Championship leader Nyck de Vries and Oliver Rowland found their form in the final Berlin E-Prix practices, as ABB Formula E heads to towards a dramatic 14-way title showdown.
A new day brings a new track setup, as the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit continued to challenge drivers with its concrete surface. However, this time the track would be run in reverse in a clockwise direction.
It was de Vries who initially looked to have gotten to grips with the conditions. Rising temperatures saw the 26-year-old clock in a 1:06.688 to go over a tenth clear of reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa.
This could not have come at a greater time for the Dutchman, who despite failing to score yesterday, retains the championship lead by only three points.
Although out of contention for the title, Rowland managed to narrowly pip Maximilian Guenther to the top of the timing sheets in his final race weekend for Nissan e.dams. The British driver will be returning to Mahindra for the 2021/22 season, the team he made his debut with at the 2015 Punta del Este E-Prix.
His lap of 1:06.372 was only 0.043 seconds quicker than the BMW i Andretti driver and a tenth ahead of Norman Nato for ROKiT Venturi and will provide him with lots of encouragement, having ended the first session with the third fastest time.
Mercedes EQ are looking to bounce back after failing to score yesterday and may be more optimistic about their pace as Stoffel Vandoorne and de Vries ended FP2 inside the top six.
Jake Dennis closed the session in seventh, ahead of yesterday’s race winner Lucas di Grassi and Envision Virgin’s Nick Cassidy. TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the top 10, over a tenth slower than Rowland’s leading time.
Group 1 qualifiers Mitch Evans, Edoardo Mortara and Robin Frijns will have some work to do to maximise their pace as the Jaguar and ROKiT Venturi finished just outside the top 10 in 11th and 14th, respectively. However, Frijns’ difficulties in Berlin look set to continue as the Dutchman could only manage the 20th fastest time.
Thoughts now turn to Qualifying and crucially, with four points available, the session could be championship defining for the 14 drivers still hoping for glory.
