Commentary
Formula E Berlin ePrix VI
Behind the Race: Rowland and Vandoorne break through with wins
Oliver Rowland and Stoffel Vandoorne both scored their maiden Formula E victories in the final two races of the 2019-20 season at the Tempelhof Airport venue in Berlin.
Edited: Aug 27, 2020, 2:44 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
With Antonio Felix da Costa and his DS Techeetah outfit already assured of the drivers’ and teams’ crowns, second place in the championship was still up for grabs. But more than that, the final double-header provided some hope that Nissan e.dams and Mercedes are both in a place to at least take the fight to DS Techeetah next season and bring the unpredictably back into FE.
In the latest episode of Behind the Race from ThEVox (below), Autosport's Formula E correspondent Matt Kew is joined by Italian racer Michela Cerutti to analyse the Rowland and Vandoorne triumphs, to asses where all went wrong in qualifying and to discuss the latest driver market comings and goings.
Rowland’s win was in no small part helped by a qualifying farce in which all four of the active series champions failed to set a lap time ahead of the opening race.
Along with Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastien Buemi starting from the back of the grid, so too would Da Costa and Lucas di Grassi after they came to blows on their out-lap.
That left Nissan e.dams driver Rowland to fend off Robin Frijns for the spoils as Audi driver Rene Rast scored his maiden FE podium after the double DTM champion pulled off a late “touring car” pass on Andre Lotterer.
In race two, the Mercedes dominance that has become commonplace in Formula 1 over the last six years was replicated as Vandoorne led his team-mate Nyck de Vries to a 1-2 finish.
Mercedes entered the season as debutants, building on the season of learning undertaken by forerunners HWA Racelab last year.
Similarly, Nissan e.dams had been hamstrung by the ban imposed on the twin-motor powertrain they extensively developed last season.
For both teams to come to the fore at the close of play, as the big-name drivers were struggling in their recovery through the midfield, indicate that da Costa will be forced to work much hard to dominate the 2020-21 campaign quite so effectively.
And no soon had the chequered flag waved for the last time, 11-time grand prix winner Felipe Massa was promptly announced as having left the Venturi Racing team.
Likewise, although Neel Jani enjoyed a late upturn in FE, Pascal Wehrlein was finally confirmed as his successor at Porsche.
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 Wehrlein replaces Jani at Porsche Formula E team
Next article Sims joins Mahindra from BMW for 2020/21 Formula E season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Ex-DTM champion Guven falls short of Formula E licence: what can Porsche do?
DTM
DTM DTM 1 min
Ex-DTM champion Guven falls short of Formula E licence: what can Porsche do?
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
4 min
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
17 min
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
How Aston Martin’s fuel gamble in Monza WEC fell short by just three seconds
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
How Aston Martin’s fuel gamble in Monza WEC fell short by just three seconds
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