Wehrlein confirmed winner of season opener in Mexico after throttle map investigation

Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein won the first Formula E race of the season in Mexico City, after surviving a post race technical investigation.

Wehrlein led from pole to beat Sebastien Buemi over a relatively tame opening round in Mexico.

However, the winner was one of two drivers investigated by the stewards following the race for a throttle mapping technical infringement, but no further action was taken after the stewards could not determine a breach of the regulations had occurred by either driver.

Wehrlein had defeated Buemi in the earlier qualifying duels to secure the first pole of the season and the first three bonus points of the year. When the lights went out, Wehrlein leapt out into the lead at the first corner, with Buemi holding off a challenge from Maximilian Guenther to keep second place. The two Jaguars of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans were fourth and fifth, with Jake Hughes sixth for McLaren.

Wehrlein was the first to take his first Attack Mode on the third lap of the race, dropping into second behind Buemi, who took over the lead. After his two minutes were up, Buemi opted to take six minutes’ worth of Attack Mode on the fifth lap, moving the Porsche driver back into the lead.

Wehrlein opted for six minutes of Attack Mode at the next opportunity, using up all of his required time for the race and dropping him into second place once again. However, the stewards announced that Wehrlein was under investigation for a ‘technical infringement’, putting the Porsche driver’s chances of victory under jeopardy.

A Full Course Yellow was called on lap nine when Robin Frijns crashed his Envision on the exit of the Foro Sol stadium section. With Frijns’ wrecked car pointing across the track, leaving only a narrow lane for cars to pass, the Safety Car was deployed to neutralise the field.

The race resumed at the start of lap 12 with Buemi ahead of Wehrlein, but with two minutes of Attack Mode still remaining. Buemi took them soon after the restart and handed the lead back to Wehrlein, with both leading drivers now having used up their Attack Mode allocation before half distance. Behind, Cassidy moved ahead of Guenther into third place, with Evans sitting in fifth.

Wehrlein pulled out a lead of over two seconds but Buemi pulled it back. However, the Envision driver did not get close enough to put the Porsche under significant pressure.

Due to the Safety Car, the race distance was extended by two laps beyond its 35 original laps. Wehrlein continued to lead, but as the additional laps began, the stewards announced that Wehrlein’s investigation for his unspecified ‘technical infringement’ would now be investigated after the race, along with reigning champion Jake Dennis.

Wehrlein crossed the line just over a second ahead of Buemi to claim the first win of the season despite under the cloud of a potential penalty. Cassidy claimed the final podium position in third, two seconds back, with Guenther almost four seconds further back in fourth.

Evans took fifth in the second Jaguar, with Jean-Eric Vergne in sixth ahead of Jake Hughes, Stoffel Vandoorne and the two Andrettis of Dennis and Norman Nato, who rounded out the top ten.

Hours later, the stewards announced that no further action would be taken against Wehrlein or Dennis, as they could not determine that either had failed to respect the homologated primary throttle pedal map as alleged. That confirmed the provisional results of the race and Wehrlein’s victory.

The second and third round of the championship will take place over a double-header weekend in Diriyah on the weekend of the 26th and 27th of January.

2024 Mexico City Eprix race results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Car
1	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
2	16	Sebastien Buemi	Envision	Jaguar I-Type 6
3	37	Nick Cassidy	Jaguar	Jaguar I-Type 6
4	7	Maximilian Guenther	Maserati	Maserati Tipo Folgore
5	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	Jaguar I-Type 6
6	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	DS Penske	DS E-TENSE FE23
7	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
8	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	DS E-TENSE FE23
9	1	Jake Dennis	Andretti	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
10	17	Norman Nato	Andretti	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
11	22	Oliver Rowland	McLaren	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
12	23	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
13	48	Edoardo Mortara	Mahinda	Mahindra M10Electro
14	8	Sam Bird	McLaren	Nissan e-4ORCE 04
15	21	Nyck de Vries	Mahinda	Mahindra M10Electro
16	18	Jehan Daruvala	Maserati	Maserati Tipo Folgore
17	51	Nico Mueller	Abt Cupra	Mahindra M10Electro
18	33	Dan Ticktum	ERT	ERT X24
19	4	Robin Frijns	Envision	Jaguar I-Type 6
20	13	Antonio Felix da Costa	Porsche	Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
21	11	Lucas di Grassi	Abt Cupra	Mahindra M9Electro
22	3	Sergio Sette Camara	ERT	ERT X24

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