Berlin E-Prix: The Full Story [UPDATED WITH ALL RACES]
Nyck de Vries in the Mercedes EQ Formula E car (photo: copyright FIA Formula E)
Let’s take a look back at the three races we’ve had in the Berlin E-Prix so far. Who’s been doing well, who’s got some improvements to make in the remaining three races? Who is enjoying the festival of racing, who not so much?
Race One, Wednesday
While Antonio Felix da Costa ran away with this at the front, the story of the race was, in many ways, the deteriorating relationship between he and his team-mate and friend Jean-Eric Vergne. Vergne felt that da Costa was pushing the race pace too far, meaning that they would both have to complete too many laps and so would run out of battery. Vergne, who ran second for much of the race, dropped down the field in the later laps and was eventually hit by Lucas di Grassi, putting him out of contention for points.
Da Costa won by coasting across the line, only getting to the end of the race thanks to maximum use of regen on the final two laps. The Portuguese will argue that he calculated things correctly, however it left no margin for error whatsoever, and caused several drivers further down the field to retire due to running out of battery.
Andre Lotterer equalled his best result in Formula E with second, after using all of his defensive skills to keep himself at the head of a train of cars for much of the race, followed by Sam Bird, who fought his way up after some tasty battles. The only driver to crash out due to an unforced error was Felipe Massa, who lost control of the car on the marbles and left his car with nowhere to go but the barrier.
Race Two, Thursday
Alex Lynn was right on the pace in qualifying, and netted third on the grid as a consequence. He got a decent getaway at the start of the race, but was passed by Nyck de Vries, who left his braking daringly late. Lynn was subsequently passed by Oliver Rowland and di Grassi, with the Mahindra lacking some of the race pace it had showed in qualifying. De Vries had to retire from the race with a drivetrain failure while in the top six.
Sebastien Buemi in the Nissan was one of the improvers of this race, holding second for much of its length, while getting one key opportunity to challenge da Costa, who again was running away with the lead - this came with 22 minutes and one lap to go, when da Costa activated Attack Mode in the activation zone situated on an awkward part of turn one on the reverse layout. As mentioned elsewhere, da Costa had a special line that worked well for him, and so was able to use it to avoid losing the lead by the narrowest of margins.
Di Grassi employed his racecraft to keep Robin Frijns behind him, claiming third and moving into joint second in the championship alongside Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished fifth - albeit with da Costa winning again, both of their chances of winning the title seemed remote at best.
Race Three, Saturday
Vergne, perhaps significantly (perhaps not) changing back to his regular race helmet, claimed pole position and saw da Costa, hampered by Group One qualifying, down in ninth. Vergne sought to remind Formula E that he was still the reigning double champion, and could fight wheel-to-wheel with anyone in the field. For the lion’s share of the race Vergne was leading, and yet it was Max Günther who came through, taking the lead with three laps to go.
In the closing stages Günther, enjoying competitiveness in the BMW for the first time in Berlin, closed in on Vergne, with the German having run 1-2 seconds behind for the majority of the race. It seemed he had been controlling his pace and keeping usable energy for the end of the race, as it was the additional energy that enabled Günther to get over the line in the lead.
Günther was challenged all the way to the flag by Robin Frijns, who had resisted the urge to go on a mid-race charge, waiting until the last two laps to overtake Vergne and then to race Günther down the main straight on the final lap, eventually finishing only 0.128 seconds behind. Nonetheless Vergne, in third, had banked his best result in Berlin thus far. He led da Costa home, with Lotterer again claiming a good result in fifth.
Race Four, Sunday
Vergne claimed a decisive pole position for this race, heading into a comfortable lead by turn two that he didn’t look like surrendering. Da Costa followed behind him, with Rowland deciding discretion was the better part of valour and resisting making a diving move on the championship leader.
After a few minutes it started spotting with rain, and this then became a significant shower. This definitely made driving conditions more challenging, and the forecasts had prompted a spate of early Attack Mode activations, with the extra power being ineffectual in wet conditions. Still, though, conditions did not deteriorate as much as was feared earlier in the day.
Da Costa overtook Vergne without any resistance from the leader on roughly half race distance. Behind them, there were signs of improvement from several of the drivers who had hitherto struggled; Rene Rast, in the Audi, was running in the top ten and looked to have a much better handle on the Gen2 machinery, for example. Meanwhile, Alex Lynn, who had spent the early laps running in third, was hanging on in the top six.
