Jakarta E-Prix Race Review (Round 10)

Pascal Wehrlein picks up a much-needed victory in Jakarta

Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein picked up a huge victory to reignite his Championship challenge. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis came home in a frustrated second whilst Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Gunther brought home his second podium of the season.

The Most Notable Moments

Maximilian Gunther got a good start to stay in P1 out of the first corner whilst Jake Dennis dropped from second to fourth due to being on the dusty side of the circuit. Pascal Wehrlein quickly overtook Gunther to take the lead whilst Stoffel Vandoorne dropped from third to fifth due to taking his first attack mode of the race. After everyone else had taken their first attack mode, Wehrlein led from Gunther, Vandoorne, Dennis, Mortara (the one driver who was yet to activate attack mode) and Jean-Eric Vergne. Midway through the race, Jake Dennis pulled off a nice move to overtake Stoffel Vandoorne for P3 before he overtook Max Gunther into turn 1 just a few laps later. Meanwhile, whilst that was going on, Nick Cassidy and Jean-Eric Vergne collided in the first corner and I have to say it was probably a racing incident as both guys could’ve done a bit better to avoid contact. Dennis then attacked Wehrlein for the lead of the race, but the German managed to keep the Brit behind whilst this squabble allowed Vandoorne, Vergne and Cassidy to get into the fight. The top 3 were able to pull away from the rest of the field once again, but Dennis just couldn’t get close enough to go for a move in turn 1. Meanwhile, on lap 35, Sam Bird hit his teammate Mitch Evans again, resulting in the Kiwi driver getting sent into the barriers and ending his race. It also got even worse for Bird as he dropped to the back just a lap later which happened to be the last lap as Pascal Wehrlein crossed the line to take the chequered flag first.

Drivers who Impressed

Pascal Wehrlein had a super calm drive which resulted in a much-needed race win and he’ll look to take another one tomorrow. Jake Dennis took home yet another podium for Avalanche Andretti whilst Max Gunther had a fantastic day which included a podium and a Pole position. The DS Penske duo of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne can be happy with their day whilst Edoardo Mortara had by far his best race of the season. Robin Frijns managed to take home points for ABT CUPRA which was a really good effort whilst Jake Hughes climbed from 20th to finish P10.

Drivers who Struggled

Lucas di Grassi had yet another tough day for Mahindra Racing as he only managed 14th after starting 21st whilst Rene Rast spun mid-race as he dropped from 8th to finish 15th. Sacha Fenestraz and Sebastian Buemi had really difficult days whilst Jaguar had a terrible day. Sam Bird once again hit his teammate which is quite worrying whilst Mitch Evans was only running 8th before the incident so Jaguar need to try and find performance for tomorrow’s race.

Overall Race Results

1. Pascal Wehrlein: 42:21.995

2. Jake Dennis: +0.477

3. Maximilian Gunther: +1.413

4. Stoffel Vandoorne: +3.871

5. Jean-Eric Vergne: +4.986

6. Edoardo Mortara: +5.587

7. Nick Cassidy: +5.982

8. Antonio Felix da Costa: +20.136

9. Robin Frijns: +21.687

10. Jake Hughes: +23.356

11. Nico Muller: +23.792

12. Norman Nato: +25.162

13. Dan Ticktum: +28.824

14. Lucas di Grassi: +29.495

15. Rene Rast: +30.002

16. David Beckmann: +31.079

17. Sergio Sette Camara: +32.102

18. Roberto Merhi: +46.662

19. Sacha Fenestraz: +48.822

20. Sebastian Buemi: +1:00.081

21. Sam Bird: +1:14.072

22. Mitch Evans: DNF

Drivers’ Standings:

1. Nick Cassidy: 128pts

2. Pascal Wehrlein: 126pts

3. Jake Dennis: 114pts

4. Jean-Eric Vergne: 97pts

5. Mitch Evans: 94pts

Teams’ Standings:

1. TAG Heuer Porsche: 198pts

2. Envision Racing: 189pts

3. Jaguar TCS Racing: 156pts

4. Avalanche Andretti: 137pts

5. DS Penske: 137pts