Pascal Wehrlein retirement fear after Nyck de Vries Formula E collision

Pascal Wehrlein has revealed that he feared he would be unable to finish Formula E's inaugural Madrid E-Prix after being hit by Nyck de Vries.

On the second lap at Turn 10, de Vries ploughed into the back of Wehrlein's Porsche while he was running in second. The clash destroyed de Vries' front wing and saw him receive a five-second time penalty.

It immediately ended de Vries' hopes of scoring big points, while it also looked set to potentially ruin Wehrlein's own podium chances.

The collision heavily damaged the rear of Wehrlein's car and left him with a deep tyre cut, yet he somehow avoided a puncture.

The damaged Porsche struggled for balance and in dirty air, leading the Season 10 world champion to initially fear that retirement was looming.

Asked if he thought he was going to have to retire, Wehrlein told RacingNews365: "Yeah, that's a good question. Honestly, with the hit I got, I didn't expect to, first of all, continue the race. 

"And then, once I did a couple of corners, I didn't expect to have the balance and the pace anymore with the damage we had. So I knew from then on it was going to be difficult. 

"I struggled with the rear tyres the whole race and with rear grip, which only makes sense because the whole rear wing was broken. And I think, especially towards the end, you could clearly see it. 

"I could just not follow anymore, and I kind of accepted fourth place. The whole race was just on the edge, driving the car with that amount of oversteer."

One of Wehrlein's 'happiest podiums'

Despite significant damage, Wehrlein kept himself in the lead group throughout the race, although he looked set to finish fourth in the closing laps.

However, a move by Dan Ticktum ahead at the final chicane on the last lap opened the door for the German to snatch third and extend his lead in the standings to 11 points.

He had written off a victory but knew he just had to keep himself within touching distance of the top three to capitalise on any mistakes. 

Given the extent of the damage, the podium was one of the "happiest" of his career.

"I tried to stay super close because I knew I wasn't in the fight anymore for the win," added Wehrlein. "In the last couple of laps, I was also down on energy. 

"But I knew, OK, if the first three are fighting for the win, maybe there is a situation I can benefit from — and that's exactly what happened in the last chicane. 

"So yeah, I overtook Ticktum running onto the start-finish line and took the podium. And it's one of the happiest podiums I've had so far in my career because, honestly, with the hit I got, I thought we wouldn't score any points."