Wehrlein philosophical after FE title defense unravels

Pascal Wehrlein was more disappointed with losing out in Sunday’s second race of the Berlin E-Prix than Oliver Rowland securing the championship early as the German’s title defense came apart in Berlin.

The TAG Heuer Porsche driver dominated qualifying in mixed conditions and led early in the race, but the race’s dry conditions unraveled the team’s form.

Wehrlein couldn’t keep his tires in good condition, and a decision to take two minutes at his first Attack Mode rather than four minutes like those around him compounded his plight.

“The tires [were] falling apart,” he told RACER. “Maybe not the right call to do first Attack Mode in two minutes, where everyone else was in four minutes. But generally, I think it's clear – we were starting P1, 2 (customer driver Dan Ticktum) and 3 (Antonio Felix da Costa in the other factory car), and those three cars finished with two points.

“There's no issue with pickup and graining in the wet. Our pace has been very strong in the wet and also on one lap in the dry, but then when it comes down to the tires getting hot in the race and over a longer run, they just fall apart.”

Wehrlein’s failure to score means that Rowland clinched the title with two rounds to spare. But outgoing champion Wehrlein wasn’t too disheartened by the defeat, insisting that Rowland was “the right guy to win this year”.

“He's done an incredible job,” he said. “We had some good fights this season, but winning the championship with two races to go, that speaks for itself.

“Sometimes we are super-good, but sometimes we are too far off. They were more consistent, they were better, and he deserves it. 

“And beside that, I respect him. We are in a similar phase of our life, having both a small, small daughter, and living a similar lifestyle with the principles we have and what is important to us. I'm happy for him. On the other hand, of course, I wish we would have done a bit better this year. But definitely they deserve it this year, as simple as that.”

While Wehrlein’s hopes of a second Formula E crown are done for now, the season is far from over for Porsche, with the TAG Heuer factory team leading the Teams’ championship and Porsche top of the Manufacturers’ standings.

“That has been our target for a couple of races,” Wehrlein said of Porsche’s continued ambitions. “With the good weekend [before Sunday’s race], scoring big and another three points with pole position, hopes were slightly coming back with a good race and maybe a bad race. But it has always been unrealistic. 

“I'm not so disappointed about the championship because I was never really thinking about it or having too high hopes. I'm more disappointed about the result [on Sunday], because starting from pole position and being dominant over one lap and then just having a race to forget no pace is hard to swallow.”