"Promised my daughter a trophy" - Wehrlein closes the gap in Formula E title fight with 2nd place in Berlin

Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein was able to reduce the gap to Nissan's Oliver Rowland in the battle for the Formula E drivers' world championship to 50 points thanks to a strong second place. In the press conference after the race, he was delighted with the result, but does not see a realistic chance against Rowland in the championship. He dedicated the podium to his daughter Soleya.

Wehrlein started the race from 9th place after being penalised for a collision with his team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa. During the race, he was able to work his way up quickly and finished in 3rd place behind Felix da Costa before overtaking him a few laps later. He ultimately finished the race in second place. He did put the leader Mitch Evans under pressure towards the end. However, it was not quite enough for victory.

"Had the fastest car today"

In the post-race press conference, he summarised his race as follows: "Under different circumstances, a win would have been possible today. The penalty didn't help. I think it was clear that we were super-fast today. We scored a lot of points out there, which is important."

"It's a great day on an important weekend for us. For me and the team it is our home race. Our sponsors and my family are here. We were able to show a good race. So tonight we can sleep well and tomorrow we will try again", he adds.

After the race, Wehrlein took his daughter to the podium. "That was great! It was the first time I was able to take her onto the podium. She is now old enough not to be afraid of it any more. It was really nice! I'm still fighting a cold, so I haven't been able to spend as much time with the family in the last few days. So I promised her this morning that I would bring her a trophy."

"Drivers' world championship is unrealistic for us"

When asked whether the podium would change his chances of defending the drivers' championship, he said: "It doesn't change anything. I think the drivers' world championship is very unrealistic for us. All we can do now is to go all-in every race and collect as many points as possible as a team. Our focus is clearly on the teams' and manufacturers' championships. We still have three races to go and we will try to get the maximum out of them."

Rowland currently has a 50-point lead in the championship. To become world champion after race 2 in Berlin, he needs to score eight points more than Wehrlein. The chances of defending the world championship therefore seem slim.

Even if Wehrlein can further reduce the gap by the "double-header" in London, he would not be world champion if the points were equal, as he has only managed one win so far in season 11. In contrast, Rowland has four victories to his name. So it remains to be seen how the final phase of the season will develop.