Wehrlein win sets up Porsche Formula E title showdown
Victory for Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein sent him back to the head of the Formula E drivers' championship and set up what is effectively a title showdown with runner-up Jake Dennis in Sunday's season finale in London.
Wehrlein's win was never in doubt during the 39-lap race at the ExCeL; having taken pole and held the lead at the start, he cruised through the opening stages while works team-mate Nico Mueller backed up a chasing pack that featured another title contender, Mitch Evans (Jaguar), as well as the customer Porsches of Cupra Kiro's Dan Ticktum and Andretti's Dennis.
That position out in front allowed Wehrlein to play a patient game before taking his PitBoost and that paid dividends as a full course yellow period - for Lucas di Grassi's stranded Lola-Yamaha Abt car, which hit the wall just in front of Wehrlein when "the engine kept pushing" - allowed him to serve that stop and make a net gain on the chasing pack.
He ultimately won by 5.777s, with his 28-point Saturday haul for pole position and the win moving him into a five-point lead over Dennis as both go in search of a second Formula E title.
Dennis started fifth on the grid but was another of those to benefit from the full course yellow to make a cheap pitstop.
He also saved more energy in the opening phase of the race and used this to good effect with a pair of forceful moves at the first corner on Antonio Felix da Costa and Ticktum a lap later to clinch second place, with da Costa clinching the final podium position for Jagaur.
Nine drivers started the day in mathematical title contention but it will be essentially a straight fight for the championship between Wehrlein and Dennis on Sunday, with Evans now 21 points back in third.
Evans appeared to have the pace to clear Mueller early on but struggled for an opening around the tight confines of the ExCeL circuit.
He and Jaguar forced the issue by taking PitBoost earlier than any of the other frontrunners, and this combined with an attack mode activation on his outlap helped him to clear Mueller - but his race was undone by the full course yellow.
Evans was briefly repassed by Mueller once his attack mode ran out and although he did get back ahead of the Porsche, and resisted a late charge from former team-mate Nick Cassidy (Citroen), he was restricted to eighth, finishing half a minute behind Wehrlein in the end.
