A front row start for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s first ever visit to Jeddah showed the potential of the Porsche 99X Electric.
But this was a weekend when that potential couldn’t be fully exploited because of incidents outside the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s hands - as its cars were struck by rivals on the opening laps of both races and given night-wrecking damage.
António Félix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein still managed to take home a top-10 finish each from the double-header, at the Jeddah Corniche venue which hosts Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
With three-quarters of the season remaining, there is plenty of time to regain the ground lost given the Porsche package’s very strong performance level throughout the 2024-25 season so far.
The story of Race One
Formula E’s first ever race on a modified version of Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix circuit in Jeddah was also the inaugural appearance of its Pit Boost format, in which all cars must make a mandatory fast-charging pitstop for a a 10% energy increase (3.85kWh) delivered in just over 30 seconds.
Sadly for the Porsche team, its chance to become the first Pit Boost race winner was effectively over on the first lap, when both Wehrlein and da Costa’s cars were hit from behind by rivals during the early jostling.
Wehrlein had qualified second but contact from the Jaguar of Mitch Evans left him with a rear puncture and consequent additional damage. Though he made it back to the pitlane for a new tire, he was only able to recover to 15th place in his wounded Porsche 99X Electric.
Almost simultaneously with Wehrlein’s incident, da Costa’s car suffered significant rear wing damage when Nico Müller launched over it.
Da Costa was able to continue, and managed to get as high as sixth place as the field’s complex array of strategies unfolded through both the Pit Boost sequence and the two trips to the attack mode loop that triggers eight minutes of additional power and all-wheel drive.
Despite the damage, da Costa completed a dogged race to ninth place to secure more useful points for Porsche’s championship bid on a day when the team’s chances were wrecked almost immediately through no fault of its own.
The story of Race Two
The Saturday race - which did not feature pitstops - should have been a chance to make amends for Friday night’s disappointment, with da Costa lining up fourth on the grid.
Again though, he didn’t get chance to show what he could do, as race one winner Maximilian Günther of the DS Penske team slid into da Costa’s Porsche just a few corners into the opening lap and caused terminal damage to its rear end.
Wehrlein made it through lap one unscathed this time, but faced a tougher race as he started 13th on the grid.
Porsche tried a bold strategy in an effort to gain ground, with Wehrlein among the first in the field to take his initial attack mode boost and using the extra power and traction to surge up the order into third place.
Naturally shuffled back as others took their attack modes mid-race, Wehrlein then left it very late to make his second attack mode visit, with the aim of capitalizing if the pack bunched up and others around him had run out of their added power already.
It allowed him to eventually claim eighth - less than his and the Porsche team’s performance deserved, but a solid points finish in the circumstances.
Customer Racing
Andretti team driver Jake Dennis took Porsche’s best finish of the weekend with a remarkable run to fifth in race two from 19th on the grid.
Dennis waited until past half-distance to take his first attack mode then went for the second boost almost immediately afterwards - a strategy that took him all the way into the race lead.
He couldn’t stay there as others had more attack mode left for the final laps, but he managed to hold on for fourth place and was part of a huge late battle for second. His teammate Müller had a frightening crash over da Costa in race one then took 11th place in race two.
The CUPRA KIRO team continued to show improved performance in its new customer relationship with Porsche, allowing Dan Ticktum to challenge for top six places in both races.
Although the need for a system reset around his pitstop left him 18th in race one, he scored points again with ninth in race two. His teammate David Beckmann took 14th and 17th place finishes.
Unique Miami event next
Formula E’s main championship now pauses for two months before resuming at Miami’s Homestead road course on April 12.
Before then, the series tries something groundbreaking with its Evo Sessions event at a course around the Hard Rock Stadium on March 5-6.
That will feature celebrities, influencers and sports stars trying the GEN3 Evo Formula E car after intense preparation and coaching from the series’ regular drivers and attempting to get as close as possible to their lap times.
