Pascal Wehrlein secures Formula E podium in Madrid: "I'm more than happy with it!"

It was a hectic Formula E Saturday in Madrid: Pascal Wehrlein snatched third place from Dan Ticktum in a very close race at the very last second and thus secured his 21st podium in Formula E. Before that, he was unlucky in a collision with Nyck de Vries. After the race, he was e-Formula.news available for an interview, spoke about his race day and looked ahead to what will happen during the break between Madrid and Berlin.

Even qualifying was not entirely ideal for Wehrlein. Although he managed to qualify for the duel phase, his quarter-final duel with eventual race winner Antonio Felix da Costa was the end of the line. The reason for this was a problem with the front powertrain of his car, which then had to be replaced. He therefore started the race from 6th place.

The German got off to a good start and initially worked his way up to second place behind pole-sitter Nick Cassidy. In a battle with Nyck de Vries, the Dutchman drove into the back of his car. While the German came out of the situation relatively unscathed, de Vries lost his front wing, dropped back a long way and ultimately received a penalty.

Even after the Pit Boosts, Wehrlein continued to play a role in the tight battle for victory. On the final lap of the race, both Jaguars and Dan Ticktum's Cupra Kiro were ahead of him. As both Jaguar drivers battled with the Briton for the win, Wehrlein seized the moment and overtook Ticktum.

"It was a pretty hard hit"

After the race, the season 10 world champion told e-Formula.news: "I am more than happy with third place. Normally I'm not that excited about a third place. After what happened with de Vries in the first few laps today, I didn't think I would be able to continue - that was a pretty hard hit. When I then saw the rear wing, I didn't expect to be able to finish in one of the front places at all."

"I like oversteer in general, but today it was a bit too much," he laughed. "It was clear that we were not fast enough towards the end of the race when everyone was pushing to the maximum. The car was not capable of more. I already accepted fourth place, but I knew that something could still happen at the end if the others were fighting. That's why I wanted to stay as close as possible."

"In the end, that's exactly what happened and I was able to capitalise on it. There was no way that would have been possible under my own power, as I had less energy than the others. I couldn't go as fast through the corners and therefore had to use more energy on the straights. The balance and the rear tyres were simply not good. So it was clear that if nothing happened further ahead, fourth place would be the maximum. So the podium was a lucky win", he continues.

"We were not the benchmark this weekend"

"We weren't the benchmark in any session of the weekend. We were in the top group, but others were the benchmark. We will try to work through this and improve. I just hope that we can find the right compromise, as we also have Gen4 tests ahead of us."

"At the same time, we want to make steps with the current car," he continues. "We had a really good start to the year. You can just see how tight everything is and how quickly you can slip out of the top 10. I just want to finish the year as well as possible."

The German is still ahead in the drivers' standings. He has an eleven-point lead over Edoardo Mortara. He is also looking forward to his home race: "I am definitely looking forward to arriving as the championship leader. But I believe that the results in Berlin are more important than the standings. Nevertheless, I prefer to be travelling here in first place rather than last."

The next Formula E World Championship race weekend will take place on the first weekend in May. The race will again be held at Berlin Tempelhof Airport. Wehrlein and Porsche will be travelling to their two home races as leaders in all three championship standings.