Wehrlein led from pole to beat Sebastien Buemi over a relatively tame opening round in Mexico However, the winner is one of two drivers being investigated by the stewards following the race for an undisclosed technical infringement, putting his win potentially in doubt.
When the lights went out, pole winner Pascal Wehrlein leapt out into the lead at the first corner, with Sebastien Buemi holding off a challenge from Maximilian Guenther to keep second place. The two Jaguars of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans were fourth and fifth, with Jake Hughes sixth for McLaren.
Wehrlein was the first to take his first Attack Mode on the third lap of the race, dropping into second behind Buemi, who took over the lead. After his two minutes were up, Buemi opted to take six minutes’ worth of Attack Mode on the fifth lap, moving the Porsche driver back into the lead.
Wehrlein opted for six minutes of Attack Mode at the next opportunity, using up all of his required time for the race and dropping him into second place once again. However, the stewards announced that Wehrlein was under investigation for a ‘technical infringement’, putting the Porsche driver’s chances of victory under jeopardy.
A Full Course Yellow was called on lap nine when Robin Frijns crashed his Envision on the exit of the Foro Sol stadium section. With Frijns’ wrecked car pointing across the track, leaving only a narrow lane for cars to pass, the Safety Car was deployed to neutralise the field.
The race resumed at the start of lap 12 with Buemi ahead of Wehrlein, but with two minutes of Attack Mode still remaining. Buemi took them soon after the restart and handed the lead back to Wehrlein, with both leading drivers now having used up their Attack Mode allocation before half distance. Behind, Cassidy moved ahead of Guenther into third place, with Evans sitting in fifth.
