Porsche loses ground in Monaco: "There are things you can't control in Formula E"

The last race weekend of the Formula E World Championship in Monaco did not go according to plan for Porsche. After both drivers were left without points on Saturday following an internal team crash, it was only Nico Müller who was able to pull the coals out of the fire for the team with a sixth place on Sunday. A better result was prevented by a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne. Pascal Wehrlein, on the other hand, put his poor result down to the tyres.

The Monaco curse continued for Porsche in 2026. Once again, the team failed to secure its first podium in the Principality. For Nico Müller, however, the chances were initially quite good on Sunday: after a mediocre qualifying session in which the Swiss driver only managed 11th place, he quickly moved up the field thanks to an aggressive strategy.

Müller was in the fight for the podium until a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne's Citroen in "La Rascasse" threw him back into the midfield. In the end, however, he was able to benefit from penalties for other drivers and finished the race in 6th place.

Müller: "The driving style is sometimes 'over the top'"

About the scene with Vergne, the Berlin winner told e-Formula.news after the race: "That was very unnecessary. We were in a very good position and I felt good in the car. I was on the outside of JEV and he just opened up the steering. I was already slightly ahead of him with a nose. His front wheel touched my floor and then lifted me up. I had to stop to avoid flying into the wall and then lost nine places. He just wouldn't let me past on the outside."

"Third place was definitely possible," continued Müller. "It is frustrating. The driving style out there is sometimes just 'over the top'. So 6th place was the highest of feelings. We have to tick this off and, as always, analyse and understand it. There are things that you cannot control in Formula E. Until Sanya, there are certainly still one or two things we need to tweak."

Vergne: "I can hardly wait to no longer have to drive this car"

Müller's opponent in the accident, Vergne, was also available for an interview with e-Formula.news. The double champion had some surprisingly clear words: "Let's say, I can hardly wait to not driving this car anymore. I hope it will be better with Gen4. It was a good race for me until Barnard took me out - again." However, the Frenchman has a different opinion on the contact with Müller: "That was a normal incident, just like it happens in Formula E. Three-wide through corners like that usually doesn't work."

On the other side of the Porsche garage, there were probably completely different reasons for the miserable result. Pascal Wehrlein told RacingNews365, that he believes he knows what led to the points slump on Sunday: "In the morning, both cars looked really strong. We then put on a new set of tyres for qualifying. The car suddenly behaved completely differently. We had no grip, no balance. We were faster on a set of tyres that had a full race and the whole of Saturday behind it. I don't know. I'm a bit lost for words."

Wehrlein: "Everyone wants more clarity"

The German continued: "The schedule is very tight in Monaco. There are some tracks where you could definitely talk about track evolution. In Monaco, there is only one hour between practice and qualifying. You don't change anything on the car, you just put on new tyres and therefore expect more grip. But the grip was terrible!"

Wehrlein is by no means the only driver to suffer such a fate this season. He clearly holds Hankook responsible: "I think everyone in the paddock knows about it. Everyone wants more clarity on this matter."

The weekend without points for Wehrlein also means more than just losing the lead in the drivers' championship to Mitch Evans. The 31-year-old is now only in fourth place in the standings, after reigning world champion Oliver Rowland and Edoardo Mortara also managed to overtake him. Wehrlein is currently 27 points behind Evans. Porsche also had to let Jaguar go in the team standings. Due to the meagre points haul of just eight points, Jaguar now has a 24-point lead over the German works team, which is in second place.

There are still four weeks until the next race in Sanya. The teams should have enough time to prepare for the eleventh round of the 2025/26 Formula E World Championship.