Newly crowned Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein says he “never stopped believing in it until crossing the line” after denying both Jaguar drivers in a tense London E-Prix finale.
The Porsche driver took his first title in the all-electric championship after finishing second in Sunday’s race at the London ExCeL and after going head-to-head with both Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy.
The German entered the final race of the season three points ahead of Evans and a further point ahead of Cassidy, but had to start behind his title rivals in the showdown.
But with poleman Cassidy suffering a puncture and eventually retiring after contact with the second Porsche of Antonio Felix da Costa, Wehrlein was left to pressure Evans at the head of the field as he “could even hear the crowd reacting to that”.
When Evans missed his second Attack Mode in the final stages, it opened the door for Wehrlein to move ahead before finishing second behind Oliver Rowland who had jumped both to take victory.
“It started after Portland saying we had a chance to win this, the odds are not with us but I always believed in this,” said Wehrlein, who entered the London double-header 12 points behind Cassidy prior to his win in the opener.
“I always said to myself multiple times a day, you can do this. Manifesting that win and really believing in that even though the last couple of races I was not so happy with my car, with the balance, struggled, the races didn’t go our way.
“Coming here, I said I wanted to win both races, we almost did. Today was super intense again having both Jaguars in front of us the first couple of laps.
“We executed this weekend perfectly, so happy for the team. For me, I’m happier for the team than myself because I know how much it means, how much work they put into it.
“I never stopped believing in it until crossing the line.”
The ex-Formula 1 driver has spent six seasons in Formula E, first joining the grid with Mahindra before moving to Porsche for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Prior to this season, Wehrlein had taken four wins with the German manufacturer which included a title tilt last season before eventually finishing fourth in the standings.
Three wins and only two non-scores have been the backbone to Wehrlein's campaign this term as he took his first title since winning the DTM crown in 2015.
He added: "We all performed on a really high level, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t and I think this weekend has favoured us."
