Tag Heuer Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein said that he believed his “bad luck would never end” before taking victory in a chaotic and confusing Formula E Miami E-Prix.
The German has endured a tough title defence so far, with a horrific crash in the opening round in Brazil setting the tone for a difficult run of races.
After missing-out on victory in Mexico, a DNF and eighth place in Jeddah followed, and in qualifying at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, the German revealed to Motorsport Week that he missed-out on a place in the duels after a car ahead on the track left detritus over the circuit which compromised a quick lap.
“We might have been good enough for a podium, somewhere between P3 and P5, if it was a normal race,” he said, adding: “which is still a good result considering that again in qualifying today we were unlucky that the car in front of us went into the gravel in turn 12 and put all the dirt on track when I was the next car behind him.
“So it ruined my lap because I was purple and going for the fastest lap. So actually after the qualifying today I thought my bad luck would never end this season.
“So I take the win because for one time we can also be lucky.”
Wehrlein managed Porsche damage on his way to victory
Wehrlein said to media including Motorsport Week that he was in danger of suffering further bad luck whilst in the race, when contact at the tight, temporary portions of the fast speedway circuit damaged his Porsche, but not enough to be detrimental to the Porsche’s performance.
“At one point I had contact again with a Jaguar and when David [Beckmann] I think braked and crashed in the chicane.
“We just touched and it broke his wishbone but it didn’t break mine. I thought my steering was bent for sure afterwards but it was still good enough to have a good pace.
“Again it was so close to be out of the race or like you see now winning the race.
“I think out of the five races we had this year honestly we had a good chance at several races to win it. It’s great to have our first win now.”
READ MORE – Miami E-Prix: Pascal Wehrlein wins amid chaos and confusion after race restart
