Mexico City E-Prix: Pascal opens up Formula E season 10 from pole to win
13th January 2024Tag Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein opened up the 10th season of Formula E as he controlled his race from pole to victory at the Mexico City season opener.
Sergio Sette Camara, of ERT Racing, was set to miss out on the opening race of the season as the team withdrew the Brazilian from the race as a result of a technical issue
The safety car was deployed after Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns crashed into the barrier, stranding his car in the middle of the track on lap nine.
Wehrlein lined up in pole position and Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi lined up alongside the German driver, ahead of the opening race of season 10.
How the race unfolded…
It was the perfect start for Wehrlein as he stormed out into the opening corner of the season, unchallenged by Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi who successfully defended his track position from Maserati’s Maximilian Gunther.
The yellow flag was quickly brought out as ABT’s Lucas di Grassi was seen on a slow drive around the circuit. The Brazilian soon retired from the race with brake issues.
On the race’s second lap, the yellow flag made its notorious return as both Nico Muller (ABT) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Porsche) tagged each other. As the two raced into turn three, Da Costa tagged the rear axle of Muller which sent him into the outside barrier whereas the Porsche managed to limp on for another corner before stopping on the track.
https://twitter.com/ERTFormulaETeam/status/1746260293439615285
Whilst both Buemi and Wehrlein continued to leap over each other for the race lead, the former was out in front when the Full Course Yellow was deployed on lap nine. The FYC was a result of Frijns who, in his return to reigning champions Envision Racing, had lost traction of his rear tyres into T17 and crashed into the barriers.
The FYC was soon upgraded to a full safety car as Frijns was stranded in the middle of the circuit.
On lap 11, Buemi led the pack back to racing. However, he could not catch Wehrlein napping as the German remained on his gearbox. On the restart lap, Buemi sacrificed his lead to take his final bout of attack mode but couldn’t work his way back to the front before it ran out.
In the dying laps, Wehrlein remained out ahead of Buemi in second place. Both drivers had plenty of energy to last them the remaining five laps of the race, but the teams continued to wait for the news of the added laps due to the safety car.
On lap 32, it was revealed that race control was set to add two additional laps at the end of the race. This increased the final lap count from 35 to 37. Despite Buemi’s best efforts, the Swiss driver was not able to cut down the small gap between himself and Wehrlein, and the Porsche went on to take the first win of the season.
Podium:
- Pascal Wehrlein, Tag Heuer Porsche*
- Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing
- Nick Cassidy, Jaguar
* – Pending investigation for a technical infraction
That’s it for the article; Mexico City E-Prix: Pascal opens up Formula E season 10 from pole to win!
Read more Formula E here:
- McLaren Formula E announce Taylor Barnard as reserve and development driver
- Formula E Season 10: Where are they racing and when?
- Formula E Season 10: Who’s driving for who?
- Sam Bird joins McLaren for Season 10 Formula E championship
- Rast and McLaren part ways after 2023 season
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
