Victory, nail-biting moments and relief: Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) is a double champion

Pascal Wehrlein, the 31-year-old from Sigmaringen, went into the final two races in third place in the overall standings (including his last race at the ExCel London – from next season, Brands Hatch will be the venue) and appeared to be in complete control: He secured pole position on Saturday ahead of his team-mate Nico Müller, who skilfully kept the chasing pack – particularly Jaguar rival Mitch Evans – at bay.

When Wehrlein’s rivals suffered a setback because they had claimed their boost before a yellow flag phase, whilst others claimed it later and thus more cheaply, the 16th race of the season was effectively over for the former F1 driver. His World Championship rivals Jake Dennis (Andretti-Porsche) and Evans finished second and eighth respectively.

Things also looked favourable for Wehrlein in the final race, even though, like Müller, he had been beaten in the semi-finals of qualifying by the Mahindras of Nyck de Vries and Edo Mortara. Evans started fifth, just behind the two Porsches, whilst Dennis started as low as 16th.

But the 2023 champion surged ahead in the closing stages with more energy reserves than anyone else. On lap 27 of 35, there were three lead changes in the virtual World Championship standings within the space of three corners!

Wehrlein was under intense pressure from his former Porsche team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar), who naturally wanted to help his team secure the World Championship title and was also able to support Evans in the process.

Wehrlein was supposed to let Sébastien Buemi – who was also on the attack (in Envision-Jaguar’s and Formula E’s farewell race) – past, but was also pressured by da Costa and dropped back to 12th place. Dennis took advantage of the situation using Attack Mode and suddenly found himself in eighth place and thus the championship leader, whilst Evans was fourth.

However, the New Zealander – who will be driving for the new Opel GSE team next season – remained stuck behind the eventual surprise winner Taylor Barnard and the two Mahindras right until the end.

When Wehrlein collided with Joel Eriksson in the second Envision car with four laps to go, any hope of scoring points was finally dashed.

Dennis’s car was also damaged to such an extent that the local hero was forced to retire in the pits. After the race, Wehrlein received a five-second penalty, which was converted into a three-place grid penalty for his next FE race.

However, this did not dampen the celebrations in the Porsche camp: Wehrlein finished the 2012 season on 169 points, ahead of Dennis (164), Evans (160) and defending champion Oliver Rowland (Nissan, 137). Jaguar won the team championship with 288 points, ahead of Porsche (271) and Mahindra (252). In the manufacturers’ standings, Porsche was clearly superior anyway (498 to 400 for Jaguar and 292 for Stellantis).

“I’m incredibly proud of how we performed this weekend and how we withstood the pressure,” said the new world champion. “In the first 15 races of the season, we set the bar very high; today we finished the job. I’d like to thank everyone in the team and everyone at the factory who helped build this race car. We are the most successful manufacturer of the GEN3 era. I love my team – simply everyone who works with me and believes in me. A very special thank you goes to Nico for his contribution.”

“Two FIA World Championship titles in the year that Porsche is celebrating 75 years in motorsport – that’s something we can all be very proud of,” added sporting director Thomas Laudenbach.

Barnard also had reason to celebrate; at 22, he is the youngest FE winner of all time with the Penske team, whose participation in the 13th season has not yet been confirmed. Team-mate Max Günther missed out on points in London (12th and 11th respectively) and finished 18th in the championship.

Buemi finished his final FE season in 10th place in the championship, just behind his compatriot Müller, after finishing 4th and 5th. Mortara finished 5th in the championship, level on points with Rowland, thanks to 7th and 3rd places. In the final races of his career, Lucas di Grassi (Abt-Lola-Yamaha) failed to see the chequered flag.