Jean-Eric Vergne achieves his 35th podium finish in Formula E, Stoffel Vandoorne makes up places after colliding with several cars
The DS Penske drivers shone on Saturday in the first of the two races of the Berlin E-Prix on the grounds of Berlin Tempelhof Airport. Jean-Eric Vergne finished second to claim his 35th podium finish in Formula E, while Stoffel Vandoorne finished seventh after a collision. These results bode well for the second race of the double-header, which takes place on Sunday.
After their third and fourth places in Monaco two weeks ago, Vandoorne and Vergne had come to Berlin with the firm intention of taking another big slice of the points pie. The two DS Penske drivers know the track in Berlin with its concrete surface inside out. This time, however, the track layout defined by the organizers is a new one.
“The new track layout is a challenge for both the drivers and the entire team. I am pleased that we were able to master it,” comments Eugenio Franzetti, Director of DS Performance, where the electric formula cars are carefully prepared for the DS Penske team.
“As the surface of this track is the roughest of the season, we obviously always have to deal with the energy of the batteries, but also with the wear of the tires. With this in mind, our drivers worked on the set-up of their DS E-TENSE FE23. The result was an outstanding performance,” says Franzetti.
The DS E-TENSE FE23 on the track
In practice, Stoffel Vandoorne set a series of good lap times. Jean-Eric Vergne also made it into the top 10, finishing P5 in the second free practice session, ahead of his team-mate
In perfect weather conditions, both DS Penske drivers were well prepared for qualifying. Both had qualified for the quarter-finals after the group stage. Vergne and Vandoorne won their first duel there and progressed to the semi-finals.
While Vergne only lost to Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) by a tenth of a second, Vandoorne defeated Sergio Sette Camara (ERT) in his semi-final. In the final, it was the Belgian who met Mortara. This duel was won by the Mahindra driver. But with Vandoorne on the front row and Vergne right behind him, DS-Penske seemed to be the strongest team on the grid.
The only other manufacturer that managed to get both cars into the top 10 was Maserati. “It’s a shame to miss out on the three points for pole position,” regretted Vandoorne. “But the car is incredible and we can be confident for the future. The most important thing now is to do the best for the team and try to finish on the podium. “
A crazy race
After just three laps, the two DS-Penske drivers were already in the lead. From then on, the teamwork began, as two drivers can help defend their positions in this type of Formula E race. On the track in Berlin, however, the activation zone for attack mode is far from the racing line and leads to a loss of three to five positions.
Vandoorne proved to be a good tactician and managed to keep the time loss within limits. Just behind, the two Porsche drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa put the French-American cars under pressure, but Vandoorne and Vergne withstood the pressure. The positions changed and when a safety car phase was triggered, the gaps narrowed.
At the restart, the DS Penske drivers lost a few positions but stayed with the leading group. A few laps later, Vandoorne was involved in a collision with several cars and lost further positions. He dropped out of the top 10, but the end of the race underlined the good performance of the DS E-TENSE FE23. As the organizers added six laps to compensate for the safety car phase, a different energy strategy was announced
The end was completely crazy. There were numerous position changes and at least six drivers had a chance of winning. Vergne eventually secured second place, while Vandoorne moved up to P7.
“It was a very intense race,” said Vergne shortly after crossing the finish line. “I lacked a bit of energy, but our pace was very good and I’m very happy with this podium. This is very encouraging for the future. “
