Pascal Wehrlein could not have scripted a better way to mark a Formula E milestone. The Porsche driver turned his 100th start in the all-electric championship into his ninth career race victory, winning the Pit Boost Round 4 of the 2026 Jeddah E-Prix from lights to flag and taking a 16-point lead in the Drivers' Championship.
Wehrlein timed his strategy to perfection on a chaotic night of racing at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. After allowing the leading pack to fight it out early, the German called in his Pit Boost stop at the end of lap 18, emerged on fresh energy ahead of the chasing Porsches and Mahindras, and then simply drove away.
"It was a super nicely executed race. We waited a bit with the Pit Boost but then also with the attack mode," Wehrlein said. "When we went into the attack mode and after the Pit Boost I just tried to extend the lead so that no one is in a slipstream anymore. We've managed that in the end. I could manage the pace and it was a very enjoyable race. I had also good fights, pretty tough ones, especially at the start, but we went through it."
Behind the Porsche ace, the rest of the podium was a story of recovery. Eduardo Mortara launched his Mahindra with one of the worst starts of the night — dropping deep into the midfield — before exploiting his late-window attack mode to carve his way back up the order. By the flag he was second, ahead of Mitch Evans who claimed back-to-back Jaguar podiums after another cool-headed energy-management performance.
Nico Müller was fourth to complete a strong top-four result for Porsche customer Andretti, with António Félix da Costa fifth for TAG Heuer Porsche. The standout recovery of the night, however, belonged to reigning champion Nick Cassidy. The New Zealander started 18th after a bruising qualifying and still fought his way back to sixth, limiting the damage to his title defence.
The race also served as a useful guide to how the Pit Boost format is reshaping strategy in Formula E's Gen3 Evo era. Teams were split on when to commit — Oliver Rowland and Joel Eriksson pitted early to try something different from the back, while Wehrlein's camp timed the call to leave him in clean air for the rest of the race.
"That's the problem," the broadcast team noted of the alternative strategy, "is they chose to go first and now for the next four minutes and 30 seconds, he's going to see that Porsche just disappear up the road."
For Max Günther, the Pit Boost maths worked out less favourably. The DS Penske driver briefly led the race before sliding back through the order after struggling with his car's handling.
"I'm into the systems a lot, not only on traction, but when I'm breaking the same kind of acceleration like in pre-practice," Günther said on team radio, flagging a software issue that appeared to compromise his balance.
The result reshuffles the top of the title fight dramatically. After four rounds, Wehrlein now leads Cassidy by 16 points, with Mortara, Müller and Evans all closing the gap on Jake Dennis and Rowland. Da Costa has forced his way into the top ten of the standings.
Porsche's Jeddah domination also re-establishes the Stuttgart factory as the benchmark team in season 12. With Round 5 scheduled for the same circuit the following day, Wehrlein has every reason to believe he can extend his lead before the Formula E circus heads on to Miami.
---
*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/wehrlein-100th-formula-e-start-jeddah-win-2026). Visit for full coverage.*