Formula E grid prepares for the first leg of the Shanghai double header with Race 11. The session will start earlier compared to its original schedule, due to foreseen heavy precipitations.
Maloney and Nato are both serving grid penalties for changing components on their challengers, while former Formula E champion Wehrlein starts in pole.
Dennis overtook Evans at the start, with Wehrlein holding on to his starting position. Behind, Da Costa, Günther, Drugovich, Vergne and Buemi complete the initial top 10.
Maloney and Nato both serve their stop and go penalty, as Vergne loses two spots to Gunther and Rowland. Drugovich moved up to P3, definitely aiming for another podium finish following the removal of his Sanya one.
Rain picks up
On Lap 4, rain intensity begins to pick up as the driver order shuffles: Günther goes third, ahead of Dennis and Da Costa. Barnard pits following a puncture following contact with Buemi, while Günther and Dennis both have very short leading stunts on Lap 5.
Drugovich loses several spots, dropping at the back of the top 0, while his teammate gets the lead of the race. Da Costa too overtakes his former teammate
Ticktum and Eriksson fight for P11, with the Envision man getting the upper hand. Muller tries to overtake Buemi on the outside, but runs wide into the runoff zone.
Rowland moves up to P5, overtaking Evans. The championship leader gets investigated for moving under braking.
Wehrlein Da Costa Dennis Günther Rowland Evans Buemi Vergne Mueller Drugovich we’re the top 10 on lap 10. DS Penske’ Günther tries to take from Dennis the third position but is unsuccessful. Dennis runs wide at Turn 4, with Günther returning ahead of him on Lap 12.
Vergne tries to get by Dennis but he is unsuccessful, whereas Rowland overtakes Evans for P6. On Lap 14 the top 10 began to have enough energy to qualify for picking up the Pit Boost, but nobody dived into the pits.
Pit Boost shenanigans
On Lap 15 Drugovich, Di Grassi and Rowland pit. The top 7 by lap 15 included Wehrlein, Dennis, Da Cosat, Vergne, Günther, Evans. The rain starts to slow as Wehrlein pits, leaving Dennis, on an energy saving strategy running in P1. The Brit pits on Lap 17, returning behind Wehrlein and Da Costa. Günther, on the other hand, resumes the race behind both Rowland and Drugovich. Martí leads the remaining 4 drivers who haven’t pitted yet by Lap 19: Martí De Vries, Eriksson and Cassidy. They all pit on Lap 19.
Martí, Mortara, Ticktum and Cassidy take up their only Attack Mode, as a Safety Car for weather conditions comes out! What a pity for those drivers. Ticktum pits to fix tyre pressure.
Top ten behind the Safety Car includes: Wehrlein, Da Costa, Mortara, Vergne, Martí, Dennis, Rowland, De Vries, Drugovich and Evans.
Cassidy too dives into the pits to check his tyre pressure. Session resumes at the beginning of Lap 23, with De Vries overtaking Rowland. All remaining drivers opt to pick their Attack Boost, as Wehrlein develops a 1 second gap immediately on Da Costa in P2. Drugovich overtakes Martí, with Mueller overtaking Eriksson.
Collisions and overtakes
Vergne and Mortara are under investigation for causing a collision. Replays show a bit of contact between the two of them at Turn 7. Mortara tries to get by Dennis in spite of his lack of additional power, and he is ultimately able to after a well fought, clean duel.
Drugovixh, Vergne, De Vries, Evans, Rowland and Günther complete the top 10. Mortara then loses position to the Andrettis, De Vries, Evans and Günther as he struggles with his rear tyre.
One laps is added to the full race distance. Wehrlein has a 2.8s lead, while Eriksson overtakes boldly on the outside Evans with his later Attack Mode, as the championship leader struggles with tyres.
At the same time, Da Costa has a 3.3s gap on Dennis entering in the final racing lap, as no overtakes are completed.
Thus, Wehrlein wins in Shanghai, from Da Costa and Dennis with a very dominant display, always appearing in control. It’s his second win of the year, following Jeddah Race 1. Moreover, following this performance, the German reduced his gap to championship leader Evans from nineteen to three points, with Dennis right there too.
Tune in tomorrow to do it all again!
