Pascal Wehrlein is the current Formula E World Champion, but how did he get here?
Born in 1994 in Germany, Pascal Wehrlein has two citizenships: Mauritiun and German, but he has always used the latter to race. He debuted in karting at the age of nine, in 2003, His first experience in a single-seater arrived in 2010, with the driver involved in the German ADAC championship. Wehrlein’s career began to take form in 2012 when he finished second in the standing of the Formula 3 Euro Series.
At eighteen, the German driver discovered the DTM world, racing for three years in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. In 2015, Wehrlein conquered the DTM title at twenty-one with five podiums and two victories. Before winning his first title, Wehrlein had been selected by Mercedes for their junior program, entering the team in 2014. During the same year, the German took part in the pre-season F1 tests with Mercedes and Force India.
Wehrlein’s experience in F1
Pascal Wehrlein debuted in Formula 1 in 2016 as the official driver of team Manor, which chose him as a way to reach an agreement with Mercedes. The German team conceded Manor its wind gallery in exchange for the Wehrlein hiring. His best moment during the season was the Austrian Grand Prix, when he got P12 in qualifying, the best result in Manor’s history, and obtained his first point during the race that Sunday.
After one season with Manor, in 2017, Wehrlein moved to Sauber. The new season started out as difficult for the German, who had an incident during the Race of Champions and had to give up the first two weekends of the calendar. Wehrlein entered the points zone twice: the first time during the Spain GP, where he finished eighth, and the second time during the Azerbaijan GP, which saw him end in tenth place. At the end of the season, the German lost his seat to Charles Leclerc who partnered with Marcus Ericsson. In 2018 he covered the position of Mercedes’ third driver, while between 2019 and 2020 he worked as a Ferrari simulator driver.
Pascal Wehrlein FE debut
After his experience in F1, Wehrlein moved to the FIA’s electric championship. The German driver debuted in Season 5, between 2018 and 2019, with the Mahindra team. Wehrlein, who didn’t participate in the first round due to some contractual issues with Mercedes, obtained his first Formula E podium during the Santiago E-Prix, the third race of the season. At the end of the year, he closed his first Formula E season in twelfth position with 58 points. The Indian team confirmed Wehrlein for Season 6, but Wehrlein only took part in the first four weekends. After the fourth round, the Marrakech round, Formula E was stopped by Covid-19 and when the championship restarted, the Mahindra team chose Alex Lynn to replace Wehrlein.
Between Season 6 and Season 7, Wehrlein moved to Porsche, becoming Andre Lotterer’s teammate. He finished in points in the first five rounds, conquering the podium during the Rome E-Prix. The season ended with the German in eleventh position and Porsche decided to keep him even for Season 8. During this year, Wehrlein obtained his first Formula E victory, finishing in first position in the Mexican E-Prix, the first round of 2022. The rest of the season wasn’t as brilliant as hoped for Porsche, with Wehrlein finishing in tenth place.
Wehrlein continued his journey with Porsche in Season 9, starting the year with second place obtained in the Mexican E-Prix. During the next weekend, the German won the two races of the Diriyah double-header. Later during the season, Wehrlein won in Jakarta, finishing the year with three victories.
Formula E Season 10 and the World Title
The greatest FE year of Pascal Wehrlein‘s career has been 2024, when he became Formula E Season 10 World Champion. The German driver, who raced with Porsche for the fourth consecutive season, started the year winning the Mexican E-Prix. During the year he won two other races: the Misano E-Prix and the first round of the London E-Prix. With a total of five podiums collected during sixteen rounds, Wehrlein earned the title of World Champion. Weeks after the win, Porsche confirmed him even for Season 11.
