Practice report
Formula E Berlin E-Prix I
Berlin E-Prix: Dennis pips Mortara in tightly-bunched FP1
Jake Dennis topped an opening Formula E free practice session for the double-header 2021 Berlin E-Prix title decider in which the top seven were covered by under a tenth.
Matt Kew
Edited: Aug 13, 2021, 4:56 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The rookie, who won the first race in London last time out, ran fastest for his BMW Andretti team as the German manufacturer readies itself to quit the series after its home race this weekend.
Dennis, currently fourth in the drivers’ standings, delivered a late full 250kW power lap and posted a 1m06.949s effort to top the 45-minute session by 0.014s over Venturi Racing driver Edoardo Mortara.
The fastest time from Dennis, whose services it was announced today will be retained by the newly-independent Andretti Autosport team for next season, was a tenth adrift of the laps set in the equivalent first practice on the anti-clockwise track last year – with the Sunday race to switch direction.
Maximilian Gunther, whose future is yet to be agreed, completed a BMW Andretti 1-3 as he earned the third best time and ran only another two thousandths slower than Dennis.
Alex Lynn earned fourth for Mahindra Racing to copy his strong one-lap pace from Berlin last year, although the rear-bias car weight could overheat his tyres in the race on the abrasive concrete.
Two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne ran to fifth for DS Techeetah ahead of the Mercedes fight led by Stoffel Vandoorne.
Mitch Evans completed the top seven but was still only 0.086s adrift of Dennis.
However, combined with teammate Sam Bird running to 16th, the display did not entirely diminish concerns over Jaguar Racing’s historic struggles at the Tempelhof Airport circuit.
Nissan e.dams racer Sebastien Buemi led Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein and defending champion Antonio Felix da Costa inside the top 10.
Pre-event points leader Nyck de Vries was only 14th fastest in his Mercedes, having been slowest with five minutes of practice to go, while Lucas di Grassi clocked 19th ahead of the Envision Virgin Racing cars.
Robin Frijns, second in the championship, pipped his rookie teammate Nick Cassidy to 20th by 0.13s.
Buemi had initially set the pace during the lower power 200kW runs, his 1m08.585s earning him a 0.114s cushion over Vergne and Super GT and Super Formula champion Cassidy.
Through the attack mode laps, running with the higher 235kW power, Gunther topped the times to complete a strong early showing for BMW Andretti.
The German ran to a 1m07.362s effort to find 0.09s over Vergne, with Evans another 0.044s in arrears.
NIO 333 driver Tom Blomqvist is due to be invested by the stewards for pitlane overspeeding.
Results
Cla Driver Team Time Gap 1 Jake Dennis
Andretti Autosport 1'06.949 2
Edoardo Mortara
Venturi 1'06.963 0.014 3
Maximilian Gunther
Andretti Autosport 1'06.965 0.016 4
Alex Lynn
Mahindra Racing 1'06.984 0.035 5
Jean-Eric Vergne
Techeetah 1'07.006 0.057 6
Stoffel Vandoorne
Mercedes 1'07.033 0.084 7
Mitch Evans
Jaguar Racing 1'07.035 0.086 8
Sébastien Buemi
DAMS 1'07.056 0.107 9
Pascal Wehrlein
Porsche Team 1'07.063 0.114 10
Antonio Felix da Costa
Techeetah 1'07.077 0.128 11
Alexander Sims
Mahindra Racing 1'07.129 0.180 12
Andre Lotterer
Porsche Team 1'07.131 0.182 13
Oliver Rowland
DAMS 1'07.191 0.242 14
Nyck de Vries
Mercedes 1'07.193 0.244 15
Oliver Turvey
NIO Formula E Team 1'07.228 0.279 16
Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing 1'07.352 0.403 17
Norman Nato
Venturi 1'07.355 0.406 18
Sergio Sette Camara
Dragon Racing 1'07.388 0.439 19
Lucas di Grassi
Team Abt 1'07.469 0.520 20
Robin Frijns
Virgin Racing 1'07.485 0.536 21
Nick Cassidy
Virgin Racing 1'07.617 0.668 22
René Rast
Team Abt 1'07.741 0.792 23
Joel Eriksson
Dragon Racing 1'07.902 0.953 24
Tom Blomqvist
NIO Formula E Team 1'07.932 0.983 View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Promoted: How Formula E is taking electric to the next level
Next article Berlin E-Prix: BMW's Dennis remains on top in second practice
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Kew
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Marko suggests Perez's improved F1 form because 2025 contract at stake
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Leclerc: No answer for "once in a season" Japan F1 qualifying struggle
Latest news
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
20 min
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
42 min
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
10 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe