De Vries Wins In Berlin After First Corner Double Pass
Calum Gill 15:27 15/05/2022
Defending Formula E champion Nyck de Vries led a Mercedes-powered 1-2-3-4 finish in the second and final race of the Berlin double-header weekend.
Edoardo Mortara had dominated the event in the customer Venturi, taking pole on both days and winning Saturday’s opener. But de Vries dived his way from third to first at Turn 1 on the opening lap as poleman Mortara was concentrating on fending off Robin Frijns’ advances from the outside line. De Vries held this lead until he took his sole eight-minute attack mode and dropped to third but was soon back into first place. Mortara leaving his attack mode until several minutes later didn’t yield the victory challenge he’d have hoped for, and he had no answer for de Vries’ pace when he returned to a normal power level.
De Vries’ fourth Formula E victory marks his first since he triumphed in the Diriyah season-opener and it moves him from eighth to sixth place in the drivers’ championship. Mortara’s runner-up finish allows him to jump into second place in the points table, and his team-mate Lucas di Grassi almost made it a double Venturi podium but lost out to championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne with just under three minutes of the race remaining. Vandoorne’s third place is his fifth podium in eight races this season and he walks away from Berlin with a 12-point championship lead over Mortara.
Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland was on course to secure fifth place before he lost out to António Félix da Costa and Frijns in quick succession in the closing laps. Frijns, who lost time to a missed attack mode earlier in the race, overtook da Costa on the final lap to secure fifth place but not without bumping into the rear of da Costa’s DS Techeetah. Da Costa just about held it together to take sixth place ahead of Rowland and Porsche’s André Lotterer. Da Costa’s team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne, who came into the race second in the points, was ninth at the flag ahead of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, who took the final point in 10th place.
