Porsche triumphs at home race: Antonio Felix da Costa won the chaotic second Formula E race in Berlin this weekend, giving Porsche its first ever victory on home soil. Starting from tenth place, the Portuguese beat Saturday’s winner Nick Cassidy from the Jaguar factory team, who thus extended his championship lead. Cassidy also secured the point for the fastest race lap in the top 10. Oliver Rowland (Nissan) completed the podium after starting from position 15.
For Felix da Costa it is the ninth victory in his 122nd start in the Electric World Championship. It is the second victory for the 2020 Formula E champion on the track. But Felix da Costa was stripped of his Saturday win in Misano shortly afterwards due to a technical violation. Porsche appealed the stewards’ decision; the proceedings are not yet complete. “This is an emotional victory,” said a relieved Felix da Costa on the team radio after the end of the race.
Another energy saving battle in Berlin
For New Zealander Cassidy it is the 19th podium of his Formula E career, Rowland is again on the podium in third place after Saturday’s race and has already collected his sixth podium of the season – half of his Formula E podiums ever.
There was already positive news before the race. How Motorsport-Magazin.com As we learned exclusively from Governing Mayor Kai Wegner in Berlin, Berlin’s contract with Formula E has been extended. You can read all the details in this article:
Although the race at the former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport on Sunday was scheduled on paper with two laps less than Saturday’s race, it was again, as expected, an energy-saving battle over long stretches. The drivers at the front fought a crazy and close battle, with several cars often driving through the corners next to each other.
Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis collide several times
After Felix da Costa took the lead for the last time on the 34th lap, the 32-year-old initially increasingly separated himself from the rest of the field with four laps to go, but still had to defend himself against the onrushing Cassidy in the final laps. In the end, Felix da Costa’s 99X crossed the finish line 0.691 seconds ahead of the Jaguar.
Local hero Pascal Wehrlein in the second factory Porsche and Jake Dennis in Andretti’s customer Porsche were behind the top three. The two drivers fought hard throughout the entire race. On the first lap, Wehrlein was pushed into the wall by Dennis’ teammate Nato, and on lap 20 Wehrlein and Dennis finally touched each other in turn 7. On laps 29 and 32 there was another collision. Wehrlein and Dennis often drew attention to themselves last season with contacts on the track and verbal exchanges off the track. This season too, the two drivers got in each other’s way in Sao Paulo and Tokyo.
Maximilian Günther after an accident with a hand injury
For the second local hero Maximilian Günther, Sunday in Berlin completed a completely needed racing weekend. As on Saturday, the Allgäu race ended in the wall. In turn 2, Günther collided with the rear of Nato, causing the front wing of his Maserati DS to come off. Günther was able to avoid hitting the wall, but was passed to last place, came to the pits and had to end the race early. The incident triggered a safety car phase in the eleventh of the final 41 laps of the race.
Günther also sustained an injury to his hand. These have occurred again and again in Formula E in recent years, most recently in Monaco Sam Bird (McLaren-Nissan) suffered a broken bone. Andreas Günther, father of Maximilian Günther, commented on this Motorsport-Magazin.com However, the all-clear. According to examinations at the Medical Center by doctors and Günther’s physiotherapist, it currently looks more like severe bruises. According to Andreas Günther, a visit to the hospital is not planned for the time being.
The second safety car of the race was caused by a collision on the 25th lap between Nato, who started from third place, and Sacha Fenestraz. In turn 3, Nato tried to pass the Nissan driver with a late maneuver, but the Frenchman ran out of space and both vehicles turned wedged towards the wall. While Nato was able to continue the race, the second Berlin ePrix was over for Fenestraz. NATO received a time penalty of ten seconds for the action. However, this did not change the 31-year-old’s pointless race (P19).
Three drivers with the best result of their Formula E career in the points
Behind Wehrlein and Dennis, Cassidy’s teammate Mitch Evans finished the race in sixth place. The New Zealander had been on the podium until a few laps before the end, but initially fell behind his teammate and, after a braking mistake on lap 40, also behind Dennis and Wehrlein.
In P7 was Günther’s teammate Jehan Daruvala, who achieved the best result of his Formula E career to date. Behind them were Taylor Barnard (McLaren-Nissan) and Joel Eriksson (Envision-Jaguar), both of whom represented the actual regular drivers of their teams this weekend. For Barnard and Eriksson it is also the best result of their respective Formula E careers. Jean-Eric Vergne in the DS Penske, who started from ninth position, completed the top 10.
The German team Abt-Cupra also missed out on the points on Sunday after an unfortunate race on Saturday. Lucas Di Grassi narrowly missed this in eleventh position with 0.847 seconds to Vergne. Kelvin van der Linde, who represented regular driver Nico Müller this weekend, finished the second Berlin race in 15th place.
Formula E 2024: This is how it continues
The next Formula E race weekend is coming up in two weeks (May 25/26, 2024). Then, after more than five years, the Electric World Championship will return to China and make its debut on the Formula 1 circuit in Shanghai. The German TV channel DF1 shows the races live on free TV. In Austria, the private broadcaster ServusTV broadcasts the Formula E races. In 2024 there are 16 races on ten weekends in the racing calendar.