energy in maintaining the crucial track position.
A brief off at Turns 10 and 11 would see Wehrlein's teammate Nico Müller lose two positions to Rowland and Vergne onto Lap 9. Rowland would continue his ascent up the order, muscling his way past championship leader Evans off Turn 11 on the following lap, up into fifth.
The Shanghai E-Prix would see its third different race leader all through, as da Costa now became the race leader onto Lap 12. Plenty of drivers would be scrapping for position, as the Pit Boost windows started to open up on Lap 13, as it did for the entire top 10.
Rowland, who had ascended eight positions from his starting grid slot at one point, would start to drop back after consuming energy, with Drugovich's pass into Turn 1 dropping the Nissan man to eighth.
The Brazilian would be the first to take his Pit Boost onto Lap 15, ahead of Sébastien Buemi's Envision, while Lucas di Grassi too came in for his dose of extra power.
The following lap would see the likes of Rowland, da Costa and Wehrlein come into the pits, as did the Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara, who had just passed Cassidy around the outside of Turn 7 earlier.
The Mahindra man was also the first to take his attack mode, looking to take advantage of the clear air ahead to make up ground.
As the leaders took their Pit Boost, it was Wehrlein who led from da Costa's Jaguar, with Dennis nearly losing position to Rowland's Nissan as they headed into Turn 1.
Evans, meanwhile, was the final front-runner to take his Pit Boost onto Lap 18, as he rejoined back in 10th. Although, the Pit Boost stage would work out strongly for the likes of Nyck de Vries and Pepe Martí, who rejoined well into the top 10.
As Mortara climbed up to third and Martí took his attack mode, the safety car had been called out, with the conditions on track getting wetter and the rain intensifying.
There would be further disappointment for Ticktum, who would come into the pits while in attack mode, with a puncture reported on the front right tyre. Cassidy, too, would make a further stop to swap tyres, in a bid to navigate the rain period on lower tyre pressures.
The safety car would come into the pits onto Lap 23, with the rest of the grid all entering into attack mode into the wet period of the race. Utilising the extra power would also provide drivers with the crucial All-Wheel Drive on a slippery track, helping drivers maximise track postions.
For the likes of Mortara and Pepe Martí, this would be a major challenge, as they had already utilised their attack modes. The Mahindra man would scrap tooth and nail for every position, as he showed by attempting to fend off Dennis for third, while Vergne too would have to fight his way past.
As the drivers ran out of attack mode, race control announced an addition of one lap to the overall race length, taking it to 30 laps. Envision's Joel Eriksson began to benefit from an off-set in attack modes, climbing up several positions to eventually sit seventh, ahead of Evans in eighth.
Rowland, though, had dropped well outside the top 10, after losing out on his attack mode too. As the drivers headed onto the final lap, Wehrlein still held a 2.5-second advantage to da Costa in second, who would hold a further three-second gap to Dennis in third.
It was indeed a second win of the season for Wehrlein, matching the likes of Dennis, Evans and da Costa who have also scored two race wins each in Season 12. Here's how it all panned out after Round 12 in Shanghai, after Mortara's five-second time penalty for his collision with Vergne at Turn 7.
Classification - Round 12 (Shanghai)
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
António Félix da Costa (Jaguar)
Jake Dennis (Andretti)
Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)
Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing)
Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)
Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)
Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
Max Günther (DS Penske)
Nico Müller (Porsche)
Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro)
Oliver Rowland (Nissan)
Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)*
Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)
Lucas di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)
Norman Nato (Nissan)
*- Penalty for collision with Vergne
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