On Saturday race day, teams faced damp and tricky conditions on a slippery concrete surface at Tempelhof Airport - home to a former aerodrome. Once made for aircraft traffic, the 2.345km layout is now the host for an ABB FIA Formula E World Championship double-header - with all eyes on pole man Mitch Evans who was eager to show his worth after a bitterly disappointing season and the prospect of title hopeful Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) securing the crown in the first race of the weekend.

The opening two thirds of the race was a tactical affair with drivers threading their GEN3 Evo around the damp, but slowly drying circuit in the German capital. Polesitter Mitch Evans got proceedings underway brilliantly, utilising his road position in the spray and deploying an early Attack Mode to hold a commanding position at the front of the race.

Behind the Kiwi, squabbling enraged between Robin Frijns (Envision Racing), the two championship hopefuls from Tag Heuer Porsche - António Félix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein as well as Jean-Eric Verne (DS Penske) for the remainder of the podium positions.

Wehrlein, who started from ninth, was up into the lead fight after a strong Attack Mode period - much to the delight of his home fans. Rowland was out muscled in the opening laps and was in the bottom half of the top ten by the mid stage of the race.
Two different strategies emerged at the halfway point with most of the grid using an Attack Mode before and after the compulsory Pit Boost. A select few elected for a more aggressive option - led by Taylor Barnard and winner last time out in Jakarta Dan Ticktum, who elected to utilise both Attack options in the latter part of the race - praying for drama up front or a Safety Car to bunch the field back up again.

A coming together between Sérgio Sette Câmara (Nissan) and David Beckmann (Cupra Kiro) produced a Safety Car with just ten laps left on the counter to go. The biggest moment of the frantic battle to the flag was the retirement of championship leader Oliver Rowland. The British driver, after taking his second Attack Mode, struggled with the grip and outbraked himself in an opportunistic move on Maserati MSG Racing driver Stoffel Vandoorne into the hairpin. Rowland was a passenger, running up the inside, with the contact resulting in a spin and damage leading to the towel being thrown in with no points to show.

Meanwhile, Mitch Evans continued his march with a blisteringly quick restart - making most of a back marker acting as an unintentional line of defence between him, Wehrlein and the chasing pack - allowing the Jaguar driver to break away once more with an Attack Mode straight from the restart. 

With a drying track, and opting for a later deployment, Wehrlein set-up a last-lap, grandstand finish with the pair fighting for grip in the run to the line with both cars almost nose to tail at the end of the 41 laps. Evans liftt his 14th first place trophy and a happy Wehrlein, who also snatched fastest lap of the race secured an impressive haul of points - closing up the gap for the championship fight - tightening the screw of pressure throwing the pressure back to Rowland in the second of the German races tomorrow.

Rounding out the rostrum on the road was Porsche driver António Félix da Costa but the  Portuguese driver received a time penalty - which dropped him down to tenth - allowing the Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara to bank his second podium of the year.

NEOM McLaren Formula E Team hotshot Taylor Barnard delivered a calculated drive with an excellent use of Attack Mode later on to seal fourth while one of the drivers of the day came from Evans’ teammate and fellow countryman Nick Cassidy who drove from the back of the grid to round out the top five to help Jaguar leap up the teams standings. 

Maximilian Günther (DS Penske), Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing), and Nico Mueller (Andretti Formula E) all had quiet races to finish sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, while  Dan Ticktum who was one of the drivers to keep his Attack Modes in his back pocket until late in the could only manage ninth ahead of the penalised Da Costa.

If that race wasn’t enough, the Berlin double-header will reach its conclusion tomorrow with the second of two races billed for tomorrow (Sunday 13 July).

Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing:

“I wasn’t expecting that today, it’s been difficult for us since São Paulo. There were tricky conditions and I was managing some stuff towards the end of the race with the brakes which wasn’t easy. I was quite happy with a bit of a gap, but nonetheless the car was competitive throughout the race and there were some good strategy calls from the team. My guys did so well. There’s always some work to do, but this is a nice reward for everyone back at Jaguar TCS Racing.”

Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, TAG Heuer Porsche said:

“It was an important day and a good race, starting from P9. Finishing second is a good result, but we had a small taste of the victory. I think pace-wise, we were the quickest, so I tried really hard and it was close in the end. I think we can be happy with today - good points for the team, good points for the championship, and tomorrow is another chance. Every race is all-in and we try to maximise every one.”

Edoardo Mortara, No. 48, Mahindra Racing said:

“I think that the race actually went quite well for us, we kept one ATTACK MODE towards the end - I think that was the key actually to pass quite a few cars after the Safety Car. I’m happy with a second podium in a row, it looked good for us to take that - it’s taken quite a bit of time to actually chase a podium, and now there’s another moment, it’s very positive for the team.”