Pascal Wehrlein has revealed that qualifying was why he failed to contend for the Formula E title in the 2022-23 season after settling for fourth in the standings.
The German driver finished a distant 80 points behind Jake Dennis in the championship as the Briton celebrated clinching the title for Andretti.
Wehrlein conceded that the lack of raw speed in his Porsche in qualifying during the 2022-23 season was one of the main reasons why he was held back over the year.
Qualifying didn’t seem too much of an issue in the early rounds, as the German manufacturer’s speed on race day with the GEN3 car masked it in Formula E.
Pascal Wehrlein believes he lost the 2022-23 title because Porsche were ‘not strong enough in one lap pace’
Wehrlein spent much of the 2022-23 season marred by poor qualifying, which hurt his chances to challenge for the podium in most races.
This cost him valuable points throughout the year, as he made little progress. The Porsche driver stood on the podium just four times over the season, taking three wins and a second place in Mexico.
Wehrlein explained that qualifying in the midfield was the deciding factor in his failure to mount a title challenge.
He told RacingNews365: “There’s a lot more risk of damage to your car or to get a DNF when you’re starting in the midfield war zone it feels like, because there’s just so much contact with other drivers and other cars.
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“And that’s to me how we lost the championship in 2023, we were not strong enough in one lap pace. We tried different things but it’s also clear that in two practice sessions, there’s not a lot of time to really reinvent the package you have.”
Wehrelin also added: “Actually, the whole season, we were not so competitive in qualifying. I think in the beginning, we could just make it work in the races. If you think about Diriyah and that weekend, I won both races.”
Jakarta was an event that didn’t follow the trend of Wehlrein’s poor qualifying during the 2022-23 season. He qualified third and won the first race of the weekend in Indonesia’s capital.
Pascal Wehrlein concedes Porsche weren’t strong enough in qualifying over ‘the whole season’
Wehrlein was competitive during the 2022-23 season and finished in the top 10 at every race he finished, only suffering a retirement at the Cape Town ePrix.
The German driver consistently scored points, but his lack of speed in qualifying cost him a real chance to battle for the championship.
Qualifying was truly an issue and Wehrlein found there were no drastic changes in the season where they suddenly capitulated.
Instead, the German had to continually fight back from a disappointing starting position after recording an average qualifying result of P9.6.
But Wehrlein put his frustrations from how the 2022-23 season unfolded to bed and took revenge by winning the Formula E title in 2024.
Scoring 40 more points than in the previous season proved the difference as Wehrlein won the title at the season finale in London. He also registered an average qualifying position of P5.3 in 2024.