Formula E

Formula E in Berlin: Mortara takes pole position on Saturday & first points of the season for Mahindra

Tobias Wirtz

Tobias Wirtz

Huge surprise in Berlin: Edoardo Mortara secured pole position in Formula E qualifying on Saturday. In the final duel, the Mahindra driver prevailed against Stoffel Vandoorne in the DS Penske. Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Sette Camara will start behind them. The two Andretti drivers, on the other hand, completely faltered and had to start the race from the last two rows of the grid.

Group A: Mortara with convincing best time, Evans & Dennis fail

In Group A, the drivers in the odd-numbered championship positions took to the grid. The drivers making their season debut at the Berlin E-Prix were placed at the end of the championship standings based on their start number. Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to immediately complete a timed lap, while the other ten drivers drove an additional warm-up lap to bring the tyres up to temperature. The first battle went to Edoardo Mortara ahead of Jordan King, Jehan Daruvala and Antonio Felix da Costa.

At the halfway point of the session, all the drivers went into the pits to change tyres. However, Mortara reported on the radio shortly beforehand that he had hit the wall, but was able to resume practice. The Mahindra driver also set the fastest time in the second run ahead of Pascal Wehrlein, Vergne and Daruvala. Disappointing results, however, for Mitch Evans and Jake Dennis: the Jaguar driver was only sixth, the Andretti driver only eleventh and last. However, his gap to Mortara was less than 0.5 seconds.

Group B: di Grassi with best time ahead of Günther, Cassidy & Rowland eliminated

In Group B, Lucas di Grassi decided the first stint in his favour. The ABT Cupra driver was ahead of Nick Cassidy, Max Günther and Jake Hughes before all the drivers came into the pits to change tyres. Taylor Barnard, on the other hand, did not manage a good lap time on his first set of tyres.

After the tyre change, all the drivers improved their lap times again: Di Grassi again set the fastest time ahead of Günther, who finished second despite contact with a wall. Stoffel Vandoorne and Sergio Sette Camara took the next two positions. Nick Cassidy narrowly missed out in fifth place, although he did much better than title contender Oliver Rowland, who only finished eighth. A qualifying session to forget for Andretti, however: Norman Nato finished last.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in Berlin

Quarter-final

QF1: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Pascal Wehrlein

The rematch of the semi-final duel from Misano Saturday was close: Vergne got the better start to the lap, but Wehrlein was faster in the second sector. However, it was no longer enough to close the gap - Vergne progressed to the semi-finals.

QF2: Jehan Daruvala vs. Edoardo Mortara

In Mortara's duel against his successor at Maserati, the Swiss driver had the better first sector. However, the Maserati driver was also faster in the following sectors and ultimately came out on top by around 0.25 seconds.

QF3: Stoffel Vandoorne vs. Max Günther

Vandoorne prevailed in the Stellantis drive duel, the Belgian was faster than his rival in every sector of the track. Here too, the difference in the end was more than 0.2 seconds. However, Günther was the fastest of the losers in the quarter-finals, qualifying him for fifth place on the grid.

QF4: Sergio Sette Camara vs. Lucas di Grassi

Lucas di Grassi's first participation in the duel phase since the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix was an all-Brazilian duel: di Grassi was initially ahead, but lost his lead again after a few corners. Sette Camara advanced to the semi-finals with a lead of around 0.2 seconds.

Semi-finals

SF1: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Edoardo Mortara

The first semi-final was close: both drivers were almost on the same time after half the lap. In the final corners, however, the Swiss showed that today could be his day and came out on top by around a tenth of a second.

SF2: Sergio Sette Camara vs Stoffel Vandoorne

The second semi-final was a clear-cut affair in comparison: Vandoorne was faster in each of the three track sectors and ultimately came out on top by around 0.2 seconds.

Final: Edoardo Mortara vs Stoffel Vandoorne

The first three points of the weekend were at stake in the final duel: Mortara drove a clean lap, Vandoorne made a mistake in the centre sector. The duel was thus decided early. It was the third pole position for the Swiss driver in Formula E, the last time he had been first on the grid at the 2022 Berlin E-Prix. He achieved all of his pole positions in Berlin. Mahindra therefore scored its first points in 2024.

The ninth race of the 2024 Formula E season will take place on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm (CEST).

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)

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