Race 3
The drivers had to save very little energy over the 36 laps of round three of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Although this made overtaking on the demanding 2.495-kilometre circuit even trickier, Pascal Wehrlein made up three places in the race. His teammate António Félix da Costa (POR) advanced even further up the field: after struggling in qualifying, he battled his way up the order from 21st on the grid to 14th at the flag.
Following yesterday’s victory in the Porsche 99X Electric fielded by the Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E, Jake Dennis (GBR) also lost his chance of clinching another top qualifying result. Tackling the race from P14, the reigning world champion crossed the finish line in tenth place, only to be handed a five-second penalty which relegated him to twelfth. In 16th place, his teammate Norman Nato (FRA) also went home empty-handed.
With 38 points, Pascal Wehrlein is the best Porsche driver, ranking second in the drivers’ standings of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship behind Nick Cassidy (NZL/57). Jake Dennis (28) sits fourth, with Norman Nato (9) in 13th. Jaguar leads the teams' standings with 78 points ahead of DS Penske (47) and the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (38). Andretti Formula E (37) occupies fourth place.
Comments on the Diriyah E-Prix, Race 3
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “Let’s start with the positives: Pascal has finished in the points in the last 14 races. In Formula E, that’s an incredibly strong performance. But we’re not happy with this second race day with only one Porsche in the top 10. Pascal scored important points by manoeuvring up to seventh place with some bold overtaking moves. Unfortunately, he was the only Porsche in the points today. We have our poor qualifying performance to blame for this result. We have to work on that. That’ll be our key focus during the break until São Paulo.”
Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (#94): “Overall, it was a sobering weekend for us. We simply lacked the pace in qualifying. When the best Porsche is in tenth place, that’s obviously not good enough and falls considerably short of where we aim to be. In the race itself, my speed wasn’t too bad and I made some moves to get up the order. We definitely have a lot of work ahead of us. In this respect, the seven-week break until the race in São Paulo will certainly come in handy.”
António Félix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (#13): “What a disappointing day. We’re racking our brains to understand why things are going the way they are. But I’ve never been one to give up and I’ll do everything I can to get out of this difficult situation as quickly as possible.”
Next up
The next event for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and Andretti Formula E is the São Paulo E-Prix on 16 March, the 4th round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Porsche in Formula E
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team heads into its fifth Formula E season with the Weissach-developed Porsche 99X Electric. With four victories for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 2023 was the most successful year since the sports car manufacturer entered the all-electric racing series. Since last season, Porsche has supported the customer team, Andretti Formula E, which promptly won the world championship title with the Porsche 99X Electric and Jake Dennis. With the all-electric Taycan Turbo S, Porsche again supplies the official safety car in 2024, thus underlining the importance of Formula E for Porsche Motorsport.
Media Service
All information about the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will be posted live on the X-channel (formerly Twitter) @PorscheFormulaE. All relevant information about the team, the drivers and the racing series can be found in the Porsche Newsroom at https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/motorsports/formula-e.html. The content will be regularly updated throughout the season and expanded with additional interactive material.
Race 2
Sporting the starting number 1 on his Porsche 99X Electric, Jake Dennis brought home a commanding victory for Porsche and Andretti Formula E on the challenging 2.495-kilometre street circuit northwest of Riyadh. The British racer crossed the finish line with a comfortable 13-second lead. Pascal Wehrlein, who scored two victories last year in Diriyah, also drove a solid race. However, the Mexico winner was unable to join the battle for the lead and finished eighth in his Porsche 99X Electric.
Norman Nato (FRA), the winner’s teammate, also finished in the points, securing sixth after 37 laps in the stunningly illuminated historic city. At the wheel of the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s second Porsche 99X Electric, Porsche works driver António Félix da Costa (POR) finished 16th.
With 32 points, Pascal Wehrlein leads the drivers’ championship in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship ahead of Nick Cassidy (NZL/31) and Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/29). Jake Dennis (28) ranks fourth with Norman Nato (9) in ninth. Behind Jaguar with 51 points, Andretti Formula E (37) lies in second place in the team standings. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (32) occupies fourth place.
Comments on the Diriyah E-Prix, Race 2
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “Two out of two wins for the Porsche 99X Electric, this time thanks to Jake Dennis and Andretti Formula E. Congratulations to our customer team on this sensational performance. Three Porsche 99X Electric cars in the top 8, that’s definitely something to be proud of. Pascal started from the less favourable side of the track, which proved decisive. He lost a few positions and couldn’t regain them. Hardly any energy needed to be saved in this race. Efficiency and clever energy management didn’t help because we couldn’t convert our energy advantage into positions. For tomorrow’s race, we have to ensure that all four Porsche 99X Electric cars are further up the field and then score as many points as possible.”
Jake Dennis, Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E (#1): “We had a tough start to the season, which makes how we came back today all the more fantastic. Thanks to the team for the great strategy. We activated attack mode at exactly the right time. I gave it everything I had and brought my lead safely home. It was an exceptional race. I enjoyed every lap.”
Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (#94): “We’re not particularly satisfied with this first race in Diriyah. We were off the pace a bit in qualifying. I had to start the race on the dirty side of the track and lost a few places. We had the speed but I couldn’t overtake. For tomorrow we need to make sure we’re a bit further up the field. Then we have to get off to a good start to also set our pace in the race.”
