Formula E Berlin E-Prix: Nick Cassidy Wins Second Race as Climate Protests Delay Start
After a delay in the start due to climate change demonstrators gaining access to the Berlin E-Prix racing circuit, Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy earned his first victory of the Formula E season.
By Divyam Dubey
Cassidy of Envision Racing claimed a decisive victory after leading the last 16 circuits of the race. He was able to retain his position at the front of the pack and save enough energy to win. The New Zealander qualified 8th, but he came from behind to beat off Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti and Jean-Éric Vergne of DS Penske for his second career Formula E victory. After a surprising front-row lockout in qualifying by the ABT Cupra team, driven by Robin Frijns, the Dutchman briefly took the lead, but the ABT cars struggled in the changing conditions. Shortly after the halfway point, Cassidy surged to the head of the pack and held off his rivals, Dennis and Vergne, who were both sluggish on the Berlin Tempelhof Airport Circuit. Protesters from the climate movement stormed the track during the Sunday race of the Berlin doubleheader weekend, delaying the start of the race. Last Generation, a group of German climate change activists that claimed responsibility for the disturbance, was swiftly removed by security and arrested by police.
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Although the Andretti driver Jake Dennis was never more than a few car lengths behind Cassidy in the closing stages of the race, the British driver never seemed poised to make a move. His runner-up result is his first since January, and he and Cassidy both gained ground on championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, who finished 7th for Porsche.
After falling behind the Jaguar and Porsche drivers in the last 10 laps of the race, DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne fought back to finish third by passing Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix da Costa. Wehrlein was hampered by the concertina effect, enabling Maximilian Gunther to pass him on the last curve and take first place.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
| 1 | Nick Cassidy | Envision | |
| 2 | Jake Dennis | Avalanche Andretti | 0.442 |
| 3 | Jean-Éric Vergne | DS | 1.292 |
| 4 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | 1.769 |
| 5 | A.F.da Costa | Porsche | 2.460 |
| 6 | Max Günther | Maserati | 2.981 |
| 7 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche | 3.545 |
| 8 | S.Vandoorne | DS | 4.851 |
| 9 | Nico Müller | ABT CUPRA | 6.612 |
| 10 | Dan Ticktum | NIO | 7.822 |
| 11 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | 9.461 |
| 12 | Lucas di Grassi | Mahindra | 9.462 |
| 13 | René Rast | McLaren | 9.678 |
| 14 | Oliver Rowland | Mahindra | 11.780 |
| 15 | S.Sette Câmara | NIO | 13.687 |
| 16 | Norman Nato | Nissan | 13.749 |
| 17 | Robin Frijns | ABT CUPRA | 22.937 |
| 18 | Jake Hughes | McLaren | 29.580 |
| 19 | Sam Bird | Jaguar | 34.381 |
| 20 | Sébastien Buemi | Envision | 1:03.532 |
| 21 | André Lotterer | Avalanche Andretti | 1:04.102 |
| 22 | Edoardo Mortara | Maserati | DNF |
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Although the ABT machines started in the lead, they eventually fell to last place when the race was staged in dry and sunny weather, in sharp contrast to the rainy and slippery circumstances of qualifying.
As drivers took their places on the starting grid and did burnouts, protesters got onto the track and delayed the start by several minutes before being swiftly removed.
