“Ich bin ein Berliner!” Is something that after all these years Formula E can say with confidence. Welcome to our race preview for rounds 7 and 8: Berlin.
Credit: https://unsplash.com/@pimmenkveld
We hope you’ll pardon us for the reference above, but Berlin truly runs in Formula E’s DNA – hosting races of the championship since the inception of the series in 2014/15. This time, we touch ground in Germany, reporting for you live for the first time from the paddock. It’s also the second time for our Chief Editor at an FE race in Berlin – the first time being the very first ever Berlin E-Prix in 2015, as a spectator, so as you can imagine it’s a very sentimental round for us. And we’ll make sure to show you all the fantastic things we’ll witness amongst the corners at Tempelhof.
For the first time ever, the iconic location of the old Tempelhof Airport will witness the beauty and grace of the Gen3 cars. Berlin has produced many high quality spectacles over the years, and provided very high ups and very low lows for some. We’re hinting at the tragic for Mitch Evans season finale in 2021, when his car stalled during the start and kicked him out of the title contention. Ouch.
The home to the German leg of Formula E season spans over 2.335 km, and is an anti-clockwise track features 10 turns and was designed by Rodrigo Nunes. After a short absence in 2016, Berlin Tempelhof hosted all of the races in Germany since Formula E’s first season in 2014/15, and with slight revisions to its course since 2017.
Berlin is home to many sustainability start-ups, scale-ups and corporates, which makes it an ideal fit as a host for the most challenging electric series in the world. In 2022, Formula E signed an extension with the Governing Mayor of Berlin Franziska Giffey to run the races of the championship for two more years. Here’s what the Mayor had to say about the extension:
“We are delighted that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is taking place in our capital for the eighth time. Berlin is the only city that has been on the racing calendar every year since the inaugural season in 2014 and the iconic Tempelhof Airport provided the venue for the event for the seventh time this weekend. The track has quickly become one of the most well-known racetracks in Formula E, and I am therefore delighted that it has been contractually secured that Formula E will also take place on the Tempelhof site for the next two years.“
“Formula E not only offers us exciting electric racing, but is also an important platform to promote technological and sustainable innovations that can facilitate our transition to a greener and electric future.”
And just to get you into the mood for the upcoming race: what happened in the previous round? Well…what didn’t happen! The latest addition to the calendar, São Paulo, provided a remarkable spectacle for us all. It finished with a historic 1-2-3 podium for Jaguar, thanks to Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy and Sam Bird occupying their respective positions on the box. It was another tough race for the likes of Maserati and ABT Cupra, after Mortara and Müller had to retire from the race, and Günther and Frijns finished in P11 and P14 respectively. Jake Dennis, after a great start of the season has been recently plagued by trouble, having to retire from the race as well just like Fenestraz, who has been showing a promise of some great pace, although unable to deliver solid results yet so far (his best finish to this date is P8 from Diriyah). The constructors championship has seen a few switches, with Envision currently hunting down Tag Heuer Porsche, and Jaguar TCS Racing catapulting themselves into P3, one point ahead of DS Penske in P4. DS Penske has seen a few good races from their drivers, with Jean-Éric Vergne being only one point short of Cassidy in P3. As it stands, Berlin is looking very spicy, and oh boy we can’t wait to witness it with our own eyes on track.
Here’s the sessions schedule for this weekend’s double-header Berlin E-Prix:
FP1 – 21/04/2023 – 20:25 – 21:15 CET
FP2 – 22/04/2023 – 08:05 – 08:55 CET
Qualifying – 22/04/2023 – 10:40 – 11:55 CET
Race – 22/04/2023 – 15:03 – 16:30 CET
FP3 – 23/04/2023 – 08:05 – 08:55 CET
Qualifying – 23/04/2023 – 10:40 – 11:55 CET
Race – 23/04/2023 – 15:03 – 16:30 CET
You can find the coverage of the WHOLE weekend here at Pitdebrief.com, and don’t forget to follow us on instagram @pitdebrief to see the E-Prix through our own camera lens!
And don’t forget: enjoy the race, wherever you are! ✨
