The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will have likely left the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix believing that they missed-out on a huge chance to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship, following a driver error from both António Félix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein.
Da Costa actually enjoyed a sensational start to the weekend and made it all the way to the final of the duels, where he went on to qualify second. Somewhat concerningly, he was the only Porsche-powered driver in the top thirteen, with Wehrlein having qualified fifteenth. Whilst he qualified fifteenth, the German started the race in eighteenth following a three-place grid penalty for the collision he caused in Cape Town.
To no surprise, Wehrlein made excellent progress during the race to claim seventh, with the German having also extended his lead in the championship to twenty-four points. His race was extremely difficult, though, following contact with title rival Jake Dennis, resulting in the Porsche driver completing the bulk of the race with significant damage.
Da Costa on the other hand showed stunning pace all race and even led momentarily, with the Portuguese driver having looked set for a third consecutive podium at the very least. A huge error late on, though, saw his chances of a podium vanish, after having to momentarily stop as a result of cutting the opening chicane, due to locking-up at Turn One. This demoted him from third to seventh; however, he did recover to claim fourth.
Overall, it was another big haul of points for Porsche who certainly had the pace for the rostrum, only to be outdone by driver errors. As a result, their lead in the Constructors’ Championship has been cut by just one-point, meaning they lead Envision Racing by forty-one points.
Team Principal Florian Modlinger recognised that the points scored in Brazil “could still be crucial” even if they did miss-out on the podium, with the team’s focus now being on their home E-Prix in Berlin next month.
“These were hard-fought but well-deserved points, which could still be critical for us. Pascal drove a sensational race and extended his lead in the drivers’ standings. It was a particularly strong performance, especially on this track and given the course setup, because he also had to contend with a badly damaged car in the second half of the race.
“António was on course for the podium for a long stretch but had to drop back due to a braking incident. Today it was particularly important to see that we improved significantly in qualifying. Now, we’re working hard towards our home races in Berlin.”
