Pascal Wehrlein of Porsche won the Mexico City E-Prix, the first race of the 2024 Formula E season, after starting in pole position. He defeated two Jaguar-powered vehicles to win his fifth Formula E race, ahead of Nick Cassidy of Jaguar and Sebastien Buemi of Envision.
A few hours after the race, Wehrlein’s victory was doubtful because he and Andretti’s Jakie Dennis were being looked at for possible technical infractions. The stewards decided there would be “no action,” although both drivers were cleared.
Porsche has always performed well in Mexico; in fact, Porsche-powered vehicles have won the last three Mexico City E-Prixes.
At the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, which is shortened, Wehrlein defeated Buemi to claim the pole position in the Mexico City E-Prix. He made a clean break and dominated most of the race, only losing it momentarily due to Attack Mode and a period of Full Course Yellow.
However, he maintained a comfortable distance from Buemi to win by a mere 0.2 seconds. Cassidy finished on the podium in the race that marked his debut with the factory Jaguar squad.
Three of the four Jaguar-powered vehicles are in the top five, indicating that Jaguar is off to a solid start. However, it is still too early to establish a ranking.
Indian Debutant Daruvala’s performance in Mexico City E-Prix
Additionally, this was Jehan Daruvala’s first Formula E race. Daruvala joined Maserati in Formula E following several years in Formula 2 and a season as the reserve driver for Mahindra Racing. On the Formula E grid for 2024, he is the lone rookie.
Max Gunther, his partner, placed fourth in the race, while he came in 16th in the Mexico City E-Prix. Despite the little track time, Daruvala insists it was a “positive experience” since he concentrated on learning as much as he could.
“I wanted to learn as much as I could; therefore, my major objective was to finish the race clean and take home the chequered flag. I’ll be able to improve my performance and keep moving forward in Diriyah by applying everything I’ve learned this weekend.”
This season, Edoardo Mortara will be joining former Formula E champion and F1 driver Nyck de Vries in Mahindra Racing’s all-new driver lineup.
In Mexico, both drivers finished outside the points, with de Vries finishing in P15 and Mortara in P13.
The team had a challenging season in 2023, and because of the two-season homologation clause, it will also need to field the same vehicle in 2024. Nevertheless, it can adjust some programs to discover more efficiency.
The CEO of Mahindra Racing, Frederic Bertrand, stated in an interview with Autocar India earlier this year that the team has undergone significant modifications to fix some weak aspects. However, he has also talked down hopes for 2024.
“To survive Season 10, we must.” We’ll advance during seasons 11 and 12, and then we’ll advance further. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s a long-term plan, he said.
The doubleheader against Diriyah on January 26 and 27 is the following event. The fourth round was supposed to take place in Hyderabad, but it has been postponed.
Formula E plans to sue the Telangana government for a purported “breach of contract.”
