General
Formula E Mexico | Wehrlein wins the opening race in Mexico City
- Ludo van Denderen
The opening race of the 2024 Formula E season in Mexico has been won by Pascal Wehrlein. At least, if an announced investigation by the stewards into a possible technical infringement by the German does not result in a time penalty. In any case, he was faster on track than Sébastien Buemi (second) and Nick Cassidy (third). Reigning champion Jake Dennis started the year with finishing in ninth place.
Not 22, but 21 drivers started the tenth season in Formula E just after 2pm local time. Sergio Sette Camara was missing, as the Brazilian saw his NIO car stalled on the very lap to the grid. The bad luck for Sette Camara all happened further behind polesitter Pascal Wehrlein, who was first into the first corner as soon as the lights turned green, ahead of Sébastien Buemi and Maximillian Guenther.
Crashes by Mueller and Frijns
Behind this trio, there was plenty of action immediately, with the two ABT Cupra cars taking centre stage. First it was Lucas di Grassi who hit the wall with his car, not much later his teammate Nico Mueller also hit the fence hard. The latter was not entirely to blame himself, as the German was tapped off by Antonio Felix da Costa.
The first safety car of the season was caused by Robin Frijns after only nine laps. The Dutchman started from position seven, but struggled to get out of his place due to a technical problem. As a result, he dropped back to position 16. Trying to make up the lost ground, the Envision driver crashed into the wall on exiting the stadium section. It looked like Frijns took too much speed into the tricky corner.
Wehrlein unthreatened to win
After the debris from the Envision Racing car was cleared and the necessary safety car drove back into the pit, it was Buemi who was allowed to lead the field from the front. The Swiss soon had to relinquish his first place again to Wehrlein in the Porsche. The German then created a small gap to his seasoned rival.
Halfway through the race, Nick Cassidy's Jaguar came more alive, having clearly saved energy in the early stages. The English team - in advance the favourite for the world title - saw Cassidy pass Guenther first, before starting the hunt for number two Buemi.
Buemi - who also uses a Jaguar powertrain with the Envision - and Cassidy fought with each other, but could not make a fist against the slowly unleashed Wehrlein. Slowly but surely, the German managed to widen the gap, and his victory was never at all in danger. In the closing stages, the stewards did announce that Wehrlein is suspected of a technical infringement. There will be further investigation into that after the race.
De Vries was out of the running
Nyck de Vries started the race from the very last position. In the first ePrix of the season, it immediately became clear that - just like last season - his Mahindra was among the slowest cars. In the end, the former F1 driver finished 15th, ahead of rookie Daruvala and the damage-plagued Mueller. If the first ePrix of the season has taught us anything, it is that De Vries - after a difficult half-season in Formula 1 - faces another challenging time.
