DOUBLE TAKE IN BERLIN AS ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP APPROACHES MID-SEASON POINT
DOUBLE TAKE IN BERLIN AS ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP APPROACHES MID-SEASON POINT
With more than half the drivers on the grid former podium-finishers in Germany, accurately picking a winner this weekend looks to be nigh-on impossible…
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship reaches its midway point this weekend (14/15 May), with a double-header on the streets of Berlin’s historic Tempelhof Airport – and with seven drivers in the 22-strong field previous winners in the German capital, all bets are well and truly off.
Since Formula E came into being back in 2014, Berlin has been a staple of the calendar, hosting no fewer than 14 E-Prixs on a number of different layouts and twice staging the season finale, crowning António Félix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) in 2020 and Mercedes-EQ’s Nyck de Vries 12 months later.
This time around, Berlin marks mid-distance in the 2021/22 campaign, with Saturday’s showdown set to take place on the traditional anti-clockwise track, before a change of direction on Sunday when competitors tackle the reversed NILREB circuit. That challenge – allied to high-grip concrete that puts energy management and race strategies firmly under the microscope – means the action is likely to be unpredictable to say the least.
Unpredictability, of course, is something of a watchword in the all-electric single-seater series, as evidenced by five different winners and pole-sitters from the opening six outings of the current season, and no fewer than ten different podium-finishers.
Following his carefully calculated victory in Monaco last time out, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) leads the field arriving in Germany, and the Belgian sped to his maiden triumph in the final race of the 2019/20 campaign in Berlin to secure the runner-up spoils in the standings. He reached the rostrum again from pole position last year, and is in a fine vein of form as he targets his first Formula E title.
Six points behind Vandoorne is DS TECHEETAH’s Jean-Éric Vergne, who also won at Tempelhof in 2020 – backing that up with three more podium finishes and four pole positions over the course of his career, making the Frenchman something of a master of the 2.355km, ten-turn track.
Mitch Evans sits third in the classification courtesy of a double top in Rome and second place in Monte-Carlo, and the Jaguar TCS Racing ace is another driver with form in Berlin, with two fastest laps to his credit – one of them a lap record – and a rostrum result in the first race last year. Indeed, but for a technical issue that left him stranded in his third-place grid slot the next day, the New Zealander may well have been celebrating championship success.
Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns – just one point further in arrears in fourth – twice took the chequered flag as runner-up in Germany in 2020, while ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara saw his title hopes extinguished in the same incident as Evans 12 months ago, hitting the rear of the stricken Jaguar after finishing a strong second the previous day. The early 2021/22 championship leader will be eager to get his season back on-track following DNFs in the most recent two races.
Home hero Pascal Wehrlein is similarly fired-up to rebound after retiring from the lead in Monaco, while TAG Heuer Porsche stablemate and compatriot André Lotterer raced to second place in Berlin on the NILREB layout in 2020.
Since triumphing in the Diriyah curtain-raiser in January, de Vries’ title defence has stalled, with no subsequent finish higher than sixth, but the Dutchman will be buoyed by his happy memories from Berlin last year – as well as a first Formula E career podium there in 2020.
Lucas Di Grassi is a two-time winner at Tempelhof – in 2019 and 2021 – and the Venturi ace counts five further rostrum appearances on his CV in Germany as well as a pole position and fastest lap, meaning the experienced Brazilian is almost certain to be in the reckoning once again.
Another surefire contender this weekend looks to be fellow former champion da Costa, who twice converted pole position into victory on the reverse layout en route to the drivers’ crown in 2020, going on to add a second-place finish around the conventional circuit for good measure.
Jaguar’s Sam Bird – in search of a big result to kick-start his 2021/22 title bid – wound up third in the opening race in Berlin two years ago, with countryman Oliver Rowland (Mahindra Racing) a lights-to-flag winner from pole position a week later, marking the Briton’s breakthrough Formula E triumph. He followed that up with second place in the final outing of last season.
Maximilian Günther prevailed in the closest finish in the series’ history in Germany in 2020 – barely a tenth-of-a-second ahead of Frijns – while his current Nissan e.dams team-mate, double champion Sébastien Buemi, boasts an excellent record in Berlin, with victories to his name in 2016 and 2017, five further visits to the podium and pole position in 2019. Similar success this weekend would go some way to vaulting the Swiss star up the title table.
Round seven of the 2021/22 Formula E campaign will get underway at 15:00 CET on Saturday, 14 May, followed by round eight at the same time on Sunday, 15 May.
