wehrlein

Formula E returned to Miami and this race was a slow burner before we went from zero to ultimate hero due to 1 collision.

The race begun with Norman Nato claiming a debut pole position for Nissan and his first points of Season 11 with Jake Dennis beside him on the front row. Unfortunately, this race was a pack racing style race so no one was in favour of leading due to the energy loss obtained. Da Costa managed to sneak his way up to P2 ahead of Dennis before De Vries led the way from the Nissan of Nato and the Porsche of Da Costa on lap 2. Oliver Rowland suffered a horrific qualifying and was down to P14 after several laps with the Cupra Kiro of David Beckmann falling down from P8 to P11. As this race went on, it became clear that drivers at the rear of the field had much more energy than those at the front due to the overtaking nature. We were nearly a third of the way through the race before the Envision Racing car of Buemi pulled the plug and went for attack mode, a move which ultimately helped him to get up the field. The DS Penske of Jean-Eric Vergne decided to take a little detour across the grass.Vandoorne followed Buemi’s line into the attack mode which ultimately helped him. Beckmann had to pit due to a puncture and that was the end of his race.

We had a very odd situation as some drivers took attack mode, the Mahindra of De Vries stopped on track and that brought out the safety car. However, the Season 7 champ managed to get going again which was probably the shortest safety car in Formula E history! Wehrlein was leading from the restart but was 4% DOWN on Da Costa. As the race began again, a big crash happened at the chicane in sector 3. Hughes, Guenther and Evans were all caught up as Hughes went deep into the barrier, Guenther couldn’t stop in time and Evans then collided with Guenther. The Jaguar of Evans and DS Penske of Guenther managed to get going but Hughes had to retire. This, however, brought out the red flag. As drivers were in the pitlane, Cassidy received a 5 second time penalty for track limits. However, it became clear that due to the amount of time it would take to finish the laps, drivers with 6 minutes of attack mode remaining would end up receiving a penalty for not using all of their attack mode.

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – APRIL 12: Nico Muller of Switzerland driving the (51) Andretti Formula E Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 during the Miami E-Prix, Round 5 of the 2025 FIA Formula E World Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on April 12, 2025 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Andrew Ferraro/LAT Images) Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

As drivers took their positions for a sprint weekend in Formula E, everyone knew this was going to be a mad dash to the end. Da Costa led the race from Mortara and Wehrlein before Wehrlein took it away from his teammate. Da Costa had no attack mode remaining so he fell down the grid like a stone in water. However, due to the attack mode penalties, hope was not lost. Norman Nato took the chequered flag first but Nato, Rowland, Barnard, Bird and Frijns all later received 10 second penalties post race due to their attack mode incompletion. This meant that Pascal Wehrlein took the win ahead of Lucas Di Grassi in P2 who scored Lola Yamaha Abt’s first podium in Formula E with Da Costa finishing P3! Nico Mueller finished P4 in Andretti’s home race, Edoardo Mortara P5, Norman Nato P6, Dan Ticktum P7, Robin Frijns P8, Jake Dennis P9 and Zane Maloney P10. However, the boy from Barbados later received a 5 second time penalty for not following the race directors instructions so he did not score his maiden points. Oliver Rowland took the final points paying position.

Writers Predictions:

Before the weekend, I made some predictions! Lets see how they went:

Pole Position: Pascal Wehrlein

This one didn’t entirely come true considering he didn’t even make the duels.

Race Winner: Taylor Barnard

I was hoping Taylor would pull something out of the bag but after his non existant duels appearance, I knew from then it was all over for the young Briton.

Biggest Surprise: Andretti

I could try and argue that I was correct as they scored a P4 and a P9. Of course, at their home race they were hoping for more than this and I think Lola Yamaha Abt deserved this one more.

Biggest Surprise: Mahindra

This one did not go too well either. Even Mortara scoring 5 points was a driver surprise but not a whole team surprise.

See you all for Monaco’s double header WITH Pit Boost in a few weeks!

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Qualifying

Qualifying for the first race in the Gen 3 era of Formula E in Saudi Arabia got off to a less-than-ideal start for Maserati as Maximilian Guenther crashed early on in the Group A session. He was uninjured after the collision with the barrier.

Ticktum and Rowland went head to head in the first quarter final with Ticktum taking the victory.

Di Grassi and Hughes went head to head for the second quarter final and Hughes taking the victory in that one.

It was Evans against Buemi in the third quarter final and Buemi took the victory.

Rast and Bird went head to head for the final quarter final with Rast losing out to Bird by 2 tenths.

In the first semi final, Hughes took victory over Ticktum which saw Hughes go through to the final.

The second semi final saw Buemi take victory over Bird by less than a tenth.

The final saw an epic battle from Buemi and Hughes. Buemi just took pole over Hughes.

Sebastian Buemi with his Pole Trophy in ahead of the Diriyah E-Prix.
Credit: Formula E

Race

Before the race began, it was announced that Sergio Sette Camara would have a 3 place penalty for impeding Pascal Wehrlein in qualifying.

Maximilian Guenther’s crash in qualifying resulted in him not starting the race.

The 39 lap event started with contact between Rowland and Da Costa which resulted in them both pitting early on. This led to the safety car being brought out for less than a lap. Evans hit Rene Rast on lap 1 turn 1 as well. It was a calm safety car restart but then Sam Bird got Jake Hughes who started in P2. However, Bird was not done yet. He then started to hunt Buemi down and he eventually got him.

Fast track to Lap 7 where Bird took the lead over from Buemi after his hunt. Onto lap 11, Evans tried to get past Rast but locked up and lost a few places as a result. Lap 15 saw Muller pit and eventually retire from the EPrix.

Lap 25 saw an epic battle between Pascal Wehrlein and Sam Bird. Wehrlein had more energy and an extra attack more compared to Bird. He managed to stay with him but going into turn 18, he locked up and lost the place he gained for a few seconds. Further down, Cassidy was trying to get past the Andretti of Jake Dennis but instead, Dennis and Cassidy got the McLaren of Jake Hughes when Hughes had to get his attack mode.

Enter the final stages of the race and Wehrlein was still on Sam Bird’s tail. Onto lap 30 and turn 18, Wehrlein gets past Bird and maintains it. Buemi had to get his last attack mode which put Dennis up into 3rd place after starting 11th.

Lap 33 comes around and Dennis was on a charge. Dennis takes Bird on lap 34 just as Wehrlein gets his second attack mode. Wehrlein came out just ahead of Dennis but it saw a battle to the end which saw Wehrlein take his second victory in Formula E.

Further down the field, Maserati’s last remaining car of Eduardo Mortara had to retire on lap 33. He joined Muller as the second retirement of the race. Muller’s teammate Kevin Van Der Linde only managed P16 on his debut for the injured Robin Frijns. Da Costa and Rowland also managed to make it to the end of the race but finishing in the bottom 2 positions due to their collisions on lap 1. Despite obtaining P4 in qualifying, Dan Ticktum dropped down to P14 by the end of the race with his teammate Sergio Sette Camara behind him in 15th.

Di Grassi, Nato and Vandoorne finished off the non points scorers with Evans Lotterer, Hughes, Vergne and Cassidy making up from P10 top 6 respectfully. Rene Rast for McLaren managed P5 with the fastest lap and Buemi finishing P4 to round off the non podium positions.

Wehrlein took the win ahead of Dennis in P2 and Bird in P3.

Tag: wehrlein

Formula E Season 11 Round 5: Wehrlein Takes The Top Step in Miami

Formula E Diriyah Qualifying and EPrix-Horror for Maserati and Victory for Wehrlein