A chaotic, strategy-heavy Berlin E-Prix saw constant lead changes, intense pack racing, and late Attack Mode fights before Nico Mueller emerged clear at the front to control the final phase and secure a commanding maiden win for Porsche on home soil.
What has happened at the Berlin E-Prix so far
Edo Mortara delivered a commanding performance to secure pole position for the Berlin E-Prix, kicking off the weekend in style after a dramatic and closely contested qualifying session.
The group stages set the tone, with evolving track conditions and late improvements proving decisive.
In Group A, Pascal Wehrlein edged ahead of Felipe Drugovich in a tightly packed field that saw several big names eliminated, including Mitch Evans and Jean-Éric Vergne.
Group B brought further drama as Lucas di Grassi tapped the wall and was out early.
At the same time, Dan Ticktum, Mortara, Nico Mueller, and rookie Zane Maloney progressed to the Duels, leaving former champions and race winners behind.
In the knockout stages, mistakes proved costly. Drugovich ran wide against Oliver Rowland, while Mueller’s error handed Ticktum a comfortable route through.
Mortara, meanwhile, underlined his credentials with a dominant victory over Maloney, before dispatching Ticktum in the semi-finals.
Despite carrying a technical issue, Wehrlein battled his way into the final to set up a showdown between two title contenders.
However, Mortara proved untouchable, producing a clinical lap to beat the Porsche driver and claim his fourth Berlin pole, laying down a strong marker ahead of the race.
Lights out
Pole-sitter Edoardo Mortara made a clean start and led the field into the opening corners, but the pack immediately closed in behind him.
Oliver Rowland gained a place off the line to move into second ahead of Pascal Wehrlein, as the entire grid ran tightly bunched.
Rowland applied early pressure on Mortara, with the leading group running nose-to-tail. Zane Maloney, who started from fifth, set the fastest lap, while gaps across the field remained minimal.
Mortara held firm at the front, but Rowland stayed within striking distance. Nick Cassidy climbed to third, bringing himself into contention as the top seven were separated by just over a second.
The Citroen driver continued his progress and took second from Rowland, adding further pressure on Mortara.
The lead changed on lap five. Rowland made his move on Mortara to take control of the race, as the order began to shuffle.
Maloney surged into second, while his teammate Lucas di Grassi charged forward from 19th to fifth in a standout early drive.
Maloney then hit the front on lap six, completing a rapid rise from seventh on the grid. Behind him, positions continued to change in quick succession.
Maximilian Guenther climbed into the top three, while di Grassi continued his progress through the pack.
Guenther’s charge peaked as he took the lead, having started 11th. Mortara slipped to second, while di Grassi’s remarkable recovery brought him into the top five after gaining 14 places.
After, the race settled into a tense rhythm. Guenther led, but the field remained tightly packed, with almost the entire grid running in close formation.
Di Grassi set the fastest lap during his recovery, though his energy use reflected the effort. Up front, the leaders held position and conserved energy, with no driver yet opting to deploy Attack Mode.
From lap 11, Di Grassi surged from 19th to take the lead, setting the fastest lap and heading a Lola 1 – 2 with Zane Maloney.
He held position through the next laps, as the field remained tightly packed and no driver activated Attack Mode.
Pit Stops start at the halfway point
The order shifted again on lap 16, with Maloney moving back into the lead while di Grassi dropped to fifth in the constantly reshuffling pack.
Nick Cassidy then reclaimed the lead and held it through lap 18, with all 20 cars still separated by only a few seconds.
By lap 19, Cassidy continued to control the race at the head of a compressed field.
The first major strategic move came as Dan Ticktum pitted from the top six, while the rest remained locked together, conserving energy and waiting to attack.
Oliver Rowland moved into the lead for Nissan as early frontrunners, including Cassidy and Wehrlein, peeled into the pits, triggering a major split in strategy.
Through the following laps, the race fragmented further as Pit Boost stops cycled through the field.
Different groups ran on offset strategies, with Rowland leading the cars yet to stop, while others dropped back after pitting.
Di Grassi also boxed during his charge, briefly halting his progress.
Lap 25 brought major pit lane chaos as several leaders stopped together, reshuffling the order and briefly handing track position to Cassidy. Once the cycle settled, the field regrouped into a tight pack.
Rowland re-emerged at the front of a compressed field. Cassidy followed closely, with the top ten covered by just a few seconds in a constant slipstream battle.
On lap 28, Nico Mueller became the first major attacker from the podium group by activating Attack Mode.
The final laps
Nico Mueller seized control of the race after moving into the lead and immediately set the fastest lap. A wave of Attack Mode activations followed from the chasing pack, but Mueller extended his advantage as the field behind scrambled.
Multiple drivers, including Rowland and Mortara, activated Attack Mode in a final attempt to close the gap. Mueller, however, remained clear at the front, steadily building a buffer while battles erupted throughout the top ten.
In the following laps, Mueller continued to stretch his lead and added another fastest lap as his pace peaked.
Attack Mode strategies rotated through the field, creating constant position changes behind him, but he stayed unaffected at the front.
Several key Attack Modes began to expire for the main challengers.
Cassidy consolidated second, while Rowland stayed in podium contention amid intense pressure from behind. Mueller, meanwhile, controlled the race with a lead of over four seconds.
On the final laps, Mueller delivered a dominant run to the finish.
He crossed the line to take victory for Porsche, with Cassidy finishing second and Rowland completing the podium after a strong defensive drive in the closing fight.
READ MORE – Formula E 2026 Berlin E-Prix – Race 1 Results
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