Di Grassi Holds Off Mortara To Win First Berlin Race
Grid Talk Reporter 14:23 14/08/2021
Lucas di Grassi beat Edoardo Mortara by just over a tenth of a second to triumph in a topsy-turvey first Berlin E-Prix of the 2021 Formula E double-header season finale.
In Audi’s final weekend in the championship, di Grassi drove a patient race to overcome the DS Techeetah and Venturi-Mercedes drivers to claim his second victory this season and haul himself back into title contention having started the day down in 14th place in the championship. The DS Techeetahs appeared to be in control with poleman Jean-Éric Vergne leading his team-mate and defending champion António Félix da Costa for the first half of the race.
The team then swapped its cars around with Vergne allowing da Costa to pass him for the lead. But both came under threat from third-place di Grassi who dispatched Vergne and then passed da Costa into Turn 1 with 20 minutes remaining to take the lead. Di Grassi’s Audi team-mate René Rast charged from 12th on the grid to latch onto the back of the sister car and while in attack mode, he was able to follow di Grassi through to form an Audi 1-2. Di Grassi dropped behind Venturi pair Mortara and Norman Nato when he took his attack mode but he dummied and dived his way past Nato at Turn 10 and then passed Mortara for the lead of the race on the run to Turn 1.
Mortara came back at di Grassi and threatened his lead all the way until the chequered flag, with di Grassi just edging Mortara by 0.141s at the finish. Di Grassi has moved up from 14th to sixth in the points table, and he sits just eight points adrift of championship leader Nyck de Vries, who finished in a lowly 22nd after picking up a puncture following a collision with Alexander Sims. Mortara’s fourth podium of the season moves him into second place in the championship, just three points behind de Vries.
Mitch Evans denied Nato his first Formula E podium with a late race move, but fourth place still marks Nato’s best finish in the championship - at a time when his future in the series is uncertain. A second consecutive third place finish boosts Evans chances of claiming the title for Jaguar as he moves up into fourth place in the championship. BMW i Andretti’s Jake Dennis drove a strong race to rise from eighth place to fifth place to maintain his hopes of becoming a Formula E champion in his rookie season.
Vergne was allowed back through by da Costa later in the race but the duo had slipped down to sixth and seventh places by the end of the race. Both drivers will run in group two tomorrow in qualifying. Maximilian Guenther made it two BMW Andretti cars in the top 10 in eighth place, ahead of Rast who slipped back to ninth place, having briefly run second while in attack mode. The final point went the way of Porsche’s André Lotterer, who had an opening lap collision with Sam Bird.
Bird’s chances of winning his first Formula E title took a severe dent when he ground to a halt just over 10 minutes into the race, as a possible result of the first lap clash. A brief safety car period was required while his car was recovered. Another bruised title contender was Robin Frijns - second in the points before today - who could only recover to finish in 15th from 23rd on the grid. He’s still six points adrift of de Vries but he’s dropped to fifth place.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein picked up a puncture after colliding with Oliver Rowland while he was trying to defend against the Nissan e DAMS driver who had just gone through the attack mode activation zone. While Rowland emerged unscathed from the contact, Wehrlein was 21st at the chequered flag.
