Pascal Wehrlein reveals shock after Formula E Shanghai madness: ‘I couldn’t believe it’

Pascal Wehrlein has revealed that he "couldn't believe" being overtaken so easily by Lucas di Grassi, Jean-Eric Vergne and Joel Eriksson in Shanghai in what was Formula E's maddest race of the season.

The Porsche driver enjoyed a sublime double-header at the Shanghai International Circuit, securing pole position and a win on the opening day before finishing fourth in Sunday's race.

It was a massive 40-point haul across the weekend, elevating him from fourth in the standings and 27 points adrift of Mitch Evans to leading the Formula E drivers' championship by nine points with four races to go.

However, Wehrlein feels it could have been even more, and had it rained for 10 minutes longer, it likely would have been. The second race in Shanghai started in wet conditions, with the majority opting for a wet set-up. The exceptions, however, were di Grassi, Vergne and Eriksson.

The trio gambled on a dry set-up, which paid off when a dry line appeared in the closing stages. Wehrlein had been leading comfortably before being overtaken in the final laps by all three drivers and dropping to fourth. For the German, a dry set-up was a gamble he simply could not afford.

"Yeah, it feels like a bittersweet race for me because I feel like I've lost 13 to 16 points than won 12 points," Wehrlein told RacingNews365.

"In qualifying, we just stayed on the set-up we thought we needed for the conditions for too long, and until then I felt like we were dominating. In the race, it was kind of a similar story.

"We couldn't gamble on a dry set-up when it started raining quite heavily again just before the race. Others did, but they also started further back, so they were perhaps more open to taking risks.

"I just think that if it had rained for 10 minutes longer, it would have been another win. On the other hand, if you'd told me we would score 40 points this weekend, I would have definitely signed up for it. It was an important weekend for us. The last couple of weekends were unfortunate, and this was a crucial one."

Wehrlein's disbelief

The way in which di Grassi, Vergne and Eriksson stormed through the field was extraordinary, with Wehrlein left helpless against them once the dry line appeared.

How the trio got past was something that left the Season 10 world champion in disbelief, revealing that even in 350 kW, he could not keep up.

Asked how it felt being passed so easily by di Grassi, Vergne and Eriksson, Wehrlein replied: "The track just dried so quickly, and I didn't see it coming. There were three cars that were flying.

"I couldn't believe it. I was in 350 kW, and I couldn't follow them in 300 kW. Yeah, it was insane, but that played to their advantage, and well done to them."