The Formula E anniversary weekend has started: The Electric World Championship is holding a racing weekend in Berlin for the tenth time. Before qualifying and the race get serious tomorrow, Saturday, the eleven teams had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the conditions on the track at the former Berlin-Tempelhof airport in the first training session. This underwent significant changes to the route compared to the previous year and now consists of 15 curves instead of the previous ten.
The best time was secured around two and a half minutes before the end by Porsche works driver Antonio Felix da Costa with a time of 1:02.289 minutes. The 2020 Formula E champion was 0.128 seconds ahead of ERT driver Sergio Sette Camara, who in turn had Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske) right behind him. Local hero Maximilian Günther and his Maserati DS teammate Jehan Daruvala completed the top five.
Pascal Wehrlein causes a long interruption
Mahindra works driver Edoardo Mortara escaped a penalty before training. After his serious accident at the Monaco ePrix, the safety cell was changed. The FIA Technical Delegate stated that the safety cell previously used was irreparable. Because of this, the stewards decided not to impose a penalty.
Best Berlin substitute driver in first training tenth
There are some unfamiliar faces to see on the Formula E grid this weekend. Due to a scheduling conflict with the WEC in Spa-Francorchamps, four regular drivers will miss the Berlin ePrix. In addition, McLaren-Nissan driver Sam Bird is still missing after breaking his hand in Monaco training two weeks ago. The Briton will again be represented by compatriot Taylor Barnard. Bird is still on site in Berlin and watched the training with a bandaged hand from the spectator-less stands in Turn 12 on Friday.
Kelvin van der Linde (Abt-Cupra), Joel Eriksson and Paul Aron (both Envision-Jaguar) and Jordan King (Mahindra) step in for the WEC starters. The latter two will make their Formula E debut this weekend. The best-placed substitute driver in the first free practice session was Eriksson in P10.
Formula E Berlin: The rest of the schedule
Before things get serious with the first qualifying on Saturday morning, Formula E will first contest the second training session at 8:00 a.m. German time. At 10:20 a.m. the drivers will fight for pole position in qualifying before the race begins at 3:04 p.m. DF1 broadcasts the Berlin ePrix live on free TV and on its own website. In Austria, ServusTV is only showing the first race in Tempelhof around an hour late as a re-live and, as usual, on ServusTV On in the live stream.
You can read all information about other broadcast options as well as live timings on the first day of the race in Berlin in this article:
Formula E Berlin 2024: Result 1st training
| Pos. | driver | team | Residue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Porsche | 1:02,289 |
| 2 | Sergio Sette Camara | ERT | +0.128 |
| 3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | +0.188 |
| 4 | Maximilian Günther | Maserati DS | +0.222 |
| 5 | Jehan Daruvala | Maserati DS | +0.240 |
| 6 | Nick Cassidy | jaguar | +0.249 |
| 7 | Jean Eric Vergne | DS Penske | +0.293 |
| 8th | Mitch Evans | jaguar | +0.402 |
| 9 | Dan Ticktum | ERT | +0.402 |
| 10 | Joel Eriksson | Envision Jaguar | +0.447 |
| 11 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan | +0.452 |
| 12 | Jake Dennis | Andretti Porsche | +0.515 |
| 13 | Paul Aron | Envision Jaguar | +0.527 |
| 14 | Edoardo Mortara | Mahindra | +0.663 |
| 15 | Jake Hughes | McLaren Nissan | +0.729 |
| 16 | Taylor Barnard | McLaren Nissan | +0.781 |
| 17 | Norman Nato | Andretti Porsche | +0.791 |
| 18 | Kelvin van der Linde | Abbot Mahindra | +0.968 |
| 19 | Jordan King | Mahindra | +0.977 |
| 20 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | +1,121 |
| 21 | Lucas Di Grassi | Abbot Mahindra | +1,167 |
| 22 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche | – |