Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy took victory in the second Berlin ePrix event on Sunday in a race that had 172 on track overtakes.
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis came home in second place while DS Penske driver Jean Eric Vergne finished the race in third.
Speaking following the race, Nick Cassidy said:
I knew I was in the fight. I’ve been in the fight the last five races. Yesterday, we had a great opportunity as well and I made a mistake and I really put my hand up for that. But today we made it count. So, thanks so much to my guys. I’ve had an opportunity to win nearly every weekend and as a driver that’s a dream.
“I’ve had some really good luck and I’m sure some bad luck and bad weekends are coming our way, but until then I’m enjoying the ride – it’s been amazing.”
Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis commented following the action saying:
“To not see a chequered flag since Saudi is mind-blowing. We’re still fourth in the Championship. Obviously more energy than Nick but the targets were so high at the end, and it was too much of a risk and honestly, I was just happy with the 18 points and just bringing it home.
“The boys deserve so much today. After all the hard work we’ve put in the last few events and always come short with a DNF or a crash, so they deserve the champagne more than I do. I’m super happy right now. I didn’t know if the car was going to make it to the end after the contact at turns 4 halfway through. But nevertheless, saw the chequered flag, 18 points and a beer.
“(On temptation to go for the win) Not when Nick started to pick up the pace with eight laps to go – it was just too high risk and JEV was looking pretty punchy at turn 6 so I had to manage that. I was pretty content in second place and scoring some points to be honest.”
DS Penske driver Jean Eric Vergne commented saying:
“To not see a chequered flag since Saudi is mind-blowing. We’re still fourth in the Championship. Obviously more energy than Nick but the targets were so high at the end, and it was too much of a risk and honestly, I was just happy with the 18 points and just bringing it home.
“The boys deserve so much today. After all the hard work we’ve put in the last few events and always come short with a DNF or a crash, so they deserve the champagne more than I do. I’m super happy right now. I didn’t know if the car was going to make it to the end after the contact at turns 4 halfway through. But nevertheless, saw the chequered flag, 18 points and a beer.
“(On temptation to go for the win) Not when Nick started to pick up the pace with eight laps to go – it was just too high risk and JEV was looking pretty punchy at turn 6 so I had to manage that. I was pretty content in second place and scoring some points to be honest.”
Maserati MSG’s Edoardo Mortara failed to finish the race and speaking following the action he commented saying:
At the start of the day I struggled quite a bit with understeer which put us towards the back in qualifying, but the team put together an intelligent strategy which put us in the mix at the start. I was under-consuming and made it into the top ten, but on lap 16, the guys in front of me slowed down really quickly and I picked up front wing damage. There wasn’t anywhere for me to go. It’s frustrating, because I think a good result was on the cards, but we took some positive steps forwards this weekend.”
Maximillian Günther carved his way through the field making up 15 places to finish the race in sixth place and speaking following the action he said:
This has been a good weekend for us as a team, and I’m really happy with how my race unfolded today. Going from the last row of the grid to sixth, with the fastest lap, feels amazing, and most importantly, it meant we could bring home a lot of points in the World Championship. Momentum is incredibly important in Formula E, there are a lot of races to go, and we can move forward with this result ahead of our home race in Monaco.”
James Rossiter, Team Principal, Maserati MSG Racing said:
“We executed a strong team strategy today to deliver a good result after a difficult qualifying. Max went from 21st to sixth, with the fastest lap, which is an incredible achievement. Edo was also delivering a very impressive drive and was making good progress, before unfortunately picking up damage from an unavoidable accident. Without a Safety Car to bunch the field, this essentially ended his race. It’s a shame, because there was room for more points today, but we should be proud of our performance overall this weekend, especially after yesterday’s podium”
NEÖM McLaren’s Renè Rast came from p18 on the grid to finish 13th and speaking following the action he said:
It’s been a very difficult weekend, particularly today. I missed FP3 and then went straight into a wet qualifying session without any laps done to prepare, so I was on the back foot. Whilst I moved forward during the race as our conservative strategy paid off, we were just not quick enough this weekend. We now just need to keep working and come back stronger in Monaco.”
Jake Hughes finished the race in P18 and speaking following the action he commented saying:
It’s been a tricky day and weekend overall. We came into the weekend with a bit of a handicap and the track provides a certain style of racing which doesn’t suit us. I think I was also guilty of trying to race faster cars today which I ended up paying for massively in energy. Not trying to race them felt a bit defeatist, so I tried, but sadly it didn’t pay off.
“We know the limitation we have at the moment and we’re trying to solve it. I’m proud of all the team in the garage, in Bicester and in Woking for all the work they’re doing. We now go to a few tracks which should be a bit better for us so hopefully we can get back to scoring points.”
Ian James, Team Principal of NEOM McLaren said:
“This has been a particularly tough weekend for the team. The performance has fallen well short of our expectations and this is reflected in the fact that we are leaving Berlin without any points.
“The day started with a setback – an issue beyond our control resulted in René stopping on track immediately after leaving the pitlane. This cost him the entire FP3 session, losing valuable learning for qualifying and the race. We didn’t have the performance to progress beyond the group stages, with Jake starting P14 and René P17.
“During the race, both drivers – together with the support of the team – executed their respective strategies well. However, this was not enough to see either driver finish in the points.
“We know we’ve got use the frustration from this weekend to energise us for the work ahead. Although we don’t expect any silver bullets, we know that we can find solutions to the current challenges. In order to do this effectively, we will have draw a line under this event and look forwards. We will push for improvements in the overall package that will enable us to close the gaps to competition. As a team, we relish a challenge – so will approach this one with the necessary determination. Now, on to Monaco!”