Pascal Wehrlein on second Formula E title: "This championship is more satisfying"

Pascal Wehrlein claimed his second Formula E World Championship in London. For the Porsche driver, the triumph feels even more satisfying than his first title in 2024. Speaking in a media roundtable attended by e-Formula.news, Wehrlein explained why the setbacks along the way made this championship particularly valuable to him - and which weekend proved to be the decisive turning point in the title fight.

Wehrlein was crowned Formula E World Champion for the second time after a dramatic Season 12 finale in London. The Porsche driver had already won the Drivers' Championship in Season 10, making him only the second driver in Formula E history after Jean-Eric Vergne to claim two titles.

Having already won the championship once did not make his second success any less special. Quite the opposite, Wehrlein explained: "The first championship always feels special, going from zero titles to one. But in a way, this championship is more satisfying for many reasons than the one two years ago."

Wehrlein described the campaign as a season of highs and lows, with tyres playing a particularly important role. "It was a season where we could build on last season, especially with the changes to the tyre compounds over the last two years," he said. "I feel that quite often we struggled a little with tyre degradation and qualifying performance, especially last year, and then had difficulties in some races."

Wehrlein and the Porsche team learned from those setbacks and came back stronger. "Last year, it became pretty obvious at some point that Ollie [Rowland] had simply pulled away in the championship and built such a big lead," Wehrlein said. "To fight back like that this year, and then to have such a special final weekend of the season, feels very satisfying. I'm very proud of the whole team."

Shanghai: "A decisive turning point for our season"

Wehrlein singled out the Shanghai E-Prix weekend as the decisive turning point of his campaign.

"When we arrived in Shanghai, we were 27 points behind," he said. "I took pole position for the first race and then won it. We would also have won the second race if the track hadn't dried towards the end and some drivers hadn't taken a risk. That weekend brought us straight back into the championship fight. I took the lead again."

The additional points available in qualifying also played an important role in Wehrlein's title challenge. He claimed four pole positions over the course of the season, in Sao Paulo, Berlin, Shanghai and London, earning twelve additional championship points.

Despite second title, Wehrlein still sees room for improvement

Despite becoming a two-time World Champion, Wehrlein believes there are still areas in which he can improve. Looking ahead to the Gen4 era, he highlighted his qualifying performance and his work with the team on car set-up in particular.

"I keep working on becoming better, putting my laps together better and getting more out of the car in qualifying, working better with the team and deciding which direction we should take with the car to improve performance," he said.

Wehrlein's pursuit of a third Formula E World Championship begins in mid-December. The new season gets under way in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on December 18, 2026.