Florian Modlinger, the Director Factory of the Tag Heuer Porsche FE Team’s Formula E Motorsport department, says season eight was a rollercoaster for the team, and they will need to find more consistency in season nine if they are to contend for the championships.
It looked as though Porsche had found themselves a strong car early on in season eight, with Pascal Wehrlein leading home André Lotterer in a one-two finish in the Mexico City E-Prix in commanding fashion.
However, that was as good as it got for Porsche, with Wehrlein ending tenth in the Drivers’ Championship and Lotterer – in his final year with the team – twelfth, while the team finished only seventh in the Teams’ Championship, one hundred and eighty-five points behind the champion Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team.
Modlinger says the team will be working hard to solve the weaknesses they faced throughout season eight ahead of season nine, which will be the first year of the Gen3 cars, if they want to contend at the front of the field in every event.
“This last race in Seoul was definitely not our day,” said Modlinger after both drivers retired from the final race of the season in South Korea. “Both of our drivers became entangled in other competitors’ accidents and were thrown out of contention. After just a couple of laps, Pascal had fought his way into the top 10. He was certainly on track for something more.
“André contested his last race for us today. I’d like to thank him very much for his dedication over the last three years. The team will miss him as a driver and a great guy.
“All in all, season 8 was a rollercoaster for us. There were great highlights like our one-two result in Mexico and the strong performances in Monaco and Rome, but some races and racetracks underlined our weak areas.
“We will now work hard on those weaknesses to make our Gen3 car a winner. Our goal for next year is clearly on consistently going for victories so that we’re in a position to fight for the world title.”