Pascal Wehrlein claimed he was lucky to win out in a 26-lap Miami E-Prix he said was ‘super tricky’. The German took the win in Miami after Norman Nato’s ten-second penalty for an attack mode infringement dropped him to sixth.
Wehrlein’s Miami E-Prix weekend was by no means easy. A topsy-turvy qualifying saw the Porsche driver take ninth on the grid, just missing out on a duel’s spot. However, in a close Formula E grid, and the potent Porsche powertrain underneath, he certainly fancied his chances.
The German timed his attack mode usage to perfection during the 26 laps of Miami. Taking his first attack mode on lap 13, Wehrlein made up valuable ground in his four minutes of extra power. He was able to climb up to second behind teammate António Félix da Costa.
Swift teamwork meant Wehrlein and da Costa held the top two positions before the red flag fell on lap 21. This intervention proved detrimental to the Portuguese driver’s chances. He had exhausted his attack mode without being able to gain the full effect of the extra power at his disposal.
Wehrlein, meanwhile, had an open run to victory once the race resumed. With four minutes of attack mode to use and four laps to go, the reigning champion made his way past da Costa to claim an untroubled lead.
Despite Nato’s best efforts to chase down Wehrlein, the Frenchman could only surpass the Porsche man on the line. His demotion to sixth gave Wehrlein his first win of 2025, ahead of Lucas di Grassi and teammate da Costa.
Penalties incoming
An impressive trait in Wehrlein’s Miami E-Prix was keeping his nose clean, and racing sensibly. The German revealed the communication from his race engineer, informing him of Nato’s attack mode situation. The likes of Robin Frijns, Oliver Rowland and Sam Bird were in close proximity to the leading duo too.
“Yeah I knew, so my team told me already the lap before,” Wehrlein revealed. “The three cars (Frijns, Rowland, Bird) behind are on another lap of attack mode, but they need to slow down something like 30 seconds, so don’t do any silly things,” he said.
Being a true racing driver, he fought right until the finish line to keep pole-sitter Nato’s Nissan behind. Wehrlein’s winning margin recorded at the Miami E-Prix was 0.119s, the second closest in Formula E’s history.
“Still I tried to defend my position and I wanted to finish first over the line, but it was not possible,” Wehrlein expressed.
“I didn’t have enough traction and power out of the last corner, so he got me on the run to the line. But yeah, the outcome would have been the same,” a delighted Wehrlein said after the race.
Wehrlein remarks on challenges of the Homestead-Miami Raceway
A major trait of the Homestead-Miami raceway proved to be the long speed sections. These made it a challenge for drivers to manage their energy during the 26-lap race.
Drivers also regularly dipped their wheels into the dirt, maximising the track width. The ensuing dust made it difficult for those following closely behind, impairing visibility.
“The race was super tricky, we knew that there’s a lot of energy saving required on this track,” Wehrlein revealed. “But then on top you had this other thing which is the dirt, sometimes I just didn’t see anything on the exit, it was full of dust,” he continued, diving into the visibility issues faced.
Wehrlein himself fell foul of the ‘dirt trap’ during qualifying, as he would reveal.
“The layout of the track allows to go a bit off-track in some places, it puts a lot of dirt on track. That’s what happened to me in qualifying. The car I had went super wide in one corner, put all the dirt on track and ruined my lap. I was purple otherwise up to then,” the Porsche driver revealed.
With Homestead traditionally being a banked oval, Formula E used an infield section for the Miami E-Prix. However, the exit of the final corner onto the start-finish straight revealed another challenge, as Wehrlein quoted.
“Yeah, it’s not an easy track, especially for the car, it’s destroying the car quite a lot going into the banking in the last corner,” the reigning champion expressed.
Wehrlein the first Formula E recipient of FIA President’s Medal
Wehrlein’s Miami E-Prix victory also made him the first Formula E recipient of the FIA President’s Medal. This award is given out by the FIA to recognise and honour the talent of champions.
“It’s very heavy, I have high hopes that it’s real gold,” Wehrlein cheekily remarked. “(If it is real gold,)it would make my day even sweeter,” he said. A deserving first winner of the award honouring champions of the world.
