Drivers and spectators of motorsports were left scratching their heads when climate change protesters disrupted a Formula-E electric car race in Berlin. While drivers were getting into their starting positions for Sunday's second race, activists jumped the barrier and tried to anchor themselves to the track. The start of the race was delayed by six minutes when security swiftly removed the protesters from the course. Responsibility for the interruption was claimed by the German organisation Letzte Generation (Last Generation), who call themselves "climate justice activists" on their Mastodon page. They all donned white t-shirts printed with various brands and sought to sit on the starting grid in front of a number of the waiting electric cars. Once the protesters were out of the way, the race got underway, and Envision Racing's Cassidy raced away for a decisive win after dominating the last 16 laps.
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Formula E also issued a statement after the incident stating that the race was temporarily delayed while local authorities responded to a protest action unrelated to the event. The security forces were able to calm things down swiftly and securely. Everything went off without a hitch, as intended.
Many auto racing enthusiasts were both angry and puzzled by the protesters' actions during the Berlin E-Prix, considering Formula E is a sport in which only electric vehicles are utilised.
a climate protest at a formula E race pic.twitter.com/IXzrhJ3E1C
— emi (@maraneIlo) April 23, 2023
So there’s an environmental protester who’s got on track to protest against… formula e #BerlinEPrix pic.twitter.com/EVL0PUoGWp
— F1 Portrayed By Top Gear (@TopGearFormula1) April 23, 2023
there was a CLIMATE PROTEST at a FORMULA E RACE ???pic.twitter.com/cGDSYGcJw6
— kimi (@kimichkis) April 23, 2023
Well done to Formula E for covering that protest in the entirely correct way.
By ignoring it completely! #BerlinEPrix
— Daniel Fawcett (@DanTheManF1) April 23, 2023
Environmental protest at Formula E races is peak 2023
— Just A Regular Guy (@MrMonsterMac) April 23, 2023
In the previous year, protesters stormed the Silverstone track for the 2022 British Grand Prix, making this the second high-profile single-seater event to be interrupted by demonstrators.
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Following Zhou Guanyu's first-corner crash, which drove his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 vehicle over the fence, the race was red-flagged on the first lap, and some members of the group gained access to the circuit down the Wellington Straight.
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