"We outperformed our car and ourselves today" - How his belief in success led Wehrlein to his Formula E title

After ten years, a German has been crowned Formula E champion for the first time. Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) prevailed in a dramatic final against Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy (Jaguar), who both lost out due to unfortunate circumstances. However, this in no way diminishes Wehrlein's outstanding performance in London - as he himself knows.

"The race was tough," said Wehrlein shortly after the end of the race on the Formula E's world feed broadcast. "We outperformed our car and ourselves today. London was never a track that suited our car. I'm very happy - for myself, but even more so for the team."

After a fabulous Saturday with his third win of the season, Wehrlein kept a cool head on the second day of the London E-Prix and once again made it into the semi-finals in qualifying. "Our goal was to be in the first two rows on the grid - we achieved that," said the 29-year-old shortly after qualifying.

From grid position 4, he got off to a good start and initially overtook Max Günther to take up the pursuit of the two Jaguars. When Nick Cassidy picked up his second attack mode early on, Wehrlein passed the "Kiwi" - and was now in second place behind the other New Zealander, Mitch Evans.

"Mitch defended hard"

"I knew that I had to attack and overtake the Jaguars," explained Wehrlein. "Mitch defended hard. But I tried anyway." Even though contact was made during one of Wehrlein's numerous attacks and Evans ultimately received a black-and-white flag for "moving under breaking", Wehrlein was unable to find a way past the Jaguar driver on the track.

WEHRLEIN MAKES A LUNGE, EVANS JUST HOLDS ONTO THE LEAD!! ??@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/75FssmUeTo

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

However, Evans made the decisive mistake shortly before the end: When trying to activate his second attack mode, he dramatically missed the first activation loop. Because he had to drive through the attack zone one more time as a result, Wehrlein was able to pass him. As Evans had to slow down on the last lap to allow his attack mode to run out completely, Wehrlein drove relaxedly towards his first world championship title in second place.

EVANS MISSES ATTACK MODE ?

The Jaguar TCS Racing driver misses his marks and will need to try again! @Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/l6tw5gfuq3

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

"Could see it before me"

"You arrive here and know that you have a chance," says Wehrlein, even if, realistically, he didn't really expect to win the title. "Nevertheless, we always knew that it would come down to yesterday and today and that we had to be very focussed. Even if the performance in the last few races wasn't so strong, I always said it didn't matter."

"I've always believed that over the last few weeks," Wehrlein continued. "Every day when I got up and went to bed, I told myself: I can do this - we can do this. I could see it before me. I'm very proud of everyone in the team."

"If you can see it, it will happen" - @PWehrlein reflecting on his incredible season. Hear it from the 2024 @FIAFormulaE World Champion! ?#PorscheFormulaE #Raceborn #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/otJjjTuuxFa

- TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) July 21, 2024

Wehrlein finished the 2023/24 Formula E season with 199 points - his best ever. Evans finished four points behind in second place, with Cassidy a further twelve points behind in third. Even though the teams' championship went to Jaguar, it was an extremely successful season with a total of seven victories for Porsche - a Formula E record!

Additional reporting by Svenja König