Di Grassi – Buemi: To Berlin with the home straight in sight
Unlike last year, the race in the German capital is not being held in the old Tempelhof Airport, but on a track laid out in the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw from the Alexanderplatz. The track is 1.927 kilometres in length and competitors will tackle it 48 times.
“After the amazing event in Paris, Formula E is back on stage at the heart of another great European capital city, Berlin,” wrote FIA President, Jean Todt in the preface to the official event programme. “This championship was created to promote new forms of sustainable mobility and the development of technologies linked to electric power, by bringing racing events to the heart of the great cities of the world. The new location for the Berlin ePrix, after last year’s race was held within the grounds of the Tempelhop airport, fits this brief perfectly. Berlin is one of the most important cities in the world, the cultural and political centre of German, a country with a very important motor industry, where awareness of mobility for the future is particularly widespread.”
A second consecutive win for Lucas di Grassi in Paris sees the Brazilian driver pull away slightly from his closest rival, Sebastian Buemi, the two men having been battling for the championship lead ever since the opening round of the season. There are now 11 points separating the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver from his Renault e.Dams rival. Still in with a chance of winning the Drivers’ title is Sam Bird, but the Englishman would really have to pull off something special to arrive at the double final in London with a genuine chance of being crowned champion. The battle for team honours is very close as Renault e.Dams has a 7 point advantage over ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, with an equally close fight for third, as there are only 6 points separating Dragon Racing and DS Virgin Racing.
Back to the drivers and Germany’s Rene Rast is due to make his Formula E debut with Team Aguri, but his entry is subject to a final decision from the event Stewards, which is due in the next few days.
Season 2015/16
| Drivers’ Championship | Teams’ Championship | ||
Driver | Points | Team | Points | |
1 | Lucas di Grassi | 126 | Renault e.Dams | 165 |
2 | Sebastien Buemi | 115 | ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport | 158 |
3 | Sam Bird | 82 | Dragon Racing | 112 |
4 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | 64 | DS Virgin Racing | 106 |
5 | Stephane Sarrazin | 58 | Mahindra Racing | 65 |
6 | Nicolas Prost | 50 | Venturi | 59 |
7 | Loïc Duval | 48 | Andretti | 39 |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | 41 | Team Aguri | 24 |
9 | Robin Frijns | 37 | NEXTEV TCR | 14 |
10 | Daniel Abt | 32 |
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Berlin ePrix 2015/16
Date: 21 May
Venue: Karl-Marx Allee, Berlin
Track length: 1,927 km
Start/finish line offset: 300 m
Number of laps: 48
Timetable
Start | Finish | Session |
8.15 | 9.00 | Non qualifying practice 1 |
10.30 | 11.00 | Non qualifying practice 2 |
12.00 | 12.06 | Qualifying Group 1 |
12.10 | 12.16 | Qualifying Group 2 |
12.20 | 12.26 | Qualifying Group 3 |
12.30 | 12.36 | Qualifying Group 4 |
12.45 | 13.00 | Super Pole |
16.04 |
| Race |