Pascal Wehrlein Opens Up On Horrific Formula E Crash Which Left Him Stuck In The Car

Reigning Formula E champion Pascal Wehrlein has opened up on his scary crash during the Sao Paulo E-Prix which left him upside down and unable to get out of the car.

During a tight contest at the Sao Paulo circuit, Wehrlein attempted to overtake Nick Cassidy at a tight left-hander but ended up involved in a horrific crash.

Prior to this, Cassidy's car had endured some damage from a run-in with Max Gunther's Penske vehicle. This damage seemed to impair Cassidy's navigation, leading to a clash with Wehrlein.

The subsequent collision caused Wehrlein's Porsche to dramatically flip and smash into a concrete wall, leaving the car upside down on the track.

Reflecting on the crash, Wehrlein said:

“Yeah, it was a nasty crash.

“Luckily, we have the Halo nowadays. I escaped with, let’s say, small injuries – nothing serious – and, with a bit of time since the last race, I had the chance to properly recover and I’m happy to be back.”

The incident left him trapped momentarily, but he managed to make his way out of the car before getting medical attention. Thankfully, the medical team only advised Wehrlein to rest after checking him for injuries, which were considered minor despite the severity of the crash.

However, delayed symptoms like pain while breathing and headaches appeared later, prompting Wehrlein to revisit a hospital once back in Europe.

“So so, I have to say, I went back to hospital when I arrived home. I got quite a lot of pain while breathing while on the plane, a lot of headaches, and a bit of dizziness, so I just wanted to get checked again.

“The scary thing about this one was, first of all that I hit my head on the wall.

“The Halo got quite damaged, and actually, on one side, it was out of the monocoque.

“So the Halo moved a lot, which made my head hit the wall. And the other thing was that I was upside down, and I couldn’t get out of the car. Physically, I was feeling fine in that moment.

“With all the adrenaline in your body, you don’t feel the pain yet but, also, you want to get out of the car if you see sparks flying and so on.”

Wehrlein highlighted the need for ongoing improvements in safety standards to handle high-speed collisions more effectively. He continued:

“We all know that racing is dangerous and it can be dangerous, but we also know that the cars are quite safe nowadays, which is great.

“But yeah, obviously, I think there’s quite a lot to learn about this situation because it was not huge speeds.

“We were doing like 80-90 kph through that corner. The same incident with higher speeds would have been quite different. So I’m sure that there’s stuff to improve in the future.”