Mortara leads the Berlin E-Prix for his second win of the year

Edoardo Mortara dominated all aspects of the first Berlin e-Prix (energy management and strategy) to score a dominating victory that allows him to recover sensations after being ‘missing’ from the fight for wins in recent races.

The other big winner at Tempelhof was Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes), who despite starting relatively behind, was able to complete a great comeback to reach the podium … just behind his great rival for the championship, Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne. The one from DS came close to winning, but his final gamble backfired…nearly.

fought from the start

Although a quiet start to the race was expected due to the demanding energy management required by the Berlin track, it was not really like that. Only Mortara held the lead in the first half, with an intense early fight from behind between the Porsches and the DSs that was sustained by the first (early) activation of Attack Mode. Porsche did it first (bad choice) and then DS and in the fight between the four cars the beneficiary was Mortara .

Because Venturi ‘s man had no problem defending his lead by activating his first attack mode, starting second after Lotterer and immediately recovering his lead… with more energy than anyone to use in the final part.

It's close at the start between @AlexanderSims and @afelixdacosta ⚔️@edomortara extends his lead out front…

LIVE timing 👉 https://t.co/UA9ig2D3Mc

🇩🇪 2022 @Shell_Recharge #BerlinEPrix pic.twitter.com/h47thevyhH

— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 14, 2022

Vandoorne, comeback from leader
From behind, leader Vandoorne used a good early strategy to recover positions (starting eighth) and get into contention with the group of favourites… as well as managing energy well in the first half of the e-Prix. This allowed him to also attack the Porsches in the middle of the test and reach the final 10 minutes, with the second Attack Mode to be used by all the leaders, in podium position.

Mortara did not fail to activate the second attack mode , which led to his second victory of the year. But he was close to getting complicated by Vergne’s final ‘arreón’ , who came to throw the car at him with two laps to go, although it was a futile attempt because he over-braked and was about to compromise the Frenchman’s second place.

Vandoorne came very close to overtaking the Frenchman after his too ambitious late overtaking attempt, but in the end he settled for an invaluable third place that keeps him at the top of the standings… albeit by just a breath (three points) with Vergne. The Frenchman, yes, will have another opportunity tomorrow in the second race.