Jaguar’s Mitch Evans took victory in Race 1 of the Formula E Berlin E-Prix, after late drama saw title-leader Oliver Rowland retire, ensuring the championship race goes on for at least one more round.
Evans, starting from pole position, utilised a perfect strategy amid a late Safety Car to take his second victory of the series.
Pascal Wehrlein was second, keeping the title race alive as Rowland retired towards the end after sustaining front suspension damage after an ambitious move on Stoffel Vandoorne.
Edoardo Mortara took third place, inheriting it from Antonio Felix da Costa, who received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
At the start, Evans blasted away, with Robin Frijns and Maximilian Guenther tucking in behind. Jake Dennis was stranded on the grid, his miserable weekend being compounded further.
With the Andretti stuck on his 17th grid position, the Safety Car was deployed, but Dennis then got going again.
It would not be for long though, the Brit peeling off the circuit soon afterwards.
Racing was able to resume on the third lap, with Evans, da Costa – now in fourth – and Wehrlein all taking Attack Mode.
Nick Cassidy, Sebastien Buemi and Felipe Drugovich – standing in for Nyck de Vries – all took 10-second penalties for being unable to serve their grid drop penalties.
Guenther and Nico Mueller were next to do so, and da Costa was able to make the most of his, moving into second.
Frijns was swarmed by those on extra power, and admirably hekd them off for half a lap before Guenther and Wehrlein got ahead, dropping him down to fifth.
Evans’ lead was now two seconds on da Costa, who was a further four seconds up on his team-mate Wehrlein, who was now ahead of Guenther.
Mortara was also in the mix now, moving up to sixth on his first attack, with Rowland also opting for it, dropping him down of ninth.
Evans leads as Porsches battle Frijns
Evans, da Costa and Wehrlein’s early attacks were giving them a buffer as the two DS Penskes squabbled for fourth palce, but both were overtaken by Frijns, now on his first attack.
As Rowland’s ran out, he moved up to sixth, as the two Maseratis kept in touch in the points places.
On Lap 11, Wehrlein scythed down the inside of da Costa for second, and as Frijns tried to follow on through his Attack Mode ran out, and got a wiggle on, ensuring da Costa kept his third place.
Taylor Barnard took his first Attack Mode on Lap 14, with the race finding a rhythm, as Evans led Wehrlein by three seonds, with da Costa coming under pressure from Frijns, who did take the place at the start of the next lap.
On Lap 19, Guenther was the first in for Pit Boost, as Hughes and Vergne took their second and final Attack Modes.
They were followed by Sam Bird, as Stoffel Vandoorne was next to pit, followed by Sergio Sette Camara. Guenther took his second attack soon after, with Cassidy pitting next.
On Lap 23, Vergne and da Costa became the first in the top 10 to pit, followed by Frijns and Mortara.
Evans and Wehrlein came in together, and left together, as Rowland was now in the lead, with Ticktum in second, both yet to pit, and the latter yet to take any Attack Modes.
David Beckmann and Zane Maloney was the last to pit, as Evans was now back in the lead, with Wehrlein second, and the two DS Penskes of Jean-Eric Vergne and Guenther following in behind.
Frijns took his final Attack Mode on Lap 28, and with the race seeming mundane by FE’s standards, Beckmann came a cropper midway through the lap, colliding with Sette Camara’s Nissan.
The latter continued, but the German’s Kiro was suffering from rear suspension damage, and the stationary car on the circuit brought out the Safety Car.
Late drama upon restart as Rowland retires
Racing resumed on Lap 33, with Vergne immediately retiring. Evans took his second Attack Mode knowing Wehrlein in second had to navigate his way past the lapped Sette Camara, and the Kiwi kept the lead.
A flurry of cars followed for their final attacks, but Rowland was out with damaged front suspension after touching Vandoorne in an attempt to pass.
The Brit’s championship hopes were over for Race 1, as his nearest challenger Wehrlein remained in second.
Da Costa punted Jake Hughes backwards, ending the Brit’s points challenge.
All the while, Evans was coasting off into a 5.5s lead, as Barnard muscled his way past Mortara’s Mahindra for fifth, who then sent it past da Costa for fourth.
Mortara was on extra power however, and managed to get back past the McLaren and worked his way up to fourth, as da Costa was now third, whilst Wehrlein closed the gap to Evans to just seven tenths.
The Safety Car ensured two extra laps, and with Wehrlein shaping up for a move on Evans, the Porsche managed to make an untidy exit on the penultimate corner, giving the Jaguar a comfortable gap into the final lap of the race.
Wehrlein was giving it all he had in the final few corners, but Evans was able to hold on to take his second victory of the season.
Wehrlein took second, with da Costa third, Mortara fourth and Barnard fifth.
But the drama did not end there, as da Costa, upon crossing the line, was handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision with Hughes.
Mortara was now on the podium, with Mortara fourth and Cassidy fifth, after a superb drive from the back.
Guenther was sixth, ensuring two home drivers in the points, with Buemi seventh, completing a similarly fantastic drive from the final row.
Mueller and Ticktum were eighth and ninth, with da Costa’s penalty leaving him with just one point in 10th.
