HOME HERO LEADS ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP INTO BERLIN – AS RIVALS CLOSE IN

German capital’s historic Tempelhof Airport next up for rounds 7 and 8.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is Berlin-bound for the second double-header of its 2022/23 campaign this weekend (22/23 April), as the season approaches its midway point.

The German capital is the only city to have featured on the calendar in every season to-date. It has hosted no fewer than 16 E-Prixs – six of them in quick succession during the Covid-hit 2019/20 campaign, and all bar one on the abrasive concrete apron of the historic Tempelhof Airport, scene of this weekend’s two-day showdown.

Energy management and race strategy are invariably key to success in Berlin, and the form guide around the demanding 2.355km, 10-turn circuit suggests unpredictability is in store.

Pascal Wehrlein might have extended his advantage at the head of the order to 24 points last time out in São Paulo, but his rivals are increasingly turning up the wick. The TAG Heuer Porsche star has not picked up any trophies since dominating proceedings in Diriyah at the end of January – and he has never finished higher than sixth in five prior starts on home soil.

Similarly, closest competitor Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) has yet to improve upon fifth position in Germany – drawing a complete blank at Tempelhof last season – and like Wehrlein, the Briton travels there aiming to reignite his challenge off the back of three difficult races that have yielded no better than 13th place. 

Third-in-the-standings Nick Cassidy has not scored in Berlin at all, although the Envision Racing ace is currently in a fine vein of form, climbing up the title table courtesy of a trio of back-to-back podiums. DS Penske’s Jean-Éric Vergne – just a single point behind the New Zealander in the classification – conversely won the Berlin E-Prix from pole position in 2020, with four additional top three finishes around the Tempelhof track.  

António Félix da Costa is another driver with happy memories of the race, recording a brace of lights-to-flag victories in 2020 on his way to the Season 6 crown – and the Portuguese star has been firmly in the mix recently following a low-key start to his maiden campaign with TAG Heuer Porsche.

Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird bounced back from disappointment in Hyderabad and Cape Town to finish third in Brazil – the same result as he achieved in Berlin in 2020 – while 2015/16 champion Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) is something of a past master around the Tempelhof Airport circuit, winning in 2017 and ascending the podium there on a further five occasions.

René Rast leads the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team charge, and the experienced German wound up third in his home event in 2020. Bird’s Jaguar stablemate Mitch Evans, meanwhile, arrives in Berlin riding the crest of a wave off the back of his São Paulo success, and the New Zealander reached the rostrum in Germany in Season 7.

Lower down the order, a number of other big names also have reason to feel encouraged by their previous performances at the circuit – DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne amongst them. The defending champion registered his breakthrough Formula E triumph in Berlin from pole in the 2019/20 finale, and has finished on the podium in three of the four subsequent races in the city.

Fellow title-holder Lucas Di Grassi is twice a winner at Tempelhof, tallying six rostrum appearances in total and four fastest laps – making him statistically the championship’s most successful competitor at the track. Team-mate Oliver Rowland similarly won there in 2020 and placed runner-up the following year – raising hopes of a better weekend ahead for Mahindra Racing, which has scored just twice so far this season. The Indian outfit secured its first series victory in the German capital in 2017.

Avalanche Andretti’s André Lotterer has yet to truly build upon the bright start he made to the new Gen3 era in Mexico, but the German took the chequered flag second on home turf in 2020. Norman Nato (Nissan Formula E Team) prevailed 12 months later, while Maserati MSG Racing’s Edoardo Mortara is arguably the series’ form driver in Berlin, having finished either first or second in three of the most recent four outings there – including a commanding victory last year.

Stablemate Maximilian Günther – the fourth German in the field – won at Tempelhof in 2020 and will be eager to get his 2022/23 challenge off the mark this weekend. ABT CUPRA Formula E Team is also chasing its first points of the campaign at a circuit where driver Robin Frijns was twice a runner-up in 2020.

Round seven of the 2022/23 Formula E season will get underway at 15:03 CET on Saturday, 22 April, followed by round eight at the same time the following day.

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2023

– Introduction of the smaller, lighter and faster Gen3 cars
– Races will run to a set number of laps rather than time, in a bid to make them simpler to follow while allowing teams more control over their own strategies.
– The Safety Car or Full Course Yellow neutralisations will be compensated by added laps rather than added time. 

Please find here the 2022 – 2023 Sporting Regulations.

THE 2023 TRACK

MEDIA CENTRE

Opening Hours of the Media Center

– Friday April 21: 07:30 – 19:00
– Saturday April 22: 06:00 – 20:00
– Sunday April 23: 06:00 – 20:00
– Monday April 24: 07:30 – 19:00

2023 BERLIN E-PRIX TIMETABLE

Friday 21 April
Starts	Ends	Length	Activity
17:00	17:30	00:30	FREE PRACTICE 1
Saturday 22 April
Starts	Ends	Length	Activity
08:10	08:40	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
Sunday 23 April
Starts	Ends	Length	Activity
08:10	08:40	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
Monday 24 April
Starts	Ends	Length	Activity
09:00	12:00	03:00	ROOKIE TEST SESSION 1
14:00	17:00	03:00	ROOKIE TEST SESSION 2

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
 

Friday 21 April
13:30 – 13:45	Team Representatives FIA Press Conference
	James Barclay – Jaguar TCS Racing
	Roger Griffiths – Avalanche Andretti Formula E
	Thomas Biermaier – ABT CUPRA FORMULA E TEAM
13:45 – 14:00	Drivers FIA Press Conference
	Pascal Wehrlein – TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
	René Rast – NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
	Edoardo Mortara – Maserati MSG Racing
Saturday 22 April
16:35 – 16:50	FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers
16:50 – 17:10	Media Pen
Sunday 23 April
16:35 – 16:50	FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers
16:50 – 17:10	Media Pen
17:10 – 17:30	Rookie Drivers Media Pen
Monday 24 April
12:45 – 13:05	Rookies Press Conference
	Victor Martins – Nissan Formula E
	Felipe Drugovich – Maserati MSG Racing
	Linus Lundqvist – Avalanche Andretti Formula E
	Sheldon Van Der Linde – Jaguar TCS Racing

2023 BERLIN E-PRIX ENTRIES

2023 ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS 

The classification of the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is available on the following link.