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The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season has entered its second half this weekend with the Jakarta International E-Prix going down on Saturday. Porsche came into this round hoping for a good result, perhaps even a repeat of its victory in Mexico City, but sadly it was not meant to be. In qualifying Andre Lotterer failed to get into the pole shootout duels by mere thousandths of a second, was forced to start the race from eighth. Pascal Wehrlein made it into the duels, and put up a respectable fight good enough for a sixth place starting position. Wehrlein, however, had a penalty hanging over his head from the previous race in Berlin, and was dropped to P11 for the start. That wouldn’t be the only penalty Porsche had to deal with, either. During the race both Porsche teammates got away to an incredible start, with Wehrlein picking up three positions on lap one, and later swapped spots with his teammate. It looked good for both cars to finish in the points, running 8th and 9th at the checkered flag. Unfortunately in the early running Lotterer made contact with a competitor as he muscled his way past, and caught a 5-second penalty as a result, relegating him to 11th, and out of the points post-race.
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “That was a tough day for the team under extremely challenging conditions. In qualifying, André missed out on making it into the duels for the first time by just three-thousandths of a second. Pascal, however, scored a respectable sixth place. Although the penalty meant he had to start the race from the eleventh grid spot, he got off the line well. Both managed to settle into the top 10 and advance up the order. After 25 laps, they were just five seconds off the leader. However, in the final third of the race, they lost positions after nudges with rivals. Moreover, a time penalty at the end saw André finish outside the points. At five of the seven remaining races this season, we may experience the same extreme heat as here in Jakarta so we have to work hard to come back stronger for the next races under such conditions.”
André Lotterer, Porsche works driver (#36): “That wasn’t an easy race. My start wasn’t great but I fought my way back. I couldn’t avoid a collision and was thrown out of the points. Even in qualifying, it was difficult to turn a perfect lap in such extreme temperatures. Still, I only missed out getting into the duels by three-thousandths of a second.”
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#94): “At the end of the day it wasn’t that bad. My start was great and I managed to gain several positions on the first lap. But then I had two contacts with competitors and that prevented me from performing as I’d expected. More would definitely have been possible today. Now I’m hoping for a smooth weekend in Marrakesh.”
The Formula E world championship is a tough one, and it’s obvious that the Porsche team has some pace when it gets a few things going its way. Here’s hoping that the team will find another victory soon. The next race for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is the Marrakesh E-Prix, round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on 2 July. The last time the squad raced there was in its debut season in February 2020.
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