Sensation in Berlin: Mahindra works driver Edoardo Mortara secured first place on the grid on Saturday in qualifying for the first of two races in Berlin (live today from 3:00 p.m. on DF1) this weekend, including three points for pole position. These are Mortara’s first points in the 2024 Formula E season.
For the 37-year-old, it is the third pole in Formula E, all of which he achieved in Berlin. It is also the first time in the Gen3 era of Formula E that a car with Mahindra power has taken first place on the grid. “It was a very tough first half of the season,” said Mortara after qualifying. “This is for my people who had to rebuild the entire car after the Monaco accident. I’m glad I was able to achieve that.”
In the final of the duel phase, Mortara beat Stoffel Vandoorne in the DS Penske with a time of 1:01.741 minutes. The Belgian will start the race from second place and was 0.267 seconds slower than Mortara. Vandoorne’s teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who had to admit defeat to Mortara in the semi-finals, and Sergio Sette Camara in the ERT, who equaled his best starting position of the year, follow on the second row of the grid.
Wehrlein and Günther in the top 8
For the two local heroes Maximilian Günther and Pascal Wehrlein, the qualifying duels came to an end in the quarter-finals. Günther from Allgäu was the fastest of the pilots who were eliminated in the quarter-finals and was able to secure fifth place on the grid, while World Championship leader Wehrlein starts from sixth place. Wehrlein failed because of Vergne.
“It was pretty close, but to be honest I’m happy,” Wehrlein said. The Porsche works driver suffered a technical defect after a few minutes of Friday training and had to end the session early. Porsche fundamentally rebuilt the car overnight and then only had the second free practice session to prepare.
Lucas Di Grassi surprises with his first duel participation
Lucas Di Grassi from the German team took seventh place Abt Cupra. The 2020 Formula E champion moved into the qualifying duels for the first time in 2024 and even set the fastest lap time in his qualifying group. “I wasn’t very optimistic yesterday, but we made a lot of changes to the car overnight and stayed until 11 p.m.,” said Di Grassi, satisfied with the progress of the Kempten team.
Jehan Daruvala would actually have taken seventh place in the second Maserati DS. But the Indian was punished before qualifying. The gearbox at the rear of his Maserati DS was changed twice and the limit of the number permitted over the season was exceeded. For this, Daruvala received a penalty of 20 starting places twice. The 25-year-old is starting from last place. However, since there are more than eleven penalty starting positions outstanding, Daruvala has to serve a 10-second stop-and-go penalty during the race.
Kelvin van der Linde best substitute driver
The second Abt Cupra driver Kelvin van der Linde was eliminated in the group phase and will start the first Berlin race from eleventh place. DTM race winner van der Linde replaces regular driver Nico Müller this weekend, who is competing in the WEC in Spa-Francorchamps.
In addition to Müller, four other regular Formula E drivers are missing this weekend. Sam Bird (McLaren-Nissan) is still missing after breaking his hand in Monaco training two weeks ago and will again be represented by Taylor Barnard. In addition, four regular drivers, Müller, are starting today in the WEC race in Spa. With his eleventh place, van der Linde was the best-placed replacement driver in qualifying.
Can such scheduling conflicts be avoided in the future? At least for the long-term future, Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo was pessimistic on Friday in Berlin. You can read all the details in this article:
Jaguar will not be in the duels for the first time in 2024
Once again, qualifying caused a few surprises. For the first time in the 2024 season, no car from the Jaguar factory team that leads the team standings was able to qualify for the duel phase. Championship runner-up Nick Cassidy, fifth fastest in his group, and teammate Mitch Evans (sixth in his group) only start from positions nine and ten. The two vehicles from customer team Envision were also eliminated in the group phase, meaning that for the first time since the Portland ePrix 2023 there is no car with Jaguar power in the duels.
Disaster for world champions Dennis and Andretti
The reigning world champion Jake Dennis from the Porsche customer team Andretti experienced a defeat in qualifying. Dennis set the slowest lap time in his qualifying group and starts from 20th place. It was the fourth time in a row that Dennis missed the top eight on the grid.
“I just drive a car that isn’t fast enough,” said Dennis frustrated on international TV. “We look like an absolute laughingstock. We are the reigning world champions and look like absolute rookies. All the rookie drivers qualified before us.”
At the same time, Dennis expressed the hope that his teammate Norman Nato could finish in the top 10 with a different setup. But the Frenchman made the Andretti disaster perfect. Nato was also the slowest driver in his qualifying group and is 21st on the starting grid. Only the Daruvala penalty prevented Andretti from claiming the entire last row of the grid.
The starting lineup for the Berlin ePrix I 2024
| Pos. | driver | team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edoardo Mortara | Mahindra |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske |
| 3 | Jean Eric Vergne | DS Penske |
| 4 | Sergio Sette Camara | ERT |
| 5 | Maximilian Günther | Maserati DS |
| 6 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche |
| 7 | Lucas Di Grassi | Abbot Mahindra |
| 8th | Antonio Felix da Costa | Porsche |
| 9 | Nick Cassidy | jaguar |
| 10 | Mitch Evans | jaguar |
| 11 | Kelvin van der Linde | Abbot Mahindra |
| 12 | Dan Ticktum | ERT |
| 13 | Taylor Barnard | McLaren Nissan |
| 14 | Jordan King | Mahindra |
| 15 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan |
| 16 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan |
| 17 | Jake Hughes | McLaren Nissan |
| 18 | Joel Eriksson | Envision Jaguar |
| 19 | Paul Aron | Envision Jaguar |
| 20 | Jake Dennis | Andretti Porsche |
| 21 | Norman Nato | Andretti Porsche |
| 22 | Jehan Daruvala | Maserati DS |