Pascal Wehrlein rues ‘very frustrating’ Tokyo as crucial Formula E title lead lost

Pascal Wehrlein rued a "very frustrating" double-header in Tokyo, as the Porsche driver missed the opportunity to be crowned a two-time Formula E world champion.

While it was incredibly unlikely that Wehrlein would be crowned champion in the Japanese capital, it was mathematically possible, although it would have required virtually two wins.

It was the complete opposite of a perfect weekend for the German, who failed to score a point in either race. Qualifying on both days was highly disappointing, with him going on to retire from the first race after sustaining damage before finishing 13th in the second.

Points were possible in both races. The damage in race one was caused by a clash with former team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa, for which Wehrlein was penalised, a decision he disagreed with.

In the second race, like in Shanghai, Porsche opted for full wet tyre pressures, only for the circuit to dry. It saw Wehrlein tumble down the order, as did Mitch Evans after Jaguar made the same mistake, while title rivals Jake Dennis and Oliver Rowland gambled on intermediate tyre pressures, a decision which paid off.

Asked who was responsible for the tyre pressure decision, Wehrlein told RacingNews365: "We are one team. So the team is me, and I'm the team, and we're one team."

Discussing when he realised the tyre pressures were wrong, Wehrlein explained: "The full course yellow. Until that point, it was looking good. I'd made a few positions and was catching up to the guys ahead.

"We had good pace, and from the car, I just felt like the track dried up in five laps. Before that, it was fully wet at the start. Then it started to rain again. Honestly, I just felt like I was in Shanghai. But yeah, complete déjà vu."

Wehrlein Tokyo frustration

Overall, it was a weekend to forget for Wehrlein, although, courtesy of excellent results from Porsche's two customer teams, Andretti and Cupra Kiro, the manufacturers' title was successfully defended.

Wehrlein entered Tokyo leading the standings by nine points. He now heads to the final two races in London third in the championship, five points behind Dennis.

He knows the title could have been won in Japan, but also that it is important neither he nor the Weissach-based outfit dwell on what might have been, with the goal of arriving at the finale in title contention still achieved.

Analysing Tokyo overall, Wehrlein said: "Very frustrating because I feel like we had the opportunity so many times to score more points. In fact, the championship could have been decided already here.

"You know what I mean. It just feels like we left so many points on the table. On the other side, there’s no reason to put ourselves down because we are fully in the fight, and the goal was clear: to fight for the championship in London, which we will do. That is the positive side of it.

"But yeah, a weekend to forget. It just shows how, yeah, it goes in Formula E. In Shanghai, we were almost unbeatable if it wasn’t for a drying race on the second day, and here we should have scored way more points than we did. But that’s Formula E. I don’t put myself down for that, never, and yeah, I’m always giving my best. I always push, and yeah, we’ll push very hard in London."