How Porsche ended its unwanted Formula E 'sleeping giant' period

Porsche team principal Florian Modlinger has recognised that tremendous "hard work" has been required to get the German manufacturer to the top of Formula E, having initially struggled in the series. 

The Stuttgart-based outfit joined the all-electric series back in the second season of the Gen2 era (Season 6) and never made the impact it was expected to do as a motorsport giant. 

Whilst occasional success was enjoyed in the form of the odd pole position and podium, it was not until Season 8 that a victory was claimed. As a result, many quickly described Porsche as FE's 'sleeping giant'.

The giant is for certain no longer sleeping, after Pascal Wehrlein became world champion recently in London. Key to Porsche's success has been Modlinger, who joined the Germans ahead of Season 8 after moving from ABT, where he oversaw titles in FE and DTM. 

Modlinger has brought a sense of calm to Porsche and immediately got to work with tackling its weaknesses ahead of last year's introduction of the Gen3 era. Porsche had a clear goal in Season 8, to be a frontrunner from the very first Gen3 race in Season 9. 

With its customer outfit having won the first race of the Gen3 era, followed by back-to-back victories for Wehrlein in Diriyah, that was achieved.

"When I joined Porsche, because before we were competitors, you could see they struggled," Modlinger told RacingNews365. "I did my first season with them in season eight, last season of Gen2 and it was not an easy task.

"It was hard, focused work with a lot of changes throughout when I arrived there. We had our first win in Mexico in Season 8, which was amazing. But then the key target was, and that's also a very important thing to mention, in Season 9 that we were at the front from the first race of a new generation. 

"This was not the case in Gen2, Porsche had to learn how to adapt to sprint racing. When you see what Porsche did in the last years and also how high the competition level in Formula E is and how close it is, you need to have all ingredients.

"All ingredients we had, but some things needed to be sorted. I think we showed in the past two years how strong we are, we tackled our weaknesses and we tried to build on our strengths. 

"Last year, was already a very successful year. We were proud that Jake Dennis became a world champion and now we have it for the factory team, which is amazing. First title for Porsche in Formula E."

Wehrlein weakness addressed

Wehrlein and Porsche actually led the bulk of the drivers' and teams' championships in the opening season of the Gen3 era, only to slip-out of contention in the closing rounds. 

To ensure the same did not happen this season, the team's biggest weakness was addressed. The area of concern in Season 9 was qualifying, as Wehrlein often had too much ground to make up in the races. 

His qualifying could not have been any better on his way to the world title, whilst Porsche were firing on all cylinders to apply significant pressure on Jaguar in the final rounds.

"But as I said, before we tackled our weaknesses and the biggest weakness for Pascal last year was qualifying on a certain type of racetracks," added Modlinger. 

"We managed to get rid of this weakness through hard work between Season 9 and Season 10. The team and Pascal made a big step, this was key to securing the title. 

"Another very important key fact, to never give up the attitude in the whole team, to keep the pressure up. Our target was in the last races since we started to race in Portland, we do no mistakes, we keep the pressure, and if opportunities come you need to be there to grab them. 

"That was exactly our strategy, and we executed it very well and did not crack under pressure. Pascal and me, the whole team we love the challenge. This was our target to make this happen in London."