With 18 minutes and one lap to go, the DS Techeetahs were still out in front, but were not having it all their own way, with Rowland, Buemi, and Nyck de Vries keeping with the pace of the leaders. Mercedes have shown regular flashes of this kind of speed through the season, but Nissan’s gains over the course of the year with their new powertrain are impressive.
In the closing minutes, Rowland was ordered by the Nissan strategists to move over and allow Buemi through, something which he did with some resistance. Rowland had every reason to be annoyed with the call, but Buemi closed in on the Techeetahs, while never quite looking like taking one of the top two positions. Vergne also re-took da Costa in an orchestrated move, something which could have put the Portuguese back into the hands of the chasing pack, but worked out in the end, giving Vergne his first win of the season - extraordinarily, given his pace for most of the races.
The victory went to Vergne, and perhaps sugared the pill for him, as he greeted da Costa, the new Formula E champion, with joy and magnanimity. Da Costa has utterly owned the field this season, and has taken charge of proceedings since the beginning of the Berlin races to an incredible degree.
Race Five, Wednesday
The moment that arguably defined the race happened in qualifying: da Costa, Vergne, di Grassi, and Buemi were all jostling for position in group one, with all of the drivers failing to cross the line within the window to register a time. It was a shambles that led to accusations from all of the drivers, and da Costa, the new champion-elect, seemed particularly embarrassed about what had happened, saying afterwards, “I don’t feel like much of a champion at the moment.”
This led to what appeared something of a reverse-grid situation, with the four active champions at the back, and some unusual names at the front; while Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, on pole, had been at the sharp end for most of the season, Rene Rast, fourth, was enjoying his best qualifying session since rejoining Formula E with Audi. Meanwhile Tom Blomqvist, last seen in the Weathertech Endurance Series in North America, who was thrown into the Jaguar at short notice because of James Calado’s early departure for WEC duty, exceeded all expectations by qualifying sixth, behind Berlin qualifying superstar Alex Lynn.
In the race, Rowland led the field away with only periodic pressure from Frijns, being able to manage his energy and the lead with composure. Jani and Lotterer ran line astern for much of the first half of the race, with the Swiss enjoying his most competitive race of a difficult season, and Lotterer asking on the radio if it were possible to swap positions, which they did subsequently.
Lotterer then held onto third until the final lap of the race, with the excellent Rast, those DTM-honed sharp elbows finally coming in handy, forcing his way past as the Porsche was forced to coast over the line with no remaining usable energy.
Rowland claimed his first victory, just rewards for the way he has pushed Buemi all the way and made Nissan arguably the second-best team in Formula E on consistent pace. Frijns was second for Envision Virgin.
Race Six, Thursday
The final race of the 2019-20 Formula E season began with polesitter Stoffel Vandoorne, who had dominated superpole, starting well and leading Buemi into the complex. Behind them was Nyck de Vries, looking for a way around Buemi and knowing that Mercedes would need a 1-2 finish in order for Vandoorne to get second in the driver’s championship behind da Costa.
A potentially sticky strategic call occurred when Vandoorne, on 33 minutes and one lap, elected to trigger his first Attack Mode with Buemi right behind. The Belgian dropped down to second, behind the Nissan, but seemed to have calculated it, as he passed within three corners to retake the lead. With Buemi holding second, and di Grassi, Vergne, and Rowland all outside the top ten and struggling to make up the necessary ground, it looked like the runner’s up slot was between Vandoorne and Buemi at that stage.
Lynn, on 18 minutes and one lap remaining, overtook Edoardo Mortara, who was enjoying an improved race in the Mercedes-powered Venturi, for sixth position. Both Venturi and Mahindra had shown brief promise in Berlin but had been hamstrung by a lack of race pace. Felipe Massa struggled to 16th in what was announced afterwards to be his final Formula E race, at least for Venturi. Mortara outscored Massa by 41 points to three over the course of the season, and while Massa can be proud of the efforts he put into understanding a new form of motorsport, in the end it has not worked out the way he would have wanted.
De Vries was grafting away in third, and had decided the hairpin, with its width and multitude of lines, was the prime overtaking place, trying a late move on Buemi with 12 minutes remaining, only for the Swiss to anticipate the attempt. With two laps remaining, de Vries tried again, this time leaving the braking just as late, and making it past, ensuring that while Vandoorne won with style, he was able to drive over the line for his first win with his Mercedes team-mate in tow.
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