– Jake Dennis and Andretti Formula E take second in the race
– Porsche-powered front row lockout with Pascal Wehrlein on pole
– Porsche leads manufacturers’ and teams’ standings before the season finale
Andretti Formula E driver Jake Dennis finished Sunday’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Berlin E-Prix race in second position, scoring a podium with the Porsche customer teams’ highly efficient Porsche 99X Electric. Porsche factory driver António Félix da Costa took eighth position whilst local hero Pascal Wehrlein ended up outside the points (P15).
The results in the second of the weekend’s two home races for Porsche came after a strong performance in qualifying. Four Porsche drivers reached the duel stages, resulting in a front row lockout and three championship points. Pole position was taken by Wehrlein, his third of the season (more than anyone else) and his first one in Berlin. All of his lap times in the duels were fast enough for pole. Da Costa took third on the grid behind Dan Ticktum of Porsche customer team Cupra Kiro. Andretti drivers Nico Müller and Jake Dennis started P5 and P16 respectively.
Porsche has extended its lead in the manufacturers’ standings by two points while the factory-run TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team now holds a 23-point advantage in the teams’ standings.
Cupra Kiro drivers Ticktum and David Beckmann finished P14 and P16 respectively. Müller (Andretti) crossed the finish line in P8 but was dropped back to P17 due to a penalty for contact with another car.
Comments on the Berlin E-Prix
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: « At the end of the day it was a very tough result. Congratulations to Ollie Rowland for winning the Drivers’ World Championship this year! We had a great performance in qualifying with Pascal taking pole and overall four Porsche in the top five on the grid. We knew that it would be a difficult, energy sensitive race and we tried it from the front which didn’t pay off because of the high energy usage compared to the guys at the back. At the end they came up and we went backwards. António collected very valuable points, but this is not the result we wanted. We’ll put this behind us. Overall, what we achieved in Berlin was a step forward in our main target from a three-point deficit in the Manufacturers’ Championship to a seven-point lead, and on the teams’ side we arrived with a ten-point lead and go into London and the last two races with a 23-point advantage. A lot can happen in the last two races, but we are up there to fight for the two world championship titles. That’s our target. »
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche factory driver (#1): « A disappointing race for us. Definitely not what we wanted. Starting from P1, I think the pace was not too bad but also a lot of tyre degradation. We need to look into the strategy. We did something different to the others and took a very short first Attack Mode but then lost a lot of places. No points for me in the race today which means that the Drivers’ Championship is officially gone now to Oliver Rowland. Congrats to him, he deserves it! We will try to fight hard in London for the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships and then we bounce back for next year. »
António Félix da Costa, Porsche factory driver (#13): « Not a great one to be honest. We had high hopes going into it but finished P9 in the end. With both cars we stayed up front for most of the race but with two safety cars in the middle it bunched everyone up and there were a few guys behind with more energy so it really helped them. I’m sure we didn’t do everything right. We’ll sit down and debrief with the team and learn from it. The good thing is that we are still leading in the teams’ standings and we opened that gap in the manufacturers’ going into London. »
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship – standings after 14 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification : 1. Oliver Rowland (GBR), 184 points ; 2. Pascal Wehrlein (GER), 125 points ; 3. Taylor Barnard (GBR), 112 points ; 4. António Félix da Costa (POR), 103 points… 7. Dan Ticktum (GBR), 82 points… 10. Jake Dennis (GBR), 77 points… 15. Nico Müller (SUI), 48 points… 24. David Beckmann (GER), 0 point.
Teams’ classification : 1. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team (GER), 228 points ; 2. Nissan Formula E Team (JPN), 205 points ; 3. DS Penske (USA), 168 points… 7. Andretti Formula E (USA), 125 points… 10. CUPRA KIRO (USA), 82 points…
Manufacturers’ classification : 1. Porsche, 342 points ; 2. Nissan, 335 points ; 3. Jaguar, 279 points…