Formula E title fight between manufacturers Porsche & Jaguar comes to a head: "Hard to say which powertrain is better"

Envision driver Nick Cassidy has established himself as the first pursuer of world championship leader Pascal Wehrlein with his victory in Sunday's race of the Berlin E-Prix. But Jaguar driver Mitch Evans is also back in the mix with his victory on Saturday and fourth place on Sunday. The 2023 Formula E title fight is coming to a head at the halfway point of the season. But who has the better car - Porsche/Andretti or Jaguar/Envision?

Berlin was a very good place for the British team and its customer team in 2023: both races were won by a Jaguar-powered driver, and Jaguar drivers finished in the top five six times. The customer team Envision Racing collected 50 points in the German capital, the factory team even 55. By comparison, front-runner Porsche scored only 24 points at its home race.

In particular, Nick Cassidy departs from Germany very satisfied: He was able to reduce the gap to the overall leader - Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein - by a full 21 points. He is now only four points behind the German. His lead over the third-placed driver in the world championship, Jean-Eric Vergne, is already 15 points.

"We won Berlin - I don't know what more to say," enthused Cassidy. "I'm so happy with how today went. My team did a flawless job and the car felt great. Yesterday we had a good opportunity, however, I made a mistake. I take responsibility for that. But today we made something out of it. Thanks to my guys who give me the opportunity to win every weekend. As a driver, this is the ultimate dream!"

Nick reacting to his WINNING performance! ? #BerlinEPrix pic.twitter.com/eOte4WGE9i

- Envision Racing (@Envision_Racing) April 23, 2023

Felix da Costa: "They were strong from the start"

So it is becoming apparent after eight of 16 races: The battle for the 2023 World Championship titles is likely to be between the Porsche- and Jaguar-powered teams. After the Germans had achieved the better results at the beginning of the season, the tide turned in Sao Paulo and Berlin. It appears that Porsche, Envision and Jaguar are about evenly matched.

"I don't think Jaguar caught up," Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa described to the 'e-formula.news' microphone. "They were strong from the beginning. They just made some mistakes and had bad luck to boot, while Pascal had an excellent start to the season. Now they have good and clean weekends. They score a lot of points, are super fast and consistent. We have to make sure we can do the same," said the Portuguese.

We caught up with @afelixdacosta right after the race, here is his take on today's #BerlinEPrix. #MakeItMatter #PorscheFormulaE @FIAFormulaE pic.twitter.com/gLvCNKiqzs

- TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team (@PorscheFormulaE) April 23, 2023

"We have a great car," Sebastien Buemi tells us about his Jaguar-equipped Envision racer. "But it's difficult to say which powertrain is better. It always depends on the track, too."

At the halfway point of the season, Envision and Jaguar occupy 2nd and 3rd place in the team standings. The gap to Porsche is now only 15 and 30 points, respectively. The season resumes in Monaco on May 6, just under two weeks from now.