Jakarta E-Prix: Maserati score first win; Wehrlein re-takes title lead

Mahindra Racing struggled with qualifying and was unable to score any points at Jakarta.

Published on Jun 05, 2023 11:45:00 AM

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The Jakarta E-Prix double header provided yet another twist in the 2023 Formula E championship, with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein re-taking the championship lead as Envision’s Nick Cassidy struggled.

Max Guenther also handed Maserati its first world championship single-seater win since Juan Manuel Fangio’s F1 German GP win in 1957.

  1. Wehrlein wins Round 10; Dennis and Guenther on podium
  2. Guenther wins Round 11; Dennis and Evans on podium
  3. Cassidy drops to third in the championship

Wehrlein bounces back

Wehrlein lost the championship lead to Cassidy after the Monaco E-Prix, but he bounced back to win the first Jakarta race. Starting from third on the grid, he quickly moved up to second off the line and then passed polesitter Guenther for the lead on Lap 4.

The top three drivers – Wehrlein, followed by Guenther and Andretti’s Jake Dennis – remained within striking distance of each other throughout the race. Dennis found a way past Guenther and then attempted to pass Wehrlein into Turn 1. But the Porsche driver held on to score his third win this season and reinvigorate his championship fight.

Guenther clinches Maserati’s first Formula E win

Guenther picked up back-to-back pole positions in Jakarta. However, he lost the lead to Dennis early into the second race. By using his attack mode activation later than Dennis, he was able to jump the Andretti driver and reclaim the lead.

This time around, he held on to the position and delivered Maserati their first-ever Formula E win. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans rounded out the podium in third place.

2023 Formula E championship standings

Cassidy endured a torrid race after a costly slip while trying to pass Wehrlein on Lap 20. He dropped to the back of the field with a damaged car and could only limp to 18th place.  

Wehrlein’s sixth place result in the second race was enough for him to once again take the championship lead. He’s now one point clear of Dennis, while Cassidy has dropped to third overall, six points off the lead.

No points for Mahindra

Mahindra Racing had a new driver line-up at Jakarta, with Roberto Merhi replacing Oliver Rowland. However, both Merhi and Lucas di Grassi struggled in qualifying and didn’t score any points.

Reflecting on their performance, Mahindra Racing CEO Frederic Bertrand said, “We would have hoped for more, but we now know that this season is turning into more of a learning and rebuilding year. Lucas did a great job making up multiple places during both races and Roberto settled into the team and the car more and more each session.”

“Of course, we still have a lot of work to do, and we don’t pretend that it is going to be an easy end to the season results wise, but thankfully our team has a good fighting spirit and we will not give up,” he added.

Formula E will now head to the USA for the inaugural Portland E-Prix on June 24.

2023 Jakarta E-Prix results

Jakarta Round 10 results
PosDriverTeam
1Pascal WehrleinPorsche
2Jake DennisAndretti
3Max GuentherMaserati
4Stoffel VandoorneDS Penske
5Jean-Eric VergneDS Penske
6Edoardo MortaraMaserati
7Nick CassidyEnvision Racing
8Antonio Felix da CostaPorsche
9Robin FrijnsAbt Cupra
10Jake HughesMcLaren
11Nico MullerAbt Cupra
12Norman NatoNissan
13Dan TicktumNio 333
14Lucas di GrassiMahindra Racing
15Rene RastMcLaren
16David BeckmannAndretti
17Sergio Sette CamaraNio 333
18Roberto MerhiMahindra Racing
19Sacha FenestrazNissan
20Sam BirdJaguar TCS Racing
21Sebastien BuemiEnvision Racing
NCMitch EvansJaguar TCS Racing

Jakarta Round 11 results
PosDriverTeam
1Max GuentherMaserati
2Jake DennisAndretti
3Mitch EvansJaguar TCS Racing
4Sacha FenestrazNissan
5Norman NatoNissan
6Pascal WehrleinPorsche
7Antonio Felix da CostaPorsche
8Edoardo MortaraMaserati
9Stoffel VandoorneDS Penske
10Sebastien BuemiEnvision Racing
11Dan TicktumNio 333
12Nico MullerAbt cupra
13Robin FrijnsAbt Cupra
14Lucas di GrassiMahindra Racing
15Rene RastMcLaren
16Jean-Eric VergneDS Penske
17Roberto MerhiMahindra Racing
18Nick CassidyEnvision Racing
NCJake HughesMcLaren
NCDavid BeckmannAndretti
NCSergio Sette CamaraNio 333
NCSam BirdJaguar TCS Racing

Also see:

Jehan Daruvala: “My future lies in Formula E”

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