Nick Cassidy comes through to win Race 2 in Berlin EPrix from Jake Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne, as Oliver Rowland is crowned Formula E drivers’ champion.
Polesitter Wehrlein held off the challenge of Ticktum through Turn 1 while Rowland made up a spot from his grid slot to end Lap 1 seventh as the field filtered through that tricky Turn 1. Barnard, meanwhile, had carved his way up to third come Lap 2.
By Lap 4, however the NEOM McLaren driver had been shuffled back as far as eighth while Ticktum hit the front on Lap 5, with Wehrlein falling back into second. CUPRA KIRO’s Beckmann stuck it into second having gone early for the first of his mandatory 50kW, four-wheel drive ATTACK MODE boosts – before taking P1 out of the final turn on Lap 5. Four Porsche-powered cars from Beckmann to Ticktum, Wehrlein and da Costa in the top four.
Lap 9 saw another lead change at Turn 7 as Wehrlein took P1 from Ticktum – the Porsches cycling between themselves. Da Costa followed by the CUPRA KIRO to take second up the inside of Turn 1, with Rowland slicing by Barnard and Mueller to fire himself up into fifth on Lap 10. Wehrlein, da Costa and Ticktum held the top three on Lap 11, with Frijns looking to gatecrash the Porsches as Beckmann had slipped to 12th.
Rowland was still fifth as it stood, with Barnard, Evans, Mueller, Mortara and Bird completing the top 10. Once again, the lead cycled on Lap 15 with Wehrlein taking P1 from Ticktum at the hairpin. Energy saving looked to be more pressing for the Porsche-powered cars with Rowland fifth and Barnard sixth both Nissan powered and both a couple of percent to the good on usable energy versus Wehrlein.
Barnard took advantage of the factory Porsches shuffling position to steal P1 on Lap 19 up the inside at the aeroplane. A Safety Car followed on that same tour with Buemi’s car coming to a halt. On the restart, Lap 22, Barnard leapt for his first ATTACK and regained the lead by the hairpin as he looked to hammer home his energy advantage. Another Safety Car ruined that plan, however, with Mueller and Bird coming to blows on Lap 24. Bird clipped Mueller as the Swiss moved late under braking, causing a puncture for both and leaving them out of contention.
The Green Flag flew on Lap 26 with Barnard heading Wehrlein, da Costa, Evans, Frijns, Mortara, Rowland, Vergne, Ticktum and Guenther, with both Wehrlein and Rowland jumping for ATTACK – the latter matching up his nearest challenger in the standings. Wehrlein took P1 into Turn 1 on Lap 28, taking advantage of that 50kW boost nicely. Frijns – also in ATTACK – followed into P2 before taking the lead himself half a tour later with the overlap and by the end of that lap Wehrlein, who’d gone earlier for ATTACK and with a shorter dose, was shuffled back into sixth.
Rowland then leapt to the lead on Lap 30 by Frijns and Evans, before Evans and da Costa made it to P1 and P2 with their overlap in ATTACK. With Rowland now third, Wehrlein found himself all the way down in 13th once the first round of ATTACK MODE activations had cycled through the field. As it stood, we’d have a new World Champion. The Nissan leapt for ATTACK number two on Lap 33, placing him ninth and back into a pack which was split by just four seconds.
No matter, he’d carved his way to the front and past then-leader Vergne at the hairpin on Lap 34 – some drive. The Brit would be relatively happy to cede the lead to Cassidy – the Jaguar up on energy, having picked his way through the pack from 20th on the grid. Dennis followed at the hairpin a lap later but still, Rowland would be crowned champion with Wehrlein all the way down in 10th position.
On Lap 38, Vergne swooped by Rowland, too. Fourth would still be enough for Rowland, though. The Nissan was managing things and the battle behind between Barnard, Evans and Drugovich allowed the Yorkshireman to create some breathing space. Evans squeaked by for fifth just as his ATTACK was ending amid some strong scrapping with Barnard. Cassidy had everything in-hand to bring his Jaguar home first but the story was Rowland holding onto fourth to secure a maiden ABB FIA Formula E Drivers’ World Championship title.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1944410174900281581
Here’s how Formula E Berlin EPrix Race 1 panned out
[The story is as per press release]
