2 Days of Formula E in Germany! [FE Round 10: Berlin e-Prix]

Racing in the Airport, beacause it's cool!   

Formula E comes back to Berlin for the 5th time, in one of its all time classic circuits. 
It's wide, it's fast, it's grippy, it's the Tempelhof Airport Circuit!

Gen 2 racing kinda started here, last year. Do you remember, Nico Rosberg behind the wheel of a new generation Formula E car around the circuit? 

He had a blast, but that wasn't an easy ride for him 

We arrive at the Tempelhof showdown with a very close title battle. 

Two Techeetahs in front, back into the leadership after a very inconsistent start of the season. 
Jean Eric Vergne leads Andrè Lotterer by 1 point, but Robin Frijns watches close behind. 

7 drivers in 20 points, 10 drivers in little more than 30 points. ANYONE could be the Season 5 Champion. 

Yep, just like F1 

A very good race in Monaco? Welcome to Formula E

Formula E managed to make Monaco (Short) looks like a quite decent circuit for racing!
We had ambitious passing, some Ricciardo-esque divebombs, some drama & a super intense 4 way battle for the win!

You have to be Alert, on an Airport track!  

Compared to most of the traditional Formula E tracks, the Tempelhof Circuit might look like a Sunday drive for the Formula E drivers. 
But it isn't. 
Super Wide, flowing, with very open corners combined to some slower sections, the circuit provide an Ultra Grippy surface. (used in Airports). 
 

This means, faster cornering speeds, but also higher tyre deg. 
We saw Gen 1 cars struggling a little bit towards the end of the race with tyre temp. Gen 2 may be in real trouble here, considering the 3 seconds/lap pace increase! 

TRACK LENGHT:  2.3 KM
CORNERS: 10
RECORD: 1'09''438 [JEV, 2018]

Formula E on a traditional 2-day weekend format? What's that??
 

Yep, you read well. For the first time EVER, Formula E is going to split action between Friday & Saturday. 

This means, we'll see Shakedown, FP1 & FP2 on Friday afternoon. 
Quali & Race, will be on Saturday, with the Race Kicking off at 12.00 UK TIME!
 

Why is that? To avoid clashing with Monaco?
Nah, There's the German Cup Football final on Saturday evening, you know!!

SCHEDULE

Friday

10.30 - Shakedown (Facebook/YouTube)
14.30 - FP1 (Facebook/YouTube)
17.00 - FP2 (Facebook/YouTube)

Saturday

Edited by thegamer23, 22 May 2019 - 12:39.

(Sorry for the minimal thread, busy times!!)

I appreciate the soccer option

Still a strong chance of rain... 

Edited by Ben1445, 22 May 2019 - 13:39.

Still a strong chance of rain...

Sure about that?
I looked at different weather services, they all predict clear & hot weather!

Hmm, the searches I've done said 70-80% for the next week. Colour me confused. 

Edit: Ok well, my source may have been wrong though I can't explain why. Sorry folks! 

Edited by Ben1445, 22 May 2019 - 13:39.

Looking forward to this as always, it's always been a good race in my eyes here. The cars look fast and aggressive around this track.

As with every week, I'm waiting for the Mahindra win. But I'll take a Vandoorne or Massa podium over anything else. Would love Massa to build some momentum now he's had the Monaco podium.

Somehow this is perhaps my favorite venue, in no small part because it basically allows a track designer to start with a clean sheet of paper, and come up with something that will make for the best, most exciting racing, with minimal constraints as to what's possible.  I consider it a classic already, and would miss Tempelhof from the schedule, if it were to be replaced.

Somehow this is perhaps my favorite venue, in no small part because it basically allows a track designer to start with a clean sheet of paper, and come up with something that will make for the best, most exciting racing, with minimal constraints as to what's possible.  I consider it a classic already, and would miss Tempelhof from the schedule, if it were to be replaced.

Can even change year on year incredibly easily if need be

Would've loved to be there, instead I have to make do with a rained out 500 with JP
I really love the location of the track, it is to me one of the most iconic parts of Berlin, ranking up there with the Brandenburger Tor.

Have there been any changes to the track layout?

Yeah, it'd make a really good weekend away, especially with the earlier race start. 

