Pascal Wehrlein has admitted that he is uncertain about how far rivals will go with team orders in this weekend’s London E-Prix, as the 2025-26 Formula E season reaches its climax.
In one of the most open championship fights in Formula E history, nine drivers head to the United Kingdom with a mathematical chance of winning the title. Out of those, the top four drivers are separated by just 14 points, with a total of 58 on offer at ExCeL.
Both Jaguar and Nissan have one serious contender each in the title fight with Mitch Evans and Oliver Rowland respectively, while Porsche has two major runners in the form of factory driver Wehrlein and Andretti’s Jake Dennis.
Wehrlein admitted that there is some concern about rivals issuing team orders to “manipulate” the outcome of the championship, having experienced a similar situation play out in Tokyo.
“There are not really uncertainties, but the only thing I would say is that this year it feels like there's a lot more team tactics than there was in the past, which I'm not a fan of,” Wehrlein told Motorsport.com.
“There's a difference between trying to manipulate the race on purpose or helping out your team-mates if you're driving close to each other. There's a big spread.”
During the first of the two Japan races, Envision’s Sebastien Buemi– who was carrying a penalty – took his first Attack Mode early to charge through the field. But when the pit window opened, he slowed down on purpose to assist his team-mate Joel Eriksson, holding off several drivers including Wehrlein.
Caught in the pack behind the Swiss, Wehrlein made contact with Jaguar’s Antonio Felix da Costa, with the resultant damage leaving him out of the points.
“What Buemi did in Tokyo is something which I feel goes far beyond the line, because he had a penalty, slowing down half of the field to allow his team-mate to score points. It's something which goes very far,” Wehrlein said.
“It's very different to being second and third with your team-mates and then swapping positions, for example. It can go very far, and that's the only thing which for me is a bit uncertain this weekend, how it will be played and what the reaction will be.”
Wehrlein’s team-mate Nico Mueller sits eighth in the championship, 44 points behind championship leader Dennis, meaning he has no more than an outside chance of winning the title.
The German revealed that while Mueller would be willing to support his title bid, any team order would be limited to swapping positions between them.
“We are both here to score the maximum amount of points for the team, as we are also in a fight for the team championship,” said Wehrlein, who trails Dennis by just five points.
“Then, let's see. I'm sure that if there's nothing to win or lose and if we are driving together, Nico will help me, but he also needs a good weekend for the teams’ championship.”
Formula E is understood to be working on clamping down on team orders in the Gen4 era, including those between manufacturers and their customer teams.
Asked what could be done to prevent teams from deploying tactics to influence the outcome of a race, Wehrlein said: “We should ban the radio.”
When told drivers may need their teams to supply critical info during races, he added: “I know when the pit window is. I have all the information on my steering wheel to make the right calls at the right time.
“It would be a nice addition for the drivers to make a small difference, understanding the race, understanding what it needs, and then also especially avoiding those kinds of things.”
