Pascal Wehrlein produced an incredible recovery drive at the Formula E Miami E-Prix. The German driver fought through wet conditions to make up nine positions and finish on the third step of the podium. With the combined effort of the Porsche drivers this weekend, the team secured a double podium. This puts the team at the top of the Manufacturer’s Championship with 88 points, ahead of the Jeddah E-Prix weekend.
Speaking about his solid race at the Miami E-Prix in the media pen, Wehrlein said:
“It was hard work. I think something I didn’t expect this morning. I wasn’t really happy with the car the whole weekend and luckily, we’ve put a lot of effort into that and finding the issue which we did. So first of all, a big thank you to the team. It wasn’t easy up to the race. We scored a lot of points, not only for myself but also on Nico’s [Müller] side and you don’t have a double podium for the team very often this season. Hopefully we have it more often this year but it was a strong race.”
The Porsche driver began the Miami E-Prix from 11th on the grid, while his teammate, Nico Müller, started from pole. By Lap 20, Wehrlein had climbed to P6 and was making bold moves to reach podium contention. 10 laps later, the German had reached P4 and could already taste the potential for a podium finish. After picking up his final Attack Mode, he managed to overtake Nyck De Vries for third place.
Always room for improvement for Porsche after successful Miami E-Prix
As Wehrlein mentioned, he was not happy with the Porsche 99X Electric during the Free Practice session in Miami. However, with the team’s hard effort they managed to identify the issue and improve it before the E-Prix. When asked to elaborate on the issue with the car, the German remained tight-lipped, stating:
“I can’t say much about it, but it affected my balance quite a bit. I wasn’t really happy with how the car was in FP1 and FP2, not being in the top ten even. There was clearly something, but I can’t say too much.”
Next, he was asked about heading to Jeddah as the Top Manufacturer, and said:
“It’s still early days. Just did three races, so many more races to go but it’s important to bank good points early in the season and that give you momentum, that gives you a good feeling, that gives you confidence. There’s a point where mid-season towards the last third of the season, it’s important to be good in the standings and then fight for the championship. So far, I would say we had a very good start. I would rate it as eight out of ten. There’s always a bit of room for improvement, but it was a very solid start and we can be happy with that.”
Certainly, Wehrlein has had a good start as he sits second in the Driver Standings after three races. He finds himself only two points behind Nick Cassidy. With plenty races left, Wehrlein can only hope to continue his strong momentum. As the Miami E-Prix weekend came to a conclusion with the Porsche team on top, the next track action takes place on February 13th in Jeddah.
