"Completely misjudged the race" - Ticktum quarrels with Kiro strategy, Beckmann explains Sette Camara crash

The Kiro team fell short of expectations at Formula E's Berlin E-Prix. Despite a good starting position and strong pace at times, Dan Ticktum only scored two points on Saturday. For David Beckmann, the first race ended prematurely after an unfortunate collision. There were no points for either driver on Sunday.

In the first race of the weekend in Tempelhof, Kiro driver Beckmann initially put in a promising performance. From 18th on the grid, he fought his way up the field with clever energy management and a well-timed Attack Mode strategy.

However, his race came to an abrupt end after 28 laps following an unfortunate incident with Sergio Sette Camara. "I saw that Sergio had activated Attack Mode. That's why I pushed relatively hard in turn 2 to overtake him, which worked", Beckmann explained to e-Formula.news. "Then I drove into turn 3. I didn't think that Sergio would overtake there, which doesn't really make sense. That is not a corner where you overtake just as easily. It was also completely wet on the inside. I think he simply misjudged it."

"Then I saw him coming, turned in later so that we could both get through somehow, but it wasn't enough," Beckman continues. "He lost his rear and slid into me. I don't think the first contact was that bad, but then he hit me with his crash box between the bodywork and the tyre. That broke the suspension and I couldn't continue. I don't understand why you have to overtake there. Especially when you're in Attack Mode, which makes it easy to overtake two corners later. Completely unnecessary and a great pity."

Until then, it actually looked like a promising home race for Beckmann. "We took a bit of a risk at the start and tried to save energy. We were in a good position to take advantage of the Attack Mode. But unfortunately it didn't work out in the end due to the contact", explains Beckmann. "It's a shame, of course, because I think we would definitely have finished in the points." After all, team-mate Dan Ticktum scored two championship points in ninth place.

Strategic mistakes on Sunday set both drivers back

In the second, significantly drier race, Kiro began with a much more offensive strategy. After a strong qualifying session, Ticktum started on the front row alongside Pascal Wehrlein, while Beckmann started from 12th position and took the lead early on in Attack Mode. Together with the two works Porsches, the Kiro drivers gave each other slipstreams and shielded the competition.

However, all four Porsche cars continuously lost positions over the course of the race. In the end, it was only enough for 14th place for Ticktum and 16th place for Beckmann.

"We tried to work closely with Porsche, because they are fighting for the championship, but we completely misjudged the race," Ticktum told e-Formula.news after the race. "My energy consumption was as the team told me - I think we just completely misinterpreted and predicted the race."

Ticktum criticises race dynamics

Ticktum also criticised the race dynamics on Sunday in Berlin: "If you fall behind early here, you can often save energy and simply drive forwards through the field later on. As a result, some drivers deliberately reduce their speed" - which is how Nick Cassidy actually won the race. "That is problematic from a sporting point of view."

Despite second place on the grid, a solid race performance on Saturday and an initially strong pace, Kiro was unable to achieve a good result in Berlin. The haul of two points is therefore disappointing in view of what he showed. As a result, Ticktum slipped to seventh place in the drivers' championship standings. Beckmann is still without any points.

The focus is now on the last two races in London. Kiro would like to finish the season with a better result in the British capital. In the past, they have usually been competitive in the final race.