(Motorsports news) Pascal Wehrlein won both Diriyah E-Prix races to extend his overall 2023 Formula E championship lead. The Porsche-powered cars dominated both the races as sister team Andretti’s Jake Dennis finished second in both races. Porsche enjoyed a brilliant start to Formula E’s Gen3 era in Mexico as Andretti’s Jake Dennis won the first race in Mexico ahead of Wehrlein. However, Mexico has been a strong venue for the manufacturer but these two race victories at Diriyah have clearly cemented Porsche as the constructor to beat this season.

After a disappointing qualifying session, Wehrlein started from ninth on the grid but he picked his way through the field and was already up to second place by Lap 24/39. He made the decisive move for the lead on Lap 30 when he expertly passed Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird. Bird made it to the podium in third place and it was subsequently his first podium appearance since his 2021 New York E-Prix victory. Dennis on the other hand came from 11th on the grid to overtake Bird as he took the fight to the German but couldn’t find a way past him.

In the second race, Wehrlein enjoyed a better qualifying and started from fifth on the grid, while it was a historic occasion as McLaren’s Jake Hughes was on pole. However,it was yet another Wehrlein vs Dennis battle with a late Safety Car appearance bunching up the field once again. Wehrlein this time also was able to fend off the competition to take his second win. Bird was destined for a second podium finish but lost the spot and couldn’t regain it after using his Attack Mode. The Jaguar driver couldn’t get past McLaren’s Rene Rast after he lost his third place

Despite closing up the gap in the end, Bird had to settle for fourth. A third place for Rast meant that McLaren secured their first-ever Formula E podium, in only their third race in the championship. It was a disappointing week for Mahindra Racing as Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Rowland could only manage to finish 13th and 19th, respectively. Rowland had to retire from the second race after picking up a puncture, while Di Grassi finished a disappointing 15th.

Wehrlein comfortably leads the Formula E standings by six points over Dennis as Buemi is third overall, but he’s already 31 points behind Dennis. Next up will be a historic event on the calendar as Hyderabad is set to host the first E-Prix, with Formula E visiting India for the very first time. All eyes will be on Mahindra to perform at their home race and beat the likes of Pascal Wehrlien and Jake Dennis who have already set an early marker this season.

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