Customer teams on the podium for Porsche’s Sanya debut

With P2, Cupra Kiro’s Pepe Martí secured his second career podium in Formula E after his third-place result at the Monaco E-Prix this May. Porsche factory driver Nico Müller finished P7, with teammate Pascal Wehrlein P14.

The Andretti team missed out on their maiden 1–2 victory in the series, which was already celebrated on the podium. Dennis’ rookie teammate Felipe Drugovich had crossed the finish line in second, but a 5-second post-race penalty, handed out in the evening hours, dropped him to P5.

Dennis and Drugovich started the 39‑lap race from the front row. The pair remained at the front prior to a red flag shortly after half distance. Slipping back after the restart, Dennis retook the lead, utilising a late Attack Mode. He crossed the line in front of António Félix da Costa (Jaguar TCS Racing). The former Porsche factory driver had also received a 5‑second time penalty, but it was applied immediately when he took the chequered flag. This promoted Drugovich and Martí to second and third initially.

Before the restart, Wehrlein had moved up to P3 after starting from P6, while Müller climbed from P14 to P4. The 2023/2024 World Champion Wehrlein was handed a 5‑second time penalty after causing a collision as well, relegating him outside the points having finished just ahead of Müller.

With the points haul of Porsche drivers Dennis and Martí, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer extended its lead in the manufacturers’ standings. Formula E’s return to Sanya after 2019 marked Porsche’s debut at the Chinese venue. With three cars in the semi-finals of qualifying, the Porsche package proved quick on the 2.520-km Haitang Bay street circuit.

Racing for Charity

Under the motto Racing for Charity, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG is making a strong social statement in the current Formula E season, supporting seriously ill children worldwide. For every lap completed by its two factory-run Porsche 99X Electric, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer donates 400 euros to the charitable organizations Kinderherzen retten e.V., Interplast Germany e.V., and the Ferry Porsche Foundation. After Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Müller completed the maximum number of laps at the eleventh race of the season in Sanya, the donation amount stands at 292,400 Euro.

Comments on the Sanya E-Prix

Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: “A strong result for Porsche and its customer teams, with three cars in the top five and another victory for Andretti. Congrats to Andretti and Cupra Kiro. Already in qualifying, our packages proved quick, with three Porsche cars duelling it out in the semis. For the factory team, it was clearly a disappointing day. A yellow flag interrupted one of Nico’s laps in qualifying, while Pascal had an issue under braking at one point. In the race, Pascal and Nico were going strong, running in P3 and P4 just before the red flag. Pascal had six minutes of Attack Mode left, while those ahead only had four, so he had a good chance to fight for the win. But during an overtake, he made contact with another competitor. Only scoring a few points with Nico was not the target we came here for, but we will come back stronger in Shanghai. One positive is the pace our 99X Electric showed in these conditions, which we expect to face again in Shanghai and Tokyo.”

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche factory driver (#94): “It looked very promising until the red flag. We were in a great position, probably on course for at least a podium, maybe even the win, but then everything fell apart after the restart. An incident with contact and the resulting penalty made things a bit messy and unfortunate. I feel like I gave everything today and pushed really hard to maximise the result, but it didn’t work out. Now we focus on the final six races, knowing that the car and the pace were strong after a promising weekend.”

Nico Müller, Porsche factory driver (#51): “Not an easy day at all. I think we were having a very good race after a difficult qualifying left us in P14. We were in P4 and had 1 minute and 50 seconds of Attack Mode left when the red flag came out, so that really hurt our strategy. Losing that Attack Mode in such a sensitive race was far from ideal. We still managed to come back and finish P7. It was the maximum today, but it was not what we came here for. We will come back stronger in Shanghai.”

Standings after 11 of 17 races

Drivers’ classification
1.⁠ Mitch Evans (NZL), 128 Points – Jaguar I-Type 7
2. Oliver Rowland (GBR), 109 points – Nissan e-4ORCE 05
3. Edoardo Mortara (SUI), 103 Points – Mahindra M12Electro
4. Pascal Wehrlein (GER), 101 Points – Porsche 99X Electric
5. Jake Dennis (GBR), 94 Points – Porsche 99X Electric
7. Nico Müller (SUI), 89 Points – Porsche 99X Electric
11. Pepe Martí (ESP), 58 Points – Porsche 99X Electric WCG3
12. Felipe Drugovich (BRA), 42 Points – Porsche 99X Electric
14. Dan Ticktum (GBR), 28 Points – Porsche 99X Electric WCG3

Teams’ classification
1. Jaguar TCS Racing (GBR), 220 points
2. Porsche Formula E Team (GER), 190 points
3. Mahindra Racing (IND), 162 points
4. Andretti Formula E (USA), 136 points
8. CUPRA KIRO (USA), 86 points

Manufacturers’ classification
1.⁠ ⁠Porsche, 324 points
2. Jaguar, 283 points
3. Mahindra, 158 points

The official points’ standings can be found on the Formula E website.

Next up

The next race will take place on 4 and 5 July for rounds 12 and 13 of the season, with the all-electric championship remaining in China and visiting the Shanghai International Circuit.

Porsche in Formula E

As the reigning Teams’ and Manufacturers’ World Champion, Porsche contests its seventh Formula E season in 2025/2026. In addition to the factory Porsche Formula E Team, the US customer team Andretti Formula E competes with the highly efficient Porsche 99X Electric of the latest generation GEN3 Evo. A second Porsche customer team, Cupra Kiro, also participates, relying on 99X technology from the previous generation GEN3. In Formula E, the brand gains valuable insights for its production sports cars.