Four talking points from Formula E in Berlin
“We had fortune on our side,” said an emotional Nyck de Vries as he struggled to come to terms with his new status as the first Formula E FIA World Champion. The Dutchman sure had rode his luck in an action-packed Berlin double-header season finale around the Tempelhof Airport circuit, on a weekend when the Mercedes EQ squad he drives for also prevailed to echo its Formula 1 success with a Formula E teams’ title in its second year racing in the all-electric single-seater series.
Rivals eliminated early in finale
De Vries headed into the weekend with a six-point advantage in the standings after a brace of second places in the London E Prix double-header last month. But a puncture in race one on Saturday after contact with Mahindra’s Alex Lynn lost him a lap and left him at the foot of the results table. But he’d swallowed his first dose of luck: somehow he still entered Sunday’s final round leading the championship, now by a scant three points from Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara who had finished a fine second in the first race.
De Vries only qualified 13th for the finale, leaving his slender points lead all too vulnerable. But those world title ambitions were revived in the opening moments of race action as his three closest rivals found themselves eliminated from the race. He didn’t really take this championship; in reality, it came to him.
Mitch Evans started third on the grid and looked the pre-race title favourite – only for his Jaguar Racing car to nudge forward a few centimetres off the line and then stop dead. Formula E cars can’t stall, but a catastrophic electrical failure destroyed his title hopes. Those moments on the grid when a car fails to launch are always terrifying. Especially if the driver has qualified near the front. Evans was a sitting duck and could only hope everyone would miss him. Sadly, poor Mortara – starting 11th – was unsighted…
The Venturi’s left-front corner was destroyed in the impact, from which both drivers emerged shaken. Swiss Mortara headed to the medical centre for checks and was found to have fractured a vertebrae. It was a sad and undeserving ending for two of the best drivers of the season.
Rookie Dennis blows his chance
Inevitably, the race was red-flagged and when it restarted British rookie Jake Dennis now appeared to be in the box seats for the title. But the works BMW driver was the next hopeful to see his dreams implode. Running in eighth place, which would have been enough to claim the championship, Dennis took the green flag past the start line – then ran into the left-hand wall on the run into Turn 1. “I’m destroyed in the wall – I’ve just destroyed the car,” he wailed in an unbelieving tone on the radio to his team. Again, a devastating way for the 26-year-old’s season to finish – but what a season it has been. The rookie won two races for BMW’s Andretti Autosports team, outshone highly rated team-mate Maximilian Guenther and proved the big surprise of Formula E’s season seven.
Dennis began his Formula E career in a strange fashion, BMW having confirmed pre-season that this would be its last in Formula E. So he knew his big break might turn out to be a one-off. But Dennis sucked up that pressure, delivered in style and now will remain in the series still racing for Andretti Autosports, which returns to its old status as a superbly run independent entry. Losing a world championship is bound to hurt, of course, but the wider perspective can only leave a wonderfully positive verdict on Dennis’s 2020/21 season.
De Vries survives a scare as Nato wins
His three main rivals now on the sidelines, de Vries just had to play it safe and ensure he scored what he needed to secure the first Formula E title with full FIA world championship status. But it seemed the 2019 Formula 2 champion couldn’t avoid being drawn into dogfights, as the series’ best circuit for good racing inspired some tightly contested action. At one stage, he had Mercedes EQ team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne pincered André Lotterer’s Porsche entry in a moment that put everything at risk. They survived the moment and everyone at Mercedes could breathe again.
Up at the front, Norman Nato drove brilliantly to deliver Venturi some consolation for the Mortara disappointment to take the lead and win from Briton Oliver Rowland in his Nissan e.DAMS entry. Ex-McLaren F1 ace Vandoorne had qualified on pole, slipped down the order, then recovered to beat Lotterer to the final podium place. Meanwhile, de Vries was sweating. He’d kept his cool to rise from his lowly 13th on the grid, survived that scare with his team-mate and Lotterer, but then on the last lap had no answer to Sam Bird, who had stormed from 22nd on the grid to snatch seventh place from him. But eighth was enough for de Vries, who crossed the line to hear confirmation from his team that he was world champion. It doesn’t get any sweeter.
Audi also bows out with a win
Along with BMW, the Berlin finale also represented an official goodbye to Formula E for Audi as a works entity (even if the drivetrain technology for both German giants will remain part of the series as suppliers to ‘indie’ teams). Audi signed off in style as marque veteran Lucas di Grassi overcame both of DS Techeetah’s former champions Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix Da Costa, plus Mortara, to win Saturday’s race.
The Brazilian’s 12th Formula E win shouldn’t be his last – he’s tipped to remain in the series by joining Venturi for next season as the replacement for… Sunday race winner Nato! If that is the case and the Frenchman is out of a drive, he couldn’t have advertised his ability to other teams in better style. Things are never dull in Formula E. Roll on season eight.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images
Formula E
Nyck de Vries
Jake Dennis
