Formula E: Jakarta E-Prix double header review
Porsche’s Pascal Werhlein regained control of Season 9 as Max Guenther also secured Maserati’s first Formula E victory in an eventful Jakarta E-Prix weekend.
Round 10
Having led the way for the majority of the campaign, Porsche’s Pascal Werhlein responded to losing his place at the top of the Drivers’ Standings with his third win of the season.
The German had slipped down the table with a tenth placed finish last time out in Monaco, but Werhlein regained control of the season with a controlled drive in the Indonesian capital.
Porsche’s Wehrlein started third and traded places for the lead with polesitter Maximilian Guenther over the opening third of the E-Prix. From Lap 12 and the second Attack Mode activations, Wehrlein was able to manage things comfortably, despite temperatures reaching the mid thirties.
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis started and ended the race in second place, his fourth consecutive podium and his sixth overall this season.
Polesitter Max Guenther secured a well-earned podium place with his third place finish, Maserati’s second podium in the manufacturer’s debut season.
The DS Penske pairing of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne finished fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Guenther’s teammate Edoardo Mortara who finished only his fifth race of the season.
Envision’s Nick Cassidy failed to build on his win from Monaco, with the Kiwi coming in seventh place ahead of Werhlein’s teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa. ABT Cupra’s Robin Frijns and McLaren’s Jake Hughes completed the top ten.
Jaguar’s Mitch Evans was the only driver not to finish following another collision with teammate Sam Bird, who finished second from last in 20th. With just three laps to go, Bird was utilizing his second Attack Mode when an error sent him into the back of Evan’s car. Evans was in eighth at the time, having started 11th, and the incident cost Jaguar some valuable points.
In a quote from the Jaguar team after Round 10, Bird said he took “full responsibility for the incident on track”.
“I want to apologise to the team for the mistake. We had a difficult qualifying and race, and unfortunately, so far this weekend, the car hasn’t been performing at the level we would hope. We’ll regroup tonight and come back stronger tomorrow.”
Bird was given a five-second time penalty for the collision with his teammate, plus two more penalty points taking his total up to seven for the last 12 months. If a driver reaches 12 of these penalty points in a year, they will receive a one-race ban.
Round 11
Max Guenther made the most of his second consecutive pole position to claim Maserati MSG Racing’s first win in Formula E.
The German driver had nailed qualifying over the weekend in Jakarta but was unable to convert his starting position into a win on the Saturdfiay. However, Guenther managed his Attack Mode’s expertly to claim his first victory of the season.
His closest rival on the day, Jake Dennis, made the move for his Attack Mode early but was unable to snatch the lead over Guenther with his extra power, and by the time Gunether made the move his second activation, he had built up a big enough lead to come out in front of the chasing Brit.
The strategy worked, and by the time Guenther crossed the line, he had 2.822 seconds on Dennis more than 18 seconds on third-placed man Mitch Evans.
Nobody had won by more than two seconds in the GEN3 era since Dennis’ season-opening victory in Mexico City and that margin was the biggest win in the last ten rounds. That marked Maserati’s first world championship single-seater win since Juan-Manuel Fangio’s legendary victory at the Nurburgring all the way back in 1957.
Finishing behind Guenther, Dennis and Evans was the unlikely pairing of the Nissan Formula E Team, with Sacha Fenestraz and Norman Nato coming in fourth and fifth. As the race reached its final few laps, the pair darted up the grid with Fenestraz’s move on reigning World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne one of the moves of the race.
Further down the grid, however, standings leader Nick Cassidy came into contact with his closest title rival Pascal Werhlein on lap 20, with the Kiwi coming off second best and shuffling down the pack into 19th and with significant damage.
With Werhlein securing a sixth placed finish, the German had regained the lead in the Drivers’ Standings with five races of the season left.
Werhlein finished just ahead of his teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa, and Edoardo Mortara, Stoffel Vandoorne and Seb Buemi of Envision Racing rounded out the top ten.