António Félix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (#13): “That wasn’t our day. We had a fast car, but it still proved difficult to pull together a good qualifying lap. Qualifying was the most important session today because it’s extremely difficult to overtake in the race. Tomorrow we get a second chance and we’ll do everything we can to make the most of it.”
Next up
The next event for Porsche in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is round 3 of the Diriyah E-Prix on 27 January.
Porsche in Formula E
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team heads into its fifth Formula E season with the Weissach-developed Porsche 99X Electric. With four victories for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 2023 was the most successful year since the sports car manufacturer entered the all-electric racing series. Since last season, Porsche has supported the customer team, Andretti Formula E, which promptly won the world championship title with the Porsche 99X Electric and Jake Dennis. With the all-electric Taycan Turbo S, Porsche again supplies the official safety car in 2024, thus underlining the importance of Formula E for Porsche Motorsport.
Media Service
All information about the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will be posted live on the X-channel (formerly Twitter) @PorscheFormulaE. All relevant information about the team, the drivers and the racing series can be found in the Porsche Newsroom at https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/motorsports/formula-e.html. The content will be regularly updated throughout the season and expanded with additional interactive material.
Preview
For Pascal Wehrlein, it seemed like a folktale from 1001 Nights: at the wheel of his Porsche 99X Electric, he won both races at last year’s Diriyah E-Prix and took the lead in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for the first time in his career. After clinching pole position and winning the season opener in Mexico, he and the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team now travel to Saudi Arabia as the championship leaders. He is determined to achieve another strong result on the challenging racetrack located north-west of the capital Riyadh.
His works driver colleague António Félix da Costa experienced a difficult start to the season in Mexico in the Weissach team’s second Porsche 99X Electric and had to retire early from the race. For the 2020 Formula E champion, his intention for the doubleheader in Diriyah is to score as many points as possible and maintain contact with the leaders. He has fond memories of Saudi Arabia: he won the first Formula E race contested in Diriyah, in 2018.
The Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E will also tackle the only night races on the Formula E calendar with two Porsche 99X Electric cars. The racing team owned by the US motorsport legend Michael Andretti will line up on the grid with world champion Jake Dennis and Frenchman Norman Nato.
Comments on the Diriyah E-Prix
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “Thanks to Pascal’s victory in Mexico, our start to the season was a huge success and a confirmation of the work we’ve done. To kick off the season with pole position and a win is fantastic. A success like this gives the team even more of a boost. Of course, Mexico was just the beginning of a long season. We have to monitor everything closely from race to race and continue to work on the things we identify as weaknesses. Pascal won both races in Diriyah last year with a sensational performance. Pascal, the Porsche 99X Electric and the racetrack proved to be the perfect package. But that doesn’t change our objective. We approach every race the same way; we’re fighting for victories and podium finishes and we aim to bring home as many points as possible.”
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#94): “After our win in Mexico, the team and I are even more motivated. It’s a great feeling to start the season like this because it shows that we’ve done our homework. We were much stronger in qualifying and we didn’t lose any speed in the race either. That makes me confident about Diriyah. But just because we won both races there last year doesn’t mean that we’ll automatically be as strong this time. We have to continue to work hard and improve because the other teams will also make progress. We simply mustn’t let up. The track in Diriyah is very special and tends to improve significantly during the race weekend, so we have to constantly adapt our setup.”
António Félix da Costa, Porsche works driver (#13): “After my difficult start to the season, I’m looking forward to Diriyah. It’s a cool event for more reasons than being the only night race of the season. If things don’t go so smoothly, like for me in Mexico, you can’t afford to let it get you down. You have to be self-critical, you’re allowed to be annoyed by your mistakes for a while, but then you have to move on. It’s the bad days that teach you the most. In any case, I’m taking a lot of positives from Mexico to Diriyah.”
The racetrack
The Diriyah E-Prix is contested on a challenging street circuit north-west of Riyadh. The 2,495 kilometre track featuring 21 turns is set to the exotic backdrop of old fortifications and a historic city wall.
Live TV and Internet coverage
The worldwide broadcasting schedule of the Formula E event is available at https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/ways-to-watch.
The Media Service
The first photos from Diriyah will be available on the Porsche press database on 25 January. The race reports follow on 26 January (race 2) and 27 January (race 3). Further information about the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will be posted live on the X-channel (formerly Twitter) @PorscheFormulaE. All relevant information about the team, the drivers and the racing series can be found in the Porsche Newsroom. The content will be regularly updated throughout the season and expanded with additional interactive material.
Porsche in Formula E
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team heads into its fifth Formula E season with the Weissach-developed Porsche 99X Electric. Thanks to four victories courtesy of Pascal Wehrlein (3) and António Félix da Costa (1), 2023 was the most successful year since the sports car manufacturer entered the all-electric racing series. For the first time last season, Porsche supported a customer team, Andretti Formula E. The squad promptly won the world championship title with the Porsche 99X Electric and Jake Dennis. With the all-electric Taycan Turbo S, Porsche again supplies the official safety car in 2024, thus underlining the importance of Formula E for Porsche Motorsport.
