Pascal Wehrlein is confident that a strong result at this weekend's Monaco E-Prix is on the cards for himself and for Porsche, with the German hailing the Circuit de Monaco as the "perfect" Formula E venue.
The ex-F1 driver enters the mid-way point of the championship as the joint-leader of the series with Jake Dennis, who has quietly progressed to the front of the pack.
Consistency has been the key for Wehrlein and for Dennis, although Wehrlein's huge strength this season has been his qualifying pace.
Porsche has made significant gains in qualifying this year which has allowed Wehrlein to start nearer the front, allowing him to capitalise on the efficiency of his powertrain.
Whilst overtaking at Monaco is possible for Formula E – 116 overtakes were recorded last season – qualifying does still play a critical part, especially as there is a genuine chance of rain.
Wehrlein is in no position to predict how the weekend will go but he is confident heading into the weekend that a strong result is possible, based on the staggering progress that has been made over one-lap.
"It will be guessing everything I will tell you now," joked Wehrlein to RacingNews365. "But yeah, I believe that, that we are more on top of our qualifying performance than we have been last season.
"And therefore right now, obviously, we still have to do the job and we still have to find the perfect setup for that track, but I see no reason right now why we shouldn't be able to do that.
"So far this season, we were really consistent in terms of qualifying results, and also race results apart from my DNF in Misano. I think overall, we just made a step forward in qualifying and in the race, but especially in qualifying."
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'Every driver pushes a little more'
Wehrlein heads to Monaco having won the recent round in Misano, with him being the only driver to have won two races in 2024. However, 12 months ago, the 29-year-old only finished P10 at this weekend's host city.
As it is for F1, Monaco is very much the crown jewel for Formula E. It is the one race on the calendar which every driver would do anything to be victorious at, something which is very challenging as the entire schedule is based on one day.
Formula E just works perfectly at Monaco and demonstrates that quality racing can still take place around the streets of the Principality, but with minimal time between sessions discovering the optimum setup quickly is vital to a strong performance.
"Monaco is perfect for Formula E – it’s a cool track with a stunning backdrop," said Wehrlein.
"To be at the front, we have to find a set-up that allows plenty of grip in the fast corners and offers good balance but doesn’t result in too much understeer in tight corners like Rascasse.
"We don’t have much time to find the best compromise. It’d be ideal if we arrived at the track already well sorted – but even then it’ll still be difficult.
"In Monaco, it feels like every driver pushes a little more than usual. Everyone wants to win here.”
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