Maximilian Guenther put an end to Antonio Felix da Costa’s dominance in Formula E by taking victory in the third leg of the Berlin E-Prix.
The BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver started the eighth race of the 2019/20 campaign from second on the grid while Jean-Eric Vergne lined up in pole position, returning to form for DS Techeetah.
While the Frenchman maintained his lead, Guenther was never far behind, and after measuring Formula E’s reigning champion up for most of the race, pounced in the closing stages, overtaking in Turns 6 and 7 with three-minutes of racing remaining.
Now in the lead, Guenther managed the gap while Vergne – who was struggling with energy management – fell into the clutches of Robin Frijns who had more usable energy than both cars ahead.
Frijns eventually passed for second with only one-minute left on the clock before closing up to Guenther, hanging an attack around the outside of Turn 9 before drag racing the series’ youngest winner to the chequered flag.
Only 0.128s covered the dup at the line, with Guenther edging ahead of Frijns as Vergne completed the top three to take his first podium since February.
Antonio Felix da Costa took fourth from eighth on the grid and narrowly held off Porsche’s Andre Lotterer in the closing stages, with the German racer completing the top five.
Oliver Rowland took home eight points for Nissan e.dams as Jerome d’Ambrosio registered seventh for Mahindra. Season 3 champion Lucas di Grassi followed the Belgian in eighth.
Jaguar Racing finally recorded points for the first time since Formula E’s return when Mitch Evans took ninth place, with his team-mate, James Calado retiring from an accident involving Sergio Sette Camara and Neel Jani early on, bringing out the safety car.
Alexander Sims completed the top 10 in the second BMW.
| # | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. GÜNTHER | BMW i Andretti Autosport | |
| 2 | R. FRIJNS | Envision Virgin Racing | 0.128 |
| 3 | J. VERGNE | DS Techeetah | 2.569 |
| 4 | A. DA COSTA | DS Techeetah | 2.743 |
| 5 | A. LOTTERER | Tag-Heuer Porsche Team | 3.136 |
| 6 | O. ROWLAND | Nissan e.dams | 5.547 |
| 7 | J. AMBROSIO | Mahindra Racing | 7.893 |
| 8 | L. DI GRASSI | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler | 12.672 |
| 9 | M. EVANS | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | 13.511 |
| 10 | A. SIMS | BMW i Andretti Autosport | 19.248 |
| 11 | S. BUEMI | Nissan e.dams | 20.240 |
| 12 | N. MULLER | GEOX Dragon | 20.486 |
| 13 | S. BIRD | Envision Virgin Racing | 20.733 |
| 14 | E. MORTARA | Rokit Venturi Racing | 20.944 |
| 15 | D. ABT | NIO 333 FE Team | 21.948 |
| 16 | N. DE VRIES | Mercedes-Benz EQ | 22.520 |
| 17 | O. TURVEY | NIO 333 FE Team | 22.774 |
| 18 | A. LYNN | Mahindra Racing | 23.181 |
| 19 | F. MASSA | Rokit Venturi Racing | 36.549 |
| 20 | R. RAST | Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler | DNF |
| 21 | S. VANDOORNE | Mercedes-Benz EQ | DNF |
| 22 | J. CALADO | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | DNF |
| 23 | S. SETTE CAMARA | GEOX Dragon | DNF |
| 24 | N. JANI | Tag-Heuer Porsche Team | DNF |
Discussion about this post