Formula E

Formula E in Berlin: Nico Müller celebrates first victory in Porsche's home race

Jasmin Fromm

Jasmin Fromm

FIA Formula E

Porsche driver Nico Müller has won his first Formula E race in Berlin. "Du geile Sau" (german for "you amazing piggy") celebrated the Swiss driver over the radio to his team after the chequered flag; a reference to the special pink livery that Porsche chose for Berlin. Nick Cassidy and Oliver Rowland shared the podium with him in the German capital. The first Berlin race was also a special one for Lola: both drivers led the field during the race, but in the end the team failed to score any points. The same was true for Pascal Wehrlein, who suffered a puncture after contact and thus lost the championship lead.

On a warm, sunny Saturday, the Formula E drivers started the first race of the race weekend in Berlin in the afternoon. 39 laps and the Pit Boost were on the agenda for the first race of this "double-header" in the German capital.

All drivers got off to a good start at the beginning of the race. Zane Maloney, who secured his best grid position during qualifying and started the race in seventh place, found himself in second place shortly after the start of the race. His team-mate, who started the race in 19th position, also found himself in the top 5 on lap 7. Maloney had fought his way to the front of the field, but was then replaced by his team-mate at the front of the field shortly afterwards

Lucas di Grassi, who announced at the start of the race weekend that he would be retiring from professional racing at the end of the season, took the lead of the field, directly followed by Maloney. This made him the oldest driver ever to lead a Formula E race. However, Nick Cassidy and Oliver Rowland were lurking behind the two Lola Yamaha ABT drivers and were able to overtake the two yellow and blue cars.

Wehrlein, who had been struggling in the midfield during the race, suffered a puncture on the right front tyre towards the middle of the race after contact with Andretti driver Jake Dennis. The Porsche team made the decision to combine the Pit Boost for Wehrlein with the tyre change. Despite this, the German fell a long way back.

Pit Boost activations started

Around lap 22, the drivers started to pull into their garages for the Pit Boost. Up to that point, not a single driver had activated attack mode. The first driver to use the extra 50 kW of power was Norman Nato in the Nissan, who was gradually followed by the other drivers. Once everyone was in the garage, reigning world champion Oliver Rowland led the field, followed by Nick Cassidy and Edoardo Mortara.

But Nico Müller in the Porsche was lapping in 4th place behind them with more energy. The Swiss driver activated attack mode for six minutes and then found himself in first position, which turned out to be the decisive tactic for the race. Cassidy, Rowland, Mortara and Evans behind him also activated attack mode, but were unable to overtake the Swiss in the Porsche. Müller had more energy and had pulled out too big a lead.

Thus, the Swiss driver secured the first victory of his Formula E career and a home win for the German team. Cassidy, Rowland and Mortara finished behind him. The top 10 was completed by Dennis, Evans, Marti, Barnard, Nyck de Vries and Antonio Felix da Costa.

World championship leader Wehrlein in the second Porsche finished the race in 19th position after his puncture, while the second German in the field, Maximilian Günther, also finished the race out of the points in 11th place.

With the points that Mortara scored with fourth place and the missing points for Wehrlein, Mortara took the championship lead after the race. Wehrlein dropped back to second place in the championship, while Müller is now third.

The second race is scheduled for tomorrow at 4:05 pm (CEST) in Berlin, but then without Pit Boost.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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