FP1-
DS PENSKE’s Stoffel Vandoorne set the early pace in Free Practice 1 at the SABIC Berlin E-Prix. The reigning Drivers’ World Champion popped in a 1m 05.803s at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit which has held the most races in Formula E history.
A second split the top 20 drivers, with the top nine being separated by only three tenths!
Behind Vandoorne, it was Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis in second place, with Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther in third.
The Maserati of Edoardo Mortara brought out a brief yellow flag around ten minutes into the session as his Gen3 car went into the barriers. Later on in the session, Robin Frijns went for a little spin in his ABT Cupra.
FP2-
Maserati MSG Racing continued to look strong at the SABIC Berlin E-Prix, as Maximilian Guenther delighted his home crowd by going fastest in Free Practice 2 with the quickest time seen around the circuit – 1m 05.301s.
Behind Guenther was Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy in second who is currently on a streak of three consecutive podiums. Double Formula E Champion, Jean-Eric Vergne slotted into third.
Edoardo Mortara, almost had a repeat of his FP1 incident yesterday. However, only moments later Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland sent his M9Electro into the barriers after a hefty lock up at Turn 1.
Qualifying-
Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi took a Formula E record 16th, and second Julius Baer Pole Position of the season, much to surprise after making two mistakes on his final qualifying lap and dealing with a recently broken bone in his hand.
With both Buemi and Bird being powered by the Jaguar I-TYPE 6, it was always going to be close, but it was Buemi who snatched pole by over a tenth to second place Sam Bird.
NIO 333’s qualifying went from strength to strength after Dan Ticktum joined his teammate into Quarters, who have never had both their cars in Duels stage since it was introduced at the start of Season 8.
For home heroes, TAG Heuer Porsche, Antonio Felix da Costa ended Group A in 10th, his worst performance in the Groups this year. His teammate, Pascal Wehrlein, could only manage eighth in Group A too – the same he did last time out in Brazil.
Round 7-
Jaguar TCS Racing played a blinder with their race strategy to seal a Mitch Evans, Sam Bird one-two in a beautifully chaotic SABIC Berlin E-Prix Round 7 that saw 190 overtakes and a record 20 at the line lead changes and eight different race leaders.
Throughout the entire race distance, some 43 laps, the field never mind the top 10, proved to be completely inseparable. Dan Ticktum had launched himself into the lead in style with a stunning move around the outside of Turn 1 right by Sebastien Buemi, Sam bird and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Glancing at the timing screens yielded a different race leader at almost every stage as positions changed left and right, with the first of two spells under the Safety Car compounding things further and seeing the field split by just over five seconds at a little over the halfway stage.
The Jaguar pair and Buemi then clambered to fill out the top three spots after Guenther had briefly taken P1 as the race headed into its closing stages. The Jaguar powered cars went on to stretch their legs, with Guenther looking to pick up the pieces as the front three squabbled for the race lead.
The full top 10 are: P1: Evans, P2: Bird, P3: Guenther, P4: Buemi, P5: Cassidy, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Vergne, P8: Lotterer, P9: Mortara and P10: Rowland.