E-Prix London 2026, Race 1: Wehrlein wins and takes the lead in the world championship

On the eve of the first of the two London races, as many as nine drivers were mathematically in contention for the 2025/2026 title: now, after the victory of Pascal Wehrlein in Race 1, the world championship standings have become decidedly shorter, with the German from Porsche becoming the new driver to beat. Thanks to the points earned in qualifying and the race, with his third win of the season, the Stuttgart team representative has taken the lead in the world championship standings ahead of tomorrow’s grand finale, surpassing in one fell swoop Jake Dennis, who finished 2nd in the race, and Mitch Evans, eighth and betrayed by bad luck just as he was fighting for the podium.

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Race report

Starting from pole position, Wehrlein remained in command of the race defended by teammate Nico Müller, who skillfully repelled attacks from Mitch Evans until the 16th lap, that is, at the time of the pit boost carried out by the New Zealander from Jaguar. On the following lap, Porsche opted for Müller’s pit stop, with Wehrlein simultaneously activating the first and only Attack Mode of the race, as did Evans, who thanks to the extra energy managed to get the better of Müller. At that moment, the race seemed to give rise to a fight for victory between the Jaguar driver and Wehrlein, at least until the stroke of luck that favored the latter: during the 21st lap, the German immediately returned to the pits after the Full Course Yellow regime for an impact against the barriers by Lucas Di Grassi, as well as other drivers such as Da Costa, Ticktum, and Dennis, who took advantage of the incredible joker to find themselves behind Wehrlein, who comfortably confirmed himself at the top of the standings. On the contrary, both Müller and Evans paid dearly for what happened, sliding respectively to eighth and ninth positions. Only at the end of the race did the New Zealander manage to climb back to 8th place, in a simultaneous and spectacular fight for the podium that rewarded Dennis, 2nd ahead of Da Costa. A placement still bitter for the British driver, who due to Wehrlein’s victory loses the championship lead, now finding himself 5 points behind the German. An even worse situation for Evans, currently in third position and 21 points behind awaiting the last race of the world championship. The final will therefore take place tomorrow afternoon, with the start still scheduled for 16:05 Italian time and on the same TV and streaming channels. Before that, at 11:40, the qualifying session will take place.

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London E-Prix 2025/2026, Race 1: finishing order