Formula E News: Mortara wins pole for Berlin E-Prix

Edoardo Mortara sparked delight in the Mahindra Racing garage, as the Swiss-French-Italian steered to Julius Baer Pole Position for the Berlin E-PRIX and the teamms first points of Season 10.

Nothing split Mortara and Vandoorne over more than half of the lap at the reconfigured Tempelhof circuit. Two thirds of the lap were down before the two could be separated – with the Mahindra Racing driver pulling out a couple of tenths over the DS racer, with the Swiss-French-Italian able to hold on to the delight of the Mahindra team, marking their first points of the season.

Berlin E-Prix Semis

Mahindra’s Mortara soared through to the Final, and achieved his third front row start in his last five Tempelhof starts. He was up against DS PENSKE’s Jean-Eric Vergne, who scored his 14th semi-final appearance. As a result, Vergne will start in the top-four, third, at Tempelhof for the eighth time in his career. Mahindra’s last front row was Lucas di Grassi’s pole in Mexico City, the opening race of last season!

It was then the turn of Stoffel Vandoorne and ERT’S Sergio Sette Camara. Vandoorne was on the front row in Monaco, as well as Sao Paulo earlier this year and added Berlin to the list as he went fastest out of the two. It was also a case of deja vu, as Vandoorne beat Sette Camara in the Quarter-Final at Berlin Race 1 last year.. The Brazilian lines up fourth.

Berlin E-Prix Quarters

First up was Jean-Eric Vergne versus championship leader Pascal Wehrlein. This is the eighth time in nine rounds that the TAG Heuer Porsche driver has made the Duels, but it was Vergne who finished ahead. Wehrlein has never started in the top-five at Tempelhof in his seven previous visits. For JEV however, he has won three poles at Tempelhof, more than any other circuit in his career. Wehrlein will be sixth on the grid for Round 9.

Edoardo Mortara took on Jehan Daruvala in the next Quarter Final. Both of Mortara’s career poles came at Tempelhof – both poles in the 2022 double-header – and he progressed through with ease. Daruvala is in the Duels for the second time in Season 10, having also got this far in Diriyah, although he will also be serving a 20-place grid penalty.

Afterwards, it was Stoffel Vandoorne versus Maximilian Guenther. This was the first time the Maserati MSG Racing duo made it into the Duels in 2024, thanks to Daruvala too. Guenther qualified on the front row for Andretti BMW in 2020, but has never been higher than eighth in any of his other 12 Tempelhof appearances. It wasn’t meant to be as Vandoorne went quicker, leaving Guenther fifth.

Finally, it was a Brazil showdown as Lucas di Grassi took on Sergio Sette Camara. ABT CUPRA’s di Grassi took pole in Tempelhof in 2017m, but only has one top-four start in his last 12 visits. Sette Camara has never started in the top-six in Tempelhof but this is the third time he’s reached the duel stages at this venue. It was a victory to Sergio, who made it through to the Semi-Finals while di Grassi settles for seventh.

Berlin E-Prix Group A

The first qualifying group got underway at 10:20 local time, and all members of Group A made their way on the track. Two of the super substitutes headed out, including Envision Racing’s Joel Eriksson. The Swiss driver has eight Formula E starts to his name, and got very close to the wall during the second Free Practice earlier in the day.

With six minutes left of the session, it was a Mahindra Racing one-two. Rookie Jordan King used his hours of test and development experience to the best of his ability, but finished the session in eighth.

It was Edoardo Mortara who went quickest, despite reporting that he hit the wall at the end of his first push lap. The Mahindra driver managed a time of 1m02.619s, which was 0.152s quicker than second-placed Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche). DS PENSKE’s Jean-Eric Vergne secured third place and the Maserati of Jehan Daruvala finished in fourth. However, the 25-year-old will be serving a 20-place grid penalty during the race for changing his gearbox earlier this morning.

Big names were knocked out, including Antonio Felix da Costa of TAG Heuer Porsche who crossed the checkered flag to finish in fifth. The Monaco E-Prix winner last time out, Mitch Evans, missed out on the Duels in sixth with a huge story being reigning World Champion Jake Dennis down in 11th and last.

Berlin E-Prix Group B

Next up was Group B, and it was another Mahindra powertrain on top. ABT CUPRA’s Lucas di Grassi was the quickest of his squad, with another impressive lap time. This is a unique circuit for the cars, and seems to be one that these ABT CUPRAs love as they locked out the front row here last year.

Joining Season 3 champ di Grassi in the Duels was Maximilian Guenther who had a small kiss with the wall on one of his laps. DS PENSKE’s Stoffel Vandoorne made it through in third, fresh  from his podium in Monaco with ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara having a solid session to slot into fourth.

Championship contender Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) failed to make it through and was forced to settle for fifth with Kelvin van der Linde doing a good job to finish in sixth. NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard got the better of his more experienced teammate Jake Hughes to finish in seventh.

Berlin E-Prix Qualifying Results

20 place grid penalty for too many gearbox changes