Wehrlein bites back with controlled Round 10 win in Jakarta

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Wehrlein bites back with controlled Round 10 win in Jakarta

Long-time standings leader Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) lost top spot in the table last time out in Monaco but stamped his authority on the Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix Round 10 with a controlled victory; the TAG Heuer Porsche driver leading Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) and Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing)

Wehrlein wins in Jakarta (2)

Wehrlein had headed the way in the Drivers' World Championship since Round 3, after a strong start to the season saw him fire to an early advantage. Since his last win in Diriyah, however, he'd failed to make the podium while Nick Cassidy hit a rich run of form - eventually overcoming the German in the standings with his win in Monaco.

RESULTS: The full Round 10 classification

Porsche's Wehrlein started third and traded places for the lead with polesitter Maximilian Guenther over the opening third of the E-Prix, having first made his way by his compatriot on Lap 4. From Lap 12 and the second ATTACK MODE activations, Wehrlein was able to manage things comfortably - making it look as easy as it can do in Formula E in the most trying conditions on a hot humid Jakarta afternoon where temperatures touched the mid-30s celsius.

Dennis started second and finished second, with not quite enough in his Avalanche Andretti to overpower the factory Porsche 99X Electric of Wehrlein out-front. His charge wasn't helped by a late race push from Guenther, who hassled the Brit for second, allowing Wehrlein some breathing room.

Guenther couldn't ultimately find a way by, though, and was the best of the Stellantis, DS-powered runners - with the DS PENSKE pair of standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne coming home fourth and fifth and Guenther's Maserati MSG Racing teammate Edoardo Mortara sixth.

Standings leader Cassidy tried his best to outdo defensive maestro Vergne mid-way through the race but made a lucky escape as he made a move from a long way back on an unsighted Vergne on Lap 20 and narrowly avoided damage to both front corners of his car. After that scare, and with Wehrlein's win, he'd be relieved to wind up seventh with good points.

Season 6 champion Antonio Felix da Costa (DS PENSKE) wound up eighth but way back - some 15 seconds in fact - from the lead seven. Robin Frijns doubled down on an impressive qualifying performance for ABT CUPRA's first points and ninth. Jake Hughes rounded out the top 10 for NEOM McLaren while the two Jaguar TCS Racing cars came to blows again, as they did in Hyderabad - Sam Bird sending Mitch Evans spinning out of eighth and crucial points late on.

All that left Cassidy with just a two-point advantage at the top of the standings from Wehrlein, while TAG Heuer Porsche leapfrogged back beyond Envision Racing at the top of the Teams' running.

We're back tomorrow with Round 11.

As it happened...

Guenther held fast with Wehrlein attacking him from the off around the outside of Turn 1 having leapt by Dennis' Avalanche Andretti. The pair led Vandoorne who himself jumped to third from sixth on the grid. Cassidy made up ground to end Lap 1 eighth and most importantly, his Envision Racing Jaguar I-TYPE 6 was unscathed.

Lap 4 saw the lead change hands. No driver had led for more than 11 laps from pole in Season 9 and Guenther ceded the spot to Wehrlein - the TAG Heuer Porsche bypassing the German up the inside of Turn 1. Meanwhile, Vandoorne was the first to jump through the ATTACK MODE loop - six minutes with the 50kW boost this time, of eight total to be split between a pair of activations. Wehrlein followed from the lead two laps later, as did Vandoorne's teammate Vergne, Brit Dennis and polesitter Guenther. Wehrlein from Guenther, Vandoorne, Dennis, Mortara, Vergne, Cassidy, Frijns, Evans and Mueller the top 10 once the first round of ATTACK MODE began to shake out, and just seven seconds between them.

With 11 laps down, Guenther hit the top again as Wehrlein took his second 50kW boost - the German going early, and still five spots to the good of Cassidy - the driver he is trying to depose at the top of the standings. Lap 12 saw the pair swap again though as Guenther used up his second ATTACK MODE activation.

At the half-way stage, it was proving a cagey encounter. The top 10, and much of the field in fact, ran with relative energy parity - Cassidy the one outlier with a couple of percent more in-hand than the cars around him and the lead pack ahead. From sixth, he'd be eyeing a late-race push as the Jaguar powertrain has managed at more than a few events this season but he had the defensive driving maestro and double champion Vergne to get by ahead, first.

With progress hard to come by, Dennis was the driver making moves as the race headed into Lap 17. The Avalanche Andretti driver produced a textbook pass out of the slipstream of Vandoorne's DS into Turn 1. With four minutes left on his final 50kW ATTACK MODE boost, the Brit would now be eyeing the top two from third, just 1.5 seconds back.

Cassidy lost his patience behind Vergne on Lap 20 and it nearly ended in tears for the Kiwi as he so narrowly avoided the inside wall of Turn 1 as the DS driver, unsighted, headed for the apex. Cassidy came from some way back and can think himself lucky he escaped with his front suspension intact.

With 12 laps to go, Dennis had made his way by Guenther but the Maserati MSG Racing driver wasn't done. He was all over the back of the Andretti, who had been chasing leader Wehrlein. The pair's squabble allowed the Porsche driver to break a second clear, while Vandoorne, Vergne and Cassidy were able to home in on the back of Guenther in the battle for the German's third and final spot on the podium. All of that lead seven were within a percent or so on energy - the leaders managing things expertly in the Jakarta heat.

Inside the final half dozen laps and the leaders were in a sprint, running nose to tail and trying to force the error from one-another. Wehrlein headed Dennis and Guenther, all within a second and not giving an inch.

On Lap 35, it happened again. Sam Bird clouted teammate Mitch Evans as he tried to pass his teammate for eighth - a repeat of Hyderabad and Team Principal James Barclay left less than impressed as the current team leader in the standings was sent spinning to the back of the pack and out of a valuable points-paying position.

As the laps whiled away, neither Dennis nor Guenther had enough to unseat Wehrlein out front - the Porsche driver biting back after losing top spot in the standings in Monaco.