n the halfway point, i.e. after 8 of the 16 races that make up the revised calendar of the ninth season (in Rome it takes place on 15 and 16 July), Formula E has issued some verdicts. One, the one that almost anyone can win, is just a confirmation: six have so far taken turns on the top step of the podium and only Pascal Wehrlein (Tag Heuer Porsche) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar Tcs) have managed to get a double triumph. In addition, each ePrix has had a different poleman, including all-time rookie Jake Hughes (Neom McLaren).
However, it is also true that thanks to the customer teams, the Porsche and Jaguar manufacturers have monopolized this initial part of the season obtaining successes with the official drivers Wehrlein and Da Costa, the first, and Evans, the second, and also with Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti , which supplies itself from the house in Zuffenhausen) and with Nick Cassidy (Envision, who “shops” from the one in Coventry).
Other brands have toyed with the idea of winning, but only DS Penske, thanks to the only bi-world champion of the specialty in circulation, Jean Eric Vergne, has succeeded. Out of eleven teams, six of the top seven positions are occupied by teams competing with the same three cars. Because DS Penske (fourth) and Maserati (seventh) share the experience of the Stellantis group. The exception is McLaren, sixth, which uses Nissan cars, but works with the winning team inherited from Mercedes, who have left the circuit to concentrate on Formula 1.
Porsche leads both classifications (drivers and teams), even if Wehrlein (100) arrives in two weeks at the exclusive biennial Monte Carlo ePrix with just 4 points ahead of his closest rival, Cassidy, who on Sunday gave for New Zealand the second consecutive success in Berlin for a Kiwi driver. Compatriot Evans had won on Saturday. Vergne is third, 15 lengths from the place of honor.
The competitive weekend in the German capital was spectacular: in Saturday’s race there were as many as 23 lead changes, never so many, while on Sunday the police forces handcuffed 4 Letzte Generation eco-activists who had managed to sneak onto the grid departure. It was also enriched by some important “firsts”. Thanks to Evans himself and his teammate Sam Bird, Jaguar was the first manufacturer to hit the double with the Gen3 electric racing cars. In the seventh assault, with Maximilian Günther, Maserati conquered the first electric podium in its history, returning to the stage with a single-seater 66 years after the last time: in 1966 Manuel Fangio won the Formula 1 German GP. The German (who finished sixth on Sunday after a 15-position comeback) thus moved the scorecard of his own Tipo Folgore. “Maserati deserves to be on the podium,” commented Giovanni Tommaso Sgro, director of the Maserati racing department, the only Italian brand to have so far engaged in the zero-emissions championship.
The domestic race was also that of the “first time” in the points for Abt Cupra, which under the rain on Sunday morning allowed itself the luxury of competing for the SuperPole with its two drivers: the Dutch Robin Frijns, wet specialist and the Swiss Nico Müller. “I dream of Formula E in Spain. And in Barcelona I also have the track in mind,” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of the Spanish manufacturer who supports the German team.
There are 12 licenses for Formula E, but both in 2022 and this year there are 11 teams at the start. Mark Preston, the Australian manager who has linked his name not only to Formula 1, but also to successes, met again in Berlin of Techeetah, together with DS, in Formula E. Preston became Motorsport Director of Lola Cars, on whose behalf he explores various possibilities. However, at least for the moment there are no rumors about the entry of a twelfth team in 2024. Instead, there is talk of other cities: after three debuts this year of Hyderabad (India), Cape Town (South Africa), which hosted one of the most beautiful races on the circuit, and San Paolo (Brazil), among the cities that could host Formula E in the future, there is also talk of Los Angeles.