I like Templehoff, generally. Such a great asset to have such a massive open public space in the middle of such a big, vibrant city. Fairly perilous, mind. I was pelting along around the perimeter road on a bike and a kite landboarder shot across my bows - i presume out of control given our proximity to the outer fence....

 

I had been hoping to get to the German E-Prix this year, instead I'm going to the German Grand Prix, but it's definitely one I want to get to. Might try for Bern later in the year...

PS It's just hit me that there are only 3 more weekends of FE this year including this one. Noooooooo.

Edited by TheJammin, 23 May 2019 - 09:06.

Yeah, this season's flowen by.

I actually quite like the Tempelhof location.  Looking forward to the race. 

Attack Zone is around the outside of T6, teams expecting somewhere a little shy of 2 second lap time loss to take the loop 

Went on a guided tour of the Tempelhof building the summer before FE got going knowing they were due to race there and it was absolutely fantastic. Huge amount of history and an incredibly Impressive site.

Went back for FE in 2017 and it is a fantastic venue for fans at the track, in my opinion. Lots to do, lots of technology on display, great food and drink. And the seats for the racing weren't bad either. Great value for money. Atmosphere was great - can only imagne what it was like the year after when Abt won.

I'm quite glad it's still on the calendar. I have a nice attachement to it. If it were replaced by a superior venue though I would probably get over it.

Edited by Vielleicht, 23 May 2019 - 20:25.

Much as I dislike that added little bit of width his cars always seem to have I think it's about time that Andre Lotterer actually won one of these races, and being German I wouldn't begrudge him doing so in Berlin.

As for the circuit well following the old rule "least said soonest mended" let's just say it's not my favourite track on the calendar. 

Agree that Lotterer feels overdue for a win. Should have had Hong Kong really and then Rome, Paris were near misses.

Rowland has been very impressive considering it's his rookie season. He's outclassed Buemi so far I'd say.

Shakedown starts in roughtly 2 hours

_{(Image: @eFORMELde)}

Yeah, this season's flowen by.

Yeh, I'm waiting for the Championship to settle down and the real contenders emerge! But have now accepted that we may be going to the final race with at least 6 drivers still with a mathematical chance to win. Which got me thinking, has there ever been a topline racing series with that many drivers in contention going into the final race. I think Indycar may have had 4?

Guten morgen

Busy day ahead in Berlin!

10.30 - Shakedown (Facebook/YouTube)

14.30 - FP1 (Facebook/YouTube)
17.00 - FP2 (Facebook/YouTube)

Edited by thegamer23, 24 May 2019 - 08:23.

Edited by thegamer23, 24 May 2019 - 10:17.

Even if you probably can't understand a word, it's so nice to see such bro relationship between drivers in FE 

Edited by thegamer23, 24 May 2019 - 12:57.

Practice 1 in about 10 minutes 

That attack mode is way way way off line, way more so than previous rounds

This track is so wide in parts, almost feels unnatural for Formula E 

Also, the camera work here is outstanding.

Best of the season hands down

Also, the camera work here is outstanding.

Best of the season hands down

Yeah, the cars look spectacular around here, the camera's are really giving a strong impression of speed.

Who's the stand in commentator for Dario? Monotonous barely covers it.

Who's the stand in commentator for Dario? Monotonous barely covers it.

No e-motion tunnel this year!!

They've probably realised that their target audience isn't 5 year old children?

The good thing with FE practice on a Friday at this time means I can watch it. 

Tis a good thing, I am usually unable to watch FE practice live.

Practice 2 is underway...

Edited by f1paul, 24 May 2019 - 16:00.

Mortara with a 1'07''6, already 2.2 seconds faster than last year's official record. 

Blomqvist or Conway.

Who's the dullest?

I love how skittish they look trying to turn into some of the fast entries

^Blomqvist but only just. At least I like Jack Nicholls and his enthusiasim slightly nullifies Tom's dullness. 

Edit: Actually Conway I changed my mind

Edited by f1paul, 24 May 2019 - 16:21.

And no Bob Varsha too...     

Quali sims coming!

Lotterer, super lap time!

1'07''2

Vergne is 0.9 off, will they remain friends as the championship battle intensifies?

What is up with Vergne today?

At least they have overnight to think about it this time

Lotterer looking good but the good thing about FE is that a small mistake on your qualy lap can put you outside of the Top 10.

I don't think track evolution is too big here but I could be wrong.