A look back at the Berlin ePrix: Buemi wins again, di Grassi limits the damage

Qualifications: First for Vergne!

After two initial free practice sessions dominated by Sébastien Buemi (Renault e.dams) and Nelson Piquet (NEXTEV TCR),

The 18 drivers gathered in the middle of the day for the timed lap exercise.

In continuation of the Paris ePrix, a DS Virgin car was in the spotlight. But this time in Berlin, it was Jean-Eric Vergne who claimed pole position, his first of the season and the fourth of his career in the discipline!

With a time of 57 seconds and 811 thousandths at the moment of the Super-Pole, the French driver achieved the ideal lap, despite a slight alert in the last corner as Bruno Senna exited the pits beside him.

He was ahead by a very small margin (16 thousandths of a second!) of Sébastien Buemi, who was the fastest driver in the qualifying groups.

For once, Daniel Abt proudly represented the colors of the Abt Schaeffler Team. Certainly motivated by this home race, the German driver secured third position, ahead of the two Mahindra cars of Senna and Heidfeld.

These qualifications were definitely unprecedented since the Indian team had never made it to the Super Pole this season. A joy that was short-lived here since Senna and Heidfeld were disqualified for tire pressure below the standard. The same penalty for Stéphane Sarrazin and Jérôme d’Ambrosio, who were also sent back to the last rows.

Behind this winning quintet (on the track), Sam Bird narrowly missed the cut this time, finishing sixth. Nelson Piquet reminded everyone of his status as defending champion with a satisfactory seventh position.

Hindered by a track that gradually faded as the session progressed, di Grassi finished only in tenth position after running in the first group, just behind Nicolas Prost, who made a mistake in the last corner of his timed lap.

Race: Buemi did not let his chance pass by!

At 4:00 PM, it was time to start the eighth ePrix of this season. 48 laps were scheduled on this 1.927-kilometer circuit.

Right from the start, Sébastien Buemi took an option on victory by getting the better of Vergne in the hairpin of the first corner. Overtaken again during that same first lap, Buemi nevertheless continued to stick close to the DS Virgin driver. A rewarding tactic in the 6th lap: the Swiss seized a small gap to push through and take command of the race!

After Di Grassi’s series of victories, the Renault e.dams driver was gradually building a significant lead over the rest of the pack. But the end of the race was anything but restful for Buemi, far from it! With a small cushion of advantage varying between 5 and 10 seconds, he still had to withstand the comeback of the Abt drivers.

Indeed, behind him, his rival was once again having a great race! This time starting from eighth position, Lucas Di Grassi took advantage of the misfortune of the competitors ahead of him. After overtaking the two Nextevs at the start, the Brazilian benefited from the troubles of the DS Virgin drivers.

Initially, Bird was shown the black flag with an orange disk. A carbon element was gradually detaching from the Englishman’s single-seater, forcing him to pit on the 12th lap despite strong protests.

Shortly after, Vergne met the same fate.

Struggling throughout the first stint, especially on the straight, the former Scuderia Toro Rosso driver worked hard to defend his second position. Overtaken by Abt, “JEV” came a bit too close to the wall on the 21st lap. Once again, race control instructed a DS driver to come into the pits. Fortunately, Vergne could align this mandatory stop with the car change.

Started eighth, Lucas di Grassi was therefore in fourth position after the pit stop shuffle, behind Buemi, Abt (his teammate)… and Nicolas Prost, the Swiss driver’s teammate! A true team race was unfolding between the Renault e.dams and Abt Team Schaeffler. Up to that point third, Prost was trying to hold off di Grassi before giving way on the 40th lap, as the latter dived inside on the hairpin of the 10th corner to overtake the son of the four-time world champion!

Ahead, Sébastien Buemi had to manage his emotions until the end. Especially since all his lead was lost on the 42nd lap, with Duval’s accident that left his Dragon Racing car stranded along the wall.

The Safety Car was on track and all the drivers were gathered.

Fortunately for him, the ABT team tangled things up during the restart: while Daniel Abt opened the door for di Grassi to reclaim the benefit of a second place so precious for the drivers’ title, the Brazilian did not understand his teammate’s gesture. As a result, he surprisingly stayed behind until the end of the race!

Benefiting from this misunderstanding, Buemi was not dispossessed of his lead in the last two laps.

At the end of the 48th lap, Sébastien Buemi crossed the finish line as the winner of this Berlin ePrix!

The Swiss driver could express his relief over the radio with his engineer: this time, it was indeed him who was taking points from di Grassi. With this personal third victory of the season, Buemi is in a position to win a title that slipped through his fingers in July 2015.

On the podium, there were two happy men. Besides Buemi, Daniel Abt was filled with joy. This time, things went well for the German driver, who stood on the first podium of his season, in front of his home crowd no less!

Lucas di Grassi, for his part, was mainly relieved to have escaped the pitfalls. He breathed a final sigh of relief by avoiding a last investigation from the stewards, who accused him of not slowing down enough during a Full Course Yellow.

Here’s how they crossed the line at the #BerlinePrix #FormulaE pic.twitter.com/LEZIUmMWDJ

— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) 21 mai 2016

Behind the strong men of this race, we find Jean-Eric Vergne in fifth place, who managed to get back on track after a chaotic end to the first stint. Robin Frijns and Nick Heidfeld also scored some good points. The Mahindra driver might still harbor some regrets after his fifth qualifying position was ultimately annulled by the stewards.

Finally, let’s acknowledge the fine performance by Simona de Silvestro, who finished ninth. She drove a wise race, although it included a tough head-to-head with Stéphane Sarrazin, the final driver in this Top 10, despite starting from the pits.

The two Nextev cars, on the other hand, gradually fell back in the standings, while in his first race, René Rast retired six laps from the finish. A premature wing change following a minor collision marked his learning experience in the discipline.

Watch the parc ferme celebrations following the #BerlinePrix Brought to you by @hpe https://t.co/QSeDj4R859— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) 21 mai 2016

Reactions from the winning trio of this Berlin ePrix:

Sébastien Buemi:

« I can’t even show you how happy I am with this result!

From the first laps, I consumed a lot of energy in my duel against Vergne, however, I managed to overtake him when he started managing his own energy.

I then tried to set the fastest lap in the second car but didn’t succeed: that’s the only disappointment of my day. The situation was particularly risky when the Safety Car came out, but fortunately, I managed to keep the lead and secure the win. We need to make the most of this result; the team did a fantastic job here. But let’s stay focused for the last two races of the season: my mind is already set on London!

Daniel Abt:

« I am absolutely delighted because more than anything I wanted to stand on the podium at my home race. I wanted to thank my team as well as everyone who helped me over the past few days in Berlin. It’s an unforgettable moment for me!

Reacting to the imbroglio of the last two laps with his teammate:

The last lap was very risky with Nico Prost very close to us: I could have lost the podium by letting him pass. But I slowed down enough to signal to Lucas to pass in front of me, which he didn’t do. But rest assured: I am 100% behind Lucas and my team.

Lucas di Grassi:

« First of all, congratulations to Daniel, who fully deserves this second place after his qualification and his race. Today, I extracted the maximum from my starting position. We can be proud of ourselves, once again! »