Pascal Wehrlein claimed his second win for Porsche in Diriyah, as the German manufacturer set the early pace in GEN 3 after winning the season’s first two races.
The German driver came from ninth on the grid to secure victory by using Porsche’s highly efficient powertrain to pass Sam Bird and build a gap to take his final Attack Mode to keep the lead of the race.
Building a gap against Bird was crucial for Wehrlein, as Jake Dennis who started the race in 11th in the Porsche-powered Andretti showed great pace to work his way through the field.
Dennis passed Brid at Turn 18 on Lap 35 of 39 which forced Wehrelin to take his final Attack Mode to keep the lead of the race.
The British driver did have one per cent more energy than Wehrlein in the final few laps of the race, and the Mexcian E-Prix winner tried to pass the Porsche driver on the final corner of the final lap but failed to do so.
Sam Bird came home in third place Jaguar in his 100th race to kick start his season after not finishing the Mexican E-Prix.
The race started with Mitch Evans running wide at Turn 1 and forcing Rene Rast in his McLaren to run wide.
As both drivers re-entered the track they forced the Mahindras to bump into each other, but Antonio Felix Da Costa slammed into the back of Oliver Rowland’s Mahindra.
Evans received a five-second penalty for causing the collision on lap one.
Da Costa lost his front wing, and Rowland suffered damage to the rear of his car and both drivers were forced to pit. The safety car made a brief appearance to pick up the debris on the track.
In the early stages of the race, Sam Bird looked extremely quick and he passed Jake Hughes in the McLaren for second place on lap three.
Bird drove straight onto the back of pole-sitter Sebastien Buemi, and he passed the Envision driver on lap 7 at Turn 18.
Then Wehrlein and Dennis mounted their attacks with the use of Attack Mode and their highly efficient powertrain, as both drivers had two per cent more energy than the rest of the field.
Wehrlein moved to second place and attacked Bird but he struggled to get past the British driver. He tried to pass on lap 25 but locked the rears going into Turn 18.
However, Wehrlein managed to make the move on lap 30 to take the lead of the race.
He then built a gap over five laps before taking his final Attack Mode on lap 35 to see off a late attack from Jake Dennis.
Sam Bird finished in a comfortable third place ahead of Sebastien Buemi for Envision Racing.
Rene Rast came home in fifth for McLaren after the German driver suffered a difficult weekend in Mexico.
Nick Cassidy came home in sixth in the second Envision Racing. Jean-Eric Vergne had a good recovery drive to finish in seventh after starting the race in 12th place.
Jake Hughes finished the race in eighth place for McLaren. The British driver struggled with energy towards the end of the race
Andre Lotterer was ninth in the second Andretti with Mitch Evans dropping to tenth for Jaguar with his five-second time penalty.
Despite starting the race in fourth place, Dan Ticktum could not steer his NIO 333 car into the points, as he finished the race in 14th place.,
Reigning Champion Stoffel Vandoorne could only manage 11th for Ds Penske, as their difficult start to the season continues.
Edoardo Mortara was unable to finish the race for Maserati, which adds to their woes at the start of the season as Maximilian Gunther in the sister car did not take part in the race after crashing in qualifying.
