Formula E has returned to our screens amid the Coronavirus pandemic. After the first Berlin Qualifying session, Antonio Felix Da Costa tops the group stages and Super Pole with teammate Vergne starting 2nd.
Sticking to the same format as normal Formula E sessions, Qualifying is split into four groups depending on Championship order. After all the groups have set their fastest laps, the top 6 with fight it out throughout Super Pole to see who will take the Julius Baer Pole Position and 3 extra points.
For Round 6 of Season 6, the first of the nine races at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, we saw Group 1 containing Stoffel Vandoorne, Lucas Di Grassi, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Mitch Evans, Alexander Sims and Maximilian Gunther take to the circuit to see what they could do. Group 1 has always been extremely controversial between the drivers as due to track evolution, it becomes increasingly difficult to make it into Super Pole.
First out of Group 1 was Sims with 3 minutes and 30 seconds to go. The rest of the group followed with some doing a warm up lap before their flying lap, others going straight onto fast laps. All 6 drivers were putting in good sectors and managing the circuit in its reverse formation. Da Costa managed to put in a very quick sector 1 and topped the timing sheet with a 1.07:122, +0.4 up on Evans with the previos quickest time.
Moving on to Group 2, we saw Sam Bird, Oliver Rowland, Sebastian Buemi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Andre Lotterer and Eduoardo Mortara. Tactics changed from group to group with all 6 six cars in this one leaving the pits at the same time, with 2 minutes to go. Another difference was all drivers went straight to flying laps, skipping on a warm up. Mortara had a tiny slide out of turn 1 which cost him time, leaving him 9th on the times. Vergne and Buemi put in really good laps to go 2nd and 3rd and provisionally into Super Pole.
Group 3 consisted of Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries, Felipe Massa, Daniel Abt, James Calado and Jerome D’Ambrosio. Calado is set for a 60 place grid penalty (which will mostly be converted into time penalties) due to a software issue that caused major issues for the Brit in the practise sessions.
Continuing with the differences between groups, De Vries left the pits at the start of his group session, with all the other drivers following around 1.5 minutes later. The Dutch Mercedes driver seemed to be matching near the top of the timing sheets and slotted himself in 4th for Super Pole. D’Ambrosio was the only other driver to place in Super Pole contention by going 6th. The group was very congested which saw Massa only manage 9th, Frijns go 11th and Abt go 14th.
Finishing up with Group 4, we had Oliver Turvey, Sergio Sette Camara, Nico Mueller, Neel Jani, Rene Rast and Alex Lynn. Camara, Rast and Lynn have all joint the championship this year in place of other drivers. Camara left the pits with 4 minutes and 20 seconds to go, the rest of the group following 2 minutes later. Camara got quite out of shape on his flying lap, causing him to slot in 18th place. Mueller complained of having no break support on his lap which cost him time and went 20th. Rowland will take a 20 place grip drop due to a request to change his Inverter (MCU) which is a breach of regulations.
Moving onto Super Pole, the fastest 6 drivers were D’Ambrosio, Lotterer, De Vries, Vergne, Buemi and Da Costa. First out, D’Ambrosio went straight up to full speed and the Mahindra was looking rather strong around the track. D’Ambrosio kept it nice and tidy and set a time to beat of 1.07:371.
Next up we saw Lotterer who managed to out in a good sector 1 despite the rear sliding around turn 1 slightly. Lotterer was using all the road and had a good line round the corners which saw him top the timing sheet with a 1.07:235.
De Vries was out next and his lap seemed very balanced. The Dutchman put in a good sector 1 but was still down on Lotterer. De Vries managed to slot his car into 3rd, being only +0.067 from the Porsche driver.
The first of the DS Techeetah’s in Vergne was up next. The Frenchman managed to set strong first and middle sectors and seemed to be flying around the circuit. After his super lap, Vergne went quickest with a 1.07:121.
The penultimate driver was Buemi and he put in a really good lap, despite a snap of oversteer at turn 5. This caused the Nissan driver to lose a bit of time which meant he slotted in 3rd, only +0.127 from the DS Tcheetah of Vergne.
Last but not least, we saw Da Costa, the only driver from group 1 to get into Super Pole. Much like in his qualifying group, Da Costa flew round the track, putting in super sectors 1 and 2. Sector 3 for the Portugeuse driver was a little messy due to a few mishaps but this did not stop him being -0.3 up on his teammate and setting a 1.06:799. This means Da Costa earns 4 extra points with the fastest lap and Julius Baer pole position.
DS Techeetah continue their run of good fortune as Da Costa took the last win of the season, his first for the team, before the break due to the pandemic. His teammate Vergne lines up 2nd on the grid which is sure to see some elbows come out on the opening lap of the E-Prix.
Talking to Formula E Commentator, Nicki Sheilds, Da Costa explained how during his first time back in the car from the break, he did not feel good straight away but it was not long until things fell back into place. He also spoke about his Super Pole performance, stating “when you do a lap like that, it’s all worth it”. Da Costa then made a joke of the new trophy ceremony by handing the trophy to himself, switching sides in a type of comedy sketch.
Don’t forget to check back later with Overtake Motorsport for the news and results for the first Berlin E-Prix.
Feature Image Credit: DS Techeetah Official Twitter Page
