Pascal Wehrlein hits out at frustrating Formula E topic: 'I find it boring'

Pascal Wehrlein was highly critical of Formula E qualifying following the conclusion of the Berlin E-Prix, insisting he finds it "boring" that a pack race can be won from anywhere on the grid.

The second race of the Berlin double-header drew mixed opinions, with many drivers criticising qualifying for being irrelevant due to the chaos of the peloton race.

Since Gen3 was introduced, peloton races have divided opinion, although many felt Sunday's race at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit went too far.

With fresh tyres being a major advantage in the race, some drivers opted to use old rubber in qualifying to save a fresh set.

Those who qualified on old tyres sacrificed a good starting position, leaving many big names towards the back.

Wehrlein secured pole at Porsche’s home event, while eventual race winner Mitch Evans qualified 17th. Reigning world champion Oliver Rowland finished second, and he joined Evans on the ninth row.

Last year, Nick Cassidy secured victory in Berlin from 20th, with the go-to strategy in peloton races often being to sit towards the back for half the race, preserve significant energy due to the slow pace, before surging to the front with an energy advantage.

It reached a new level in Berlin, with some drivers opting not to push for a strong starting position in order to already be towards the back. It is a style of racing Wehrlein is firmly against, as he believes it effectively renders qualifying unnecessary.

Asked if qualifying ahead of pack races is pointless due to winning from so far back being very doable and common, Wehrlein told RacingNews365: "Well, that's what happened, and I find it boring, because how is it possible that we are doing a qualifying where everyone is putting in so much effort to optimise things, and in the end they [Jaguar] decide not even to do the qualifying and just basically start from the race, save a lot of energy in the beginning, and the races are so slow in the beginning in terms of energy saving that you can just win from last. 

"I don't know how to put it into words. I don't care about things I cannot control. But you know, it's that way of being slow over one lap just doesn't matter. 

"So you know, you might just turn up for the race and still win."