Pascal Wehrlein rues frustrating Tokyo weekend as Formula E title lead slips

Wehrlein leaves Tokyo empty-handed

Pascal Wehrlein’s outside chance of securing a second Formula E world title in Tokyo disappeared after a weekend in which the Porsche driver failed to score a single point. He entered the double-header leading the championship by nine points, but now heads to the final two races in London third in the standings and five points behind Jake Dennis.

The title was always highly unlikely to be decided in Japan, but it remained mathematically possible and would have required Wehrlein to produce virtually two wins. Instead, a difficult weekend became a costly one. After disappointing qualifying performances on both days, he retired from the opening race with damage and finished only 13th in the second.

The first setback followed contact with former team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa. Wehrlein was penalised for the clash, a decision he did not agree with, and the incident removed a realistic opportunity to score points.

The scale of the Tokyo swing was reflected in the key stories from Formula E’s Tokyo night races, where the title picture and Porsche’s manufacturers’ success were among the weekend’s defining developments.

Porsche’s tyre gamble backfires again

The second race delivered a familiar problem for Porsche. As in Shanghai, the team selected full wet tyre pressures, but the circuit dried. Wehrlein consequently fell down the order, while Mitch Evans suffered after Jaguar made the same call. Title rivals Dennis and Oliver Rowland, by contrast, gambled on intermediate tyre pressures and were rewarded.

Asked who was responsible for the decision, Wehrlein stressed the collective nature of the outcome: “We are one team. So the team is me, and I’m the team, and we’re one team.”

He said the turning point came with the full-course yellow. Until then, he had gained positions and was closing on the cars ahead, but the track dried rapidly before rain returned. “Honestly, I just felt like I was in Shanghai,” Wehrlein said. “Complete déjà vu.”

London remains the objective

Despite the frustration, Porsche successfully defended the manufacturers’ title through strong results from its customer teams, Andretti and Cupra Kiro. Wehrlein also rejected the idea of dwelling on the points lost in Tokyo.

“Very frustrating because I feel like we had the opportunity so many times to score more points,” he said. Yet the key positive remains intact: Porsche and Wehrlein are still in contention heading to London.

“There’s no reason to put ourselves down because we are fully in the fight,” he added. “We’ll push very hard in London.”