Wehrlein on top of the world
The last two races of the 2025/2026 world championship, held in London, were decisive for Pascal Wehrlein who, thanks to the results obtained, first took the lead in the world standings, then was crowned world champion for the second time in his career. Only Jean-Eric Vergne, before him, had managed to win more than one world title in this category, with the two drivers now sharing the highest number of world championships. London was therefore crucial for the Porsche driver, but what made the difference in the last double-header weekend of the season? The answer came from the German #94 himself in a media meeting attended also by FormulaPassion: “First of all, the way we approached the weekend and how we managed to give our best under pressure. There was not a single practice session where we finished outside the top three. In the first qualifying we were on pole position, in the second we were again very competitive and finished 3rd. Obviously, this is always the basis for a good race: being competitive and qualifying well, especially in London. Also, Nico (Müller) was fantastic. He was very fast and we, as a team, did exactly what we had to do from the start of the races: be fast, competitive, flawless and put ourselves in a better position than our rivals. That’s what we did in both races, even though it was a very tight fight. In short, we all know we arrived at the last weekend with the Gen3 car and that almost everyone could have taken part in the duels and started from the front positions, but once again, as a team, we showed how good we are under pressure and how well we laid the foundations for success“.
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The fight with Da Costa
Yet, in Race 2, the German seriously risked losing the lead, as he was hindered by the second Jaguar of Da Costa. In addition to this, due to a contact with Eriksson in a crazy finale, the Porsche driver finished only 14th, still managing to remain at the top of the world standings thanks to Dennis’s 18th place (also involved in the incident) and Evans’s 4th: “Did I talk to Da Costa after the race? No, and that’s fine – he replied referring to the controversies that arose after the E-Prix – our celebrations started very quickly. Surely there would have been a lot to talk about in that race, in that weekend, but I think the success speaks for itself, as does the whole season. There is a lot of happiness and satisfaction after such an intense year as this one, because I think for the whole team this was probably the toughest year we have had so far. I didn’t hope the race director would intervene because there was nothing illegal. Everything was according to the regulations, so there was nothing to penalize, and I didn’t even protest. The attention was clear, but for me the most important thing was obviously the championship. I didn’t want to lose the race against him. I think he was a bit more inclined to contact, but obviously on my part there was no interest in crashing into him, since he was not fighting for the championship. At the start of the weekend, now I can say it, our priority was clearly the drivers’ championship, since we had already won the constructors’, and it was very important for the team to have both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships. That’s what we focused on. During the race, I was always informed about the position of my rivals.”
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London, but not only
The London weekend thus ended with a real ‘party’ for Wehrlein, but according to him there was another appointment in the last season that was even more important: “If you win the season by a few points it is obviously difficult to say: ‘Ok, this was the most important race’, because in the end every point was crucial. Even qualifying, to be honest, earned me 12 points in the championship. So it’s not a single exceptional race that contributed to the success, but the whole season. I believe that the most important weekend of this year, the one that changed the cards on the table again, was the one in Shanghai. Arriving in China, we were, I think, more than 30 points behind. I took pole position for the first race, and I won it. For the second race I think that, if the track hadn’t dried at the end and some drivers hadn’t taken risks, we would have won that one too. That weekend we finished fourth, but it put us back in the championship fight. I was regaining the lead, and I think it was a crucial turning point weekend for this season.”
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