The Porsche driver won the opening London E-Prix at ExCeL London to take the championship lead from Jake Dennis, before a chaotic Sunday finale pushed the title fight in almost every possible direction.
Wehrlein eventually finished the final race outside the points, but Dennis and Mitch Evans were unable to capitalise. Taylor Barnard took his maiden Formula E victory, Jaguar secured the Teams’ Championship and Wehrlein walked away as the 2025/26 Formula E World Champion.
It was a fittingly unpredictable end to the season.
London E-Prix Race 1: Wehrlein Wins and Takes the Championship Lead
Wehrlein started the London weekend third in the standings, five points behind championship leader Jake Dennis and three behind Mitch Evans.
By Saturday evening, he was leading them both.
Starting from pole position, Wehrlein immediately took control of the opening London E-Prix. The Porsche driver built a gap of around three seconds by the end of the first lap and quickly established himself as the driver to beat.
The opening stages remained relatively clean until contact involving Edoardo Mortara left Zane Maloney with damage and brought out the yellow flags.
As the race moved towards its strategic phase, the focus shifted to Attack Mode and the mandatory pit stops.
Evans was among the first frontrunners to make his move. An early stop gave the Jaguar driver valuable clean air, while activating Attack Mode helped him pass Nico Müller and move into what was effectively second place.
For a brief period, the strategy appeared capable of putting Evans ahead once Wehrlein completed his own stop.
Then Lucas di Grassi changed the race.
A Perfectly Timed Yellow Flag Hands Wehrlein the Advantage
Di Grassi hit the barriers at Turn 9 on lap 21, triggering yellow flags at exactly the wrong moment for Evans.
Wehrlein and several other drivers were able to complete their pit stops under the yellow flag, dramatically reducing the time lost in the process. Evans’ early strategic advantage disappeared almost immediately.
Wehrlein retained the effective lead and never gave it back. Behind him, Dennis, António Félix da Costa and Dan Ticktum fought over the remaining podium positions. Dennis eventually climbed into second, while da Costa secured third.
At the front, Wehrlein crossed the line around six seconds clear.
One victory had completely changed the championship picture. Wehrlein entered the final race five points ahead of Dennis, while Evans and Oliver Rowland were effectively removed from the title equation.
Sunday, however, would make those calculations far less straightforward.
Formula E’s Title Fight Explodes in the London Finale
Wehrlein put himself in an excellent position in qualifying for the final race.
Nyck de Vries took pole, with Nico Müller alongside him and Wehrlein starting third. Evans lined up fifth, while Dennis endured a disastrous qualifying session and started only 16th.
At that point, Wehrlein did not need anything spectacular. He simply needed to stay out of trouble.
For the opening part of the race, that was exactly what he did. But once the different Attack Mode strategies began to overlap, the order became increasingly difficult to read.
Taylor Barnard and António Félix da Costa emerged as major players at the front, while Wehrlein remained comfortably positioned to secure the championship.
By lap 16, he was running fifth. Dennis remained outside the points and Evans was not in a position to overturn the deficit.
The title looked firmly under Wehrlein’s control. Ten laps later, it wasn’t.
Evans and Da Costa Turn the Championship Upside Down
Evans activated Attack Mode and launched his attack.
At Turn 16, the Jaguar driver moved past both da Costa and Wehrlein in quick succession, keeping his slim championship hopes alive.
Da Costa then became a crucial factor in the title fight. With his Jaguar team-mate chasing the championship, he made Wehrlein work for every metre of track.
Their fight reached a critical point on lap 27.
Wehrlein was forced wide during the battle and suddenly dropped to 11th. Several cars swept past, including Dennis.
Within moments, the championship had changed hands virtually.
Dennis, who had started 16th and appeared almost out of contention, was suddenly in position to take the title.
London had turned into a championship calculation changing almost corner by corner.
Wehrlein and Dennis Get Caught in the Same Incident
By lap 32, Wehrlein could no longer afford to sit back.
While attacking at Turn 16, the Porsche driver made contact with the rear of Joel Eriksson’s car, sending the Envision driver into a spin. The incident cost Wehrlein time, but Dennis was caught in the resulting disruption too.
The Andretti driver fell outside the top 10. Just as quickly as Dennis had moved into the virtual championship lead, it swung back towards Wehrlein. That left Evans as the remaining threat. But his task was brutal: he needed to win.
The Jaguar driver was running fourth and sat roughly eight seconds behind the leading group. With the laps disappearing, the gap proved too large.
Wehrlein could finally see the championship coming back towards him.
Taylor Barnard Takes His First Formula E Victory
While the title fight produced chaos behind, Taylor Barnard was building a memorable race of his own.
The DS Penske driver used his Attack Mode at the right moment and attacked the leaders late in the race. Barnard eventually took control at the front and held off de Vries to claim his maiden Formula E victory.
Less than a second separated the pair at the chequered flag. Edoardo Mortara completed the podium, while Evans crossed the line fourth. It was not enough for the Drivers’ Championship, but his result helped Jaguar beat Porsche to the Formula E Teams’ Championship.
Sebastien Buemi finished fifth in his final Formula E appearance, ahead of Nick Cassidy, Jean-Éric Vergne, Pepe Martí, Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato.
Then came the champion. Wehrlein finished 14th. Dennis was 19th. And that was enough.
Pascal Wehrlein Is the 2025/26 Formula E World Champion
Pascal Wehrlein did not score a single point in the race that made him World Champion.
Yet his work had effectively been done across the entire London weekend.
He arrived at ExCeL five points behind Dennis, won Saturday’s race to take the championship lead and then survived a Sunday in which the title repeatedly appeared to slip out of his hands.
Dennis could not recover. Evans could not reach the victory he needed.
Wehrlein had his second Formula E World Championship.
It was also a weekend that spread the biggest prizes across the paddock. Barnard left London with his first Formula E win. Jaguar secured the Teams’ Championship. Porsche had its Drivers’ World Champion.
And after a season in which the title fight refused to settle, London delivered one final reminder of what Formula E does best: one race, a handful of strategic decisions and a championship that can change in the space of a single corner.