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2022
– Introduction of a new qualifying format featuring Groups and head-to-head Duels.
– Formula E’s all-electric Gen2 cars will be able to use 220kW of power, an increase from 200kW in Season 7, during races. Power during ATTACK MODE will also increase to 250kW from 235kW in Season 7.
– Races can now have extra time of up to a maximum of 10 minutes added when incidents result in a Safety Car or Full Course Yellow neutralisations during the standard 45-minute plus one lap race.
Please find here the 2021 – 2022 Sporting Regulations.
THE 2022 TRACK
Berlin I
Berlin II
MEDIA CENTRE
Opening Hours of the Media Center
– Friday 13 May 08:00 – 20:00
– Saturday 14 May 06:30 – 21:00
– Sunday 15 May 06:30 – 21:00
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E BERLIN E-PRIX TIMETABLE
| Friday 13 May | |||
| Starts | Ends | Lenght | Activity |
| 17:30 | 17:45 | 00:15 | SHAKEDOWN |
| Saturday 14 May | |||
| Starts | Ends | Lenght | Activity |
| 07:15 | 07:45 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 1 |
| 09:00 | 09:30 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 2 |
| 10:40 | 10:52 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group A |
| 10:57 | 11:09 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group B |
| 11:17 | 11:32 | 00:15 | QUARTER FINAL |
| 11:36 | 11:46 | 00:10 | SEMI FINAL |
| 11:50 | 11:55 | 00:05 | FINAL |
| ≈15:04 | RACE (45′ + 1 lap) | ||
| Sunday 15 May | |||
| Starts | Ends | Lenght | Activity |
| 07:15 | 07:45 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 1 |
| 09:00 | 09:30 | 00:30 | FREE PRACTICE 2 |
| 10:40 | 10:52 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group A |
| 10:57 | 11:09 | 00:12 | QUALIFYING Group B |
| 11:17 | 11:32 | 00:15 | QUARTER FINAL |
| 11:36 | 11:46 | 00:10 | SEMI FINAL |
| 11:50 | 11:55 | 00:05 | FINAL |
| ≈15:04 | RACE (45′ + 1 lap) |
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
| Friday 13 May | |
| 13:45 – 14:00 | Team Representatives FIA Press Conference |
| Ian James – Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | |
| Sylvain Filippi – Envision Racing | |
| Roger Griffiths – Avalanche Andretti Formula E | |
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Drivers FIA Press Conference |
| André Lotterer – TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | |
| Nyck de Vries – Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | |
| Maximilian Günther – Nissan e.dams | |
| 14:20 – 14:35 | Media Pen |
| Avalanche Andretti Formula E | |
| DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT | |
| DS TECHEETAH | |
| Envision Racing | |
| Jaguar TCS Racing | |
| 14:35 – 14:50 | Media Pen |
| MAHINDRA RACING | |
| Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | |
| NIO 333 Formula E Team | |
| Nissan e.dams | |
| ROKiT Venturi Racing | |
| TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | |
| Saturday 14 May | |
| 16:30 – 16:45 | FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Media Pen |
| Avalanche Andretti Formula E | |
| DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT | |
| DS TECHEETAH | |
| Envision Racing | |
| Jaguar TCS Racing | |
| 17:00 – 17:15 | Media Pen |
| MAHINDRA RACING | |
| Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | |
| NIO333 Formula E Team | |
| Nissan e.dams | |
| ROKiT Venturi Racing | |
| TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | |
| Sunday 15 May | |
| 16:30 – 16:45 | FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Media Pen |
| Avalanche Andretti Formula E | |
| DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT | |
| DS TECHEETAH | |
| Envision Racing | |
| Jaguar TCS Racing | |
| 17:00 – 17:15 | Media Pen |
| MAHINDRA RACING | |
| Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team | |
| NIO333 Formula E Team | |
| Nissan e.dams | |
| ROKiT Venturi Racing | |
| TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team |
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E BERLIN E-PRIX ENTRIES
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS
The classification of the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is available on the following link.
2021 BERLIN E-PRIX RESULTS
| Race 1 | ||
| Pole Sitter | Jean-Éric Vergne | DS TECHEETAH |
| Race result | ||
| 1 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler |
| 2 | Edoardo Mortara | ROKiT Venturi Racing |
| 3 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar Racing |
| Race 2 | ||
| Pole Sitter | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team |
| Race result | ||
| 1 | Norman Nato | ROKiT Venturi Racing |
| 2 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.Dams |
| 3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team |