- Championship lead for Porsche in all three standings
- Da Costa finishes second, Wehrlein third
- Porsche front row lock-out and pole record for Wehrlein
Porsche has started into its racing year with a 1-2 qualifying lock-out followed by a double podium and moved into the lead of all three standings in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Mexico City E-Prix.
For the second consecutive race, reigning world champion Pascal Wehrlein scored three points for qualifying in pole position. No Formula E driver has claimed four poles on one track before. António Félix da Costa completed the achievement of a front row lock-out for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team.
Throughout the race Porsche cars held five of the top ten slots. At times, four Porsche 99X Electric were leading the field even. Da Costa, Wehrlein and Jake Dennis of the Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E exchanged places for the lead for the majority of the race. Ultimately they finished second, third and fourth after sucumming to Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, who retained an Attack Mode advantage after a race restart following a safety car period. Dennis’ Andretti teammate Nico Müller scored his first points in the Porsche 99X Electric after finishing ninth.
Comments on the Mexico City E-Prix
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “A 1-2 in qualifying and a double podium for António and Pascal, what a day for us! Today we took the lead in the drivers’ standings with António, in the teams’ standings as well as in the manufacturers’ standings. It’s a bit bitter sweet, though, because clearly the car performance and the domination that we showed could have resulted a 1-2 finish, but you cannot gamble on such a scenario and we only just missed out due to an unlucky safety car. Congratulations to Ollie. I’m really happy with P2, P3 and the qualifying result. The pace showed that we can build on this and we’re looking forward to the whole season.”
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#1): “We finished the race on the podium with P3. I have very mixed emotions, though. On one hand I am disappointed that we didn’t win because I felt like we could have. On the other hand I’m so happy to bounce back like this from São Paulo. The guys completely rebuilt my car, they did a fantastic job with that. We also had pole position, so very good points this weekend.”
António Félix da Costa, Porsche works driver (#13): “That’s a double podium, so firstly to all the boys and girls on the team: thank you so much for the incredible work to allow us to show our talent on track. I thought we had the win today, I really did, and then the safety car came to spoil the party. Nonetheless, I am happy with this, a double podium for the team and two podiums in two races for me.”
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship – standings after 2 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification
1. António Félix da Costa (POR), 37 points
2. Oliver Rowland (GBR), 25 points
3. Mitch Evans (NZL), 25 points
4. Pascal Wehrlein (GER), 21 points
6. Jake Dennis (GBR), 13 points
14. Dan Ticktum (GBR), 4 points
15. Nico Müller (SUI), 2 points
Teams’ classification
1. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (GER), 58 points
2. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team (GBR), 27 points
3. Jaguar TCS Racing (GBR), 25 points
7. Andretti Formula E (USA), 15 points
10. CUPRA Kiro (USA), 4 points
Manufacturers’ classification
1. Porsche, 55 points
2. Nissan, 54 points
3. Jaguar, 41 points
