The polesitter won the battle for track position, as drivers and engineers pushed for the front with rain on the horizon. Heading through the PIT BOOST window, he emerged out front before a Safety Car was required as the rain fell hard on Lap 19.
The Season 10 World Champion was able to stride clear of the pack from there to the chequered flag with Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar TCS Racing) and Jake Dennis (Andretti) unable to prevent Wehrlein sealing a 10th career victory.
RESULTS: The 2026 Shanghai E-Prix Round 12
Felipe Drugovich followed Dennis home as the Andrettis played the team game to secure P3 and P4 through the final few laps. Nyck de Vries followed for Mahindra, climbing all the way from P16 to fifth at the flag. Jean-Eric Vergne came sixth after a tidy E-Prix for Citroen Racing.
Mitch Evans had led the way to the tune of 19 points at lights out but sees his standings lead narrowed to just three points having managed only eighth.
Jaguar TCS Racing still lead the Teams' running 242 points to Porsche's 218. The Stuttgart outfit top the Manufacturers' table 364 plays Jaguar's 309 points.
Round 13 follows tomorrow, Sunday 5 July in Shanghai.
As it happened...
Wehrlein led the pack away down through Turn 1 with Dennis going the long way around Evans for P2 with everyone keen to get on with it and push for track position as the wind rose and dark rain clouds loomed large.
The Porsche scrapped with Dennis' Andretti, briefly changing places for the lead on Lap 4 with the field three wide for large parts of the lap. The Brit did take P1 on Lap 6 through Sector 2, and the instruction over his radio was "elbows out" with the drizzle continuing to fall.
Dennis led da Costa, Wehrlein, Guenther, Evans, Buemi, Mueller, Rowland, Vergne and Drugovich on Lap 7.
Porsche told Wehrlein to fight back and put his foot down to hit the front, even if it meant using more energy. The Season 10 champion did just that at the end of Lap 7 to retake the lead from Dennis.
Standings leader Evans had a percent or so of usable energy in-hand on the rest of the top 10 as he sat sixth.
The PIT BOOST window opened on Lap 13, with Drugovich leading a gaggle into the pit lane a lap later.
The first of the front-runners to box were Werhlein, da Costa and Rowland on Lap 15. On-track leader Dennis pitted the next lap.
When the race order all shook out, Wehrlein, da Costa and Vergne led Dennis, Rowland and Evans.
The rain really closed in on Lap 19, with the Safety Car deployed due to the conditions. Lap 23 and the racing resumed with Wehrlein the field away as the majority jumped for their 50kW all-wheel drive ATTACK MODE boost - a good move with the water down on the circuit.
Mortara - who'd gone early in ATTACK - then had a fight on with Dennis for P3. He held on for half a lap but ultimately the all-wheel drive Andretti in ATTACK MODE was able to make it by.
Wehrlein strode away from the restart to take the chequered flag, heading da Costa and Dennis home.
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2026 Shanghai E-Prix, Rounds 12 & 13
The fight for the championship intensifies as we head to the world famous Shanghai International Circuit for Rounds 12 & 13 of the 2025/26 season. It’s a fast, flowing, and unforgiving track that promises to challenge the drivers and shake up the standings.
Free Practice 3: Sunday 5 July, 06:00 local / Saturday 4 July 23:00 BST
Qualifying: Sunday 5 July, 08:00 local / 01:00 BST
Race: Sunday 5 July, 12:05 local / 05:05 BST
